I was very pleased to read “Deck the Halls”, by Anna Sparks. From the clever writing style to the undoubtedly relatable storyline, this piece stood out to me from the very beginning.

Sparks tells a story of her experience spending Thanksgiving as a Black Friday shopper. She does this using a very entertaining story format along with, to my surprise, a poem. Although very out of the box and creative, it really gave the story life being that it resembled the prominent, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clarke Moore.

A quote that really stuck with me was, “That’s right, it’s almost Black Friday! Where we drown out the loveliness and heartwarming holiday of Thanksgiving with rapid consumerism and the voracious drive to buy Christmas gifts at a bargain.” This line was very well written in the sense that it can give anyone a reality check. Aside from the humorous tone of the story, this does raise the question, should you really be treating it as “Gray Thursday” more than Thanksgiving?

Some may be unscathed by the reality of spending a holiday shopping at Walmart, but if you’re anything like Sparks, you may want to miss out on those holiday deals, for she does not fail to include the negative side of Black Friday shopping in her writing. I’d like to acknowledge this article as it has expanded my perception of the Thanksgiving holiday and at the same time, used its comical style to make my day.