Yes, super shopping day Black Friday seems to be more top of the mind these days than family-friendly holiday Thanksgiving. Guess that's just another example of how our lives have become much more transactional than relational.
"With maxims like ‘what’s in it for me’, ‘I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine’, and ‘quid pro quo’, our society is becoming more and more transactional" says an article by lifestyle entity Victorious Living. "We did not stumble into this society. For generations, the American way has been about open market consumerism. Which as an economic exercise has certain values and benefits that do not translate well when we take the same approach to matters in other arenas."
Hmmm.
Traditionally, this time of year has been mostly relational with large family gatherings at grandma's for turkey and dressing. It’s been a time for hugs, sharing family joys and griefs, and letting children play with rarely seen cousins. The most transactional aspect of this I can remember was maneuvering to get the drumstick, the best after dinner seat for football, or the recliner for a nap.
Now we are coaxed to shop early for Black Friday on the afternoon of Thanksgiving. And the long lines poised to stampede into stores when the magic time arrives are seldom family-friendly relational events. A website called BlackFridayDeathCount.com says since 2006 there have been 12 deaths and 117 injuries from Black Friday shopping.
Of course, Thanksgiving has always been a transactional event for turkeys. Even more so this year.
A story at TheConversation.com says we Americans will eat about 210 million turkeys this year. That's up from 125 million in the 1970s. But due to innovation in turkey growing, that number won't be 342 million this year. It seems 132 million turkeys won't be slaughtered because modern techniques yield 25 pounds of meat per turkey versus 15 pounds in the '70s.
Ironically, as our surging transactional behavior devalues relationships and erodes our emotional and mental health, our bodies benefit from eating healthier turkeys. You see today's modern turkeys are barn-raised, growth hormone free, and free of antibiotic residues.
Hmmm.
This suggests we can be thankful this year for the many benefits science has brought to our lives. More and healthier food. New life saving medicines, treatments, and medical procedures. Safer cars and trucks. And so on.
Or not.
You see much of our shift toward transactional behavior is driven by new and titillating gadgets and targeted sales methods made possible by modern science.
Here's the ultimate buy now, buy more example – my cell phone knows and can tell me what wow gadgets I’m likely to crave and where to buy them. Whether it's Facebook or Google ads or uninvited texts and emails, neat stuff selected just for me will appear on my phone whether I want it to or not. (Yeah, you can block some of it but it comes right back.) (Um, Bill, turn off your location services and clear the cache on your phone's FB app and browser).
You can see where all this is heading.
Unless we each purposefully keep Thanksgiving focused on giving thanks for blessings, family, and yummy food, the real turkeys on Thanksgiving will soon be us.
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" - Thessalonians 5:18.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Meridian.
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Bill Crawford: Happy Black Friday, er, Turkey Day
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5 comments:
Transactional, relational - use any kind of psycho-babble you want. The problem is we have TOO MUCH. Too much of everything. The desire for the next generation to have more than the present generation has gotten our society to the point of overload. If we can't provide it on our own, the government will provide it for us.
My Gawd! While trying in vain to define transactional analysis, this clown stumbles all over himself attempting to downgrade the tradition of Thanksgiving. If he thinks he'll be lonely and depressed on Thursday, maybe he should catch a cab down to the soup kitchen and put on an apron.
The idea of Thanksgiving being a true family day has been lost to this country for years. Now it is just another, usually, paid day off from work to over eat, drink and watch ball games. Shame how we have gone, but all things change with time. To you who care, Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your families. Stay safe.
Used to be that the men were excused from the table only after everybody was finished eating and only after they requested it of the matron. Then they could go to the woods.
Now we wait to eat, sometimes mid-afternoon, when the men have returned from deer camp smelling of whiskey and after they nap.
Nothing today resembles Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's house. And nothing at their house resembled Thanksgiving at the houses of THEIR folks. And there's no push-starter-button on the floor board of your car anymore either.
@3:19 am see the rectangle on your computer screen that reads " Type here to search"? Type in "transactional analysis".
As for me, I'm disappointed that many of my peers ( those 65 and older) have given in and have decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving is even here. I get that it's more of a chore at our age and recovering enough to take them down is longer, but we need to set an example.
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