Everytime Thanksgiving rolls around I find myself thinking how nice it would be to have something like thanksgiving here in New Zealand. Of course its a good idea to take stock regularly and think about what we have to be thankful for and today is just as good a day as any; in fact even better perhaps.
With the exception of the Black Friday sales in the US which appear to get more insane every year.
Not to mention the fact that large retailers seem to be hell bent on squeezing every last minute and dollar from Black Friday sales by opening Stores at midnight. Yes - this would be midnight at the end of Thanksgiving day (the equivalent of our Boxing day sales starting at midnight on Christmas day). Quick - get the dinner with the family out of the way so you can race down to the shops and join angry pushy crowds for a $2 waffle maker. Not to mention the fact that you probably cant eat a huge meal and drink heavily if you are planning a midnight shopping expedition.
Fortunately, not everyone agrees with this, and I was pleased to see a Change.org petition asking Target to save Thanksgiving get some pretty serious support this week. As someone who spent years in retail - I can testify to its impacts on family life and in particular during some of the most important times of the year.
So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving - we've decided to have our own Thanksgiving dinner this year and to use this time to remember and celebrate the things we are thankful for.
This year we are thankful for the ability to vote freely (especially as we've seen so many other nations fight for this right in the last 12 months - these sacrifices were made for us many years ago), for family, for sunshine, for love and for happiness.
