Q:
A: Unfortunately; Thanksgiving has evolved into a stuff your face and watch football day off from work holiday ( don't get me wrong, I do just that so I don't want to seem hypocritical ). It also triggers the launch of the Christmas shopping season. The day after Thanksgiving is when most retailers say they finally turn a profit. Hence the name Black Friday ( out of the red or negative and into the profit or positive ). This holiday, like others in America has lost it's intended function with the exception that many families still get together on the thanksgiving weekend. We would not need to ask what it is about if we educated kids about our history but that is a lost cause anyways. I went home last year for thanksgiving and many of my nieces and nephews were asking what Thanksgiving was about. It scared me as we were taught about Squanto back in grade school when I was a kid. What are they teaching kids in public schools? I was told that here in Las Vegas, the subject matter is not in the curriculum because there are religious implications surrounding Thanksgiving. I think we need to accept the fact that almost all of the early settlers were religious folks and it plays a part in almost all of our history, you can not avoid it. We should not dismiss topics in American History because the persons involved happened to pray to god. I am not a religious person myself but I appreciate our history and know that many of our founding fathers were very religious, its the primary reason they came here to begin with. We have evolved away from religion but lest we forget our heritage because folks don't want their tax dollars being used to have an educator mutter the word "god". Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot. If the corporations have their way, this will become a holiday for them, "go shopping - early Friday morning door busters ". My neighbor is planning her battle plan for the day after already. I refuse to fight the crowds and appreciate on-line shopping more and more every day. This sadly is the real truth about the Thanksgiving holiday in the States. Happy Turkey Day Everyone.