The holiday season means great food, time with family and standing in line for hours? The holidays have become dominated by consumerism and seeking the best deals in time for Christmas. And while saving money on a new television isn’t a bad thing, the Black Friday sales and obsession with consumerism have gotten out of control.

    Black Friday isn’t that special because it’s not even a single day anymore. In fact, it’s dragged on for several days with stores opening earlier than ever before. Large companies such as Walmart, Target, Macy’s and Best Buy will open their doors Thanksgiving afternoon, and J.C. Penney will open as early as 2 p.m., according to CNBC. It has gone beyond the classic 6 a.m. doorbusters on Friday morning and completely taken over Thanksgiving day as well. After the Black Friday sales, there’s always small-business Saturday and Cyber Monday too. Black Friday is just another day in a span of several days that cater to consumerism.

    The deals are not much to look forward to. Many retailers reuse the same prices year after year on the same or similar items, according to The Wall Street Journal. The hyped up doorbusters are very limited and they go fast, according to Business Insider. If the deals are really that important, they require waiting for hours and facing the crowds who are just as interested to possibly get into the store on time to get the item.

     Shopping is shifting to online retail, and Cyber Monday has already seen an upward trend. Sales from Cyber Monday increased by 16 percent from the year prior, according to Business Insider. Brick and mortar stores will struggle due to more and more shoppers sticking to the comfort and convenience of buying online at home. As the shift to online consumerism increases, Black Friday and its trends of standing outside waiting for the doors to open will be on the decline.

    Black Friday has a history of fights breaking out amongst the swarms of people rushing the stores, resulting in injuries and even death. Between 2006 and 2017, there have been 10 deaths and 111 injuries related to Black Friday shopping, according to Black Friday Death Count. The most common injuries occurred from stampedes of people or fights over sale items between customers.

      Between the crowds and the sales, Black Friday shopping has become overrated. It’s not all that it used to be with the increase in online shopping. Thanksgiving should be spent giving thanks for what we already have, not feeding our obsession with  more material items.