Mom and Apple Pie!

How did you celebrate the fourth of July? Family gathering?  Neighborhood picnic? Fireworks? Did the kids in your neighborhood decorate their bikes and parade through the streets? I remember those days! Independence day is the quintessential American holiday!

I’ll admit that over the years, I sort-of forgot what the day was about. Same with Memorial Day, Labor Day and a few others. They became more of a holiday from work, a fun day to relax and spend with the family. As I’ve grown older, I’ve begun to reflect more on what the day commemorates.

But when did holidays become a shopping day?  Was your answer to how you celebrated the 4th to go shopping? That, to me, is very sad. When did certain, if not most, holidays become merely a reason for a sale at Macy’s? Why do malls require their stores to be open, hoping to catch one more sale? I can see running to the grocery store for last-minute fix-n’s, but did you really need to pick up that new dress or pair of sandals? And why do some customers feel entitled to shop whenever they feel like it, almost indignant at the thought that a company might be closed so their staff can have time off on a holiday? What has happened to our priorities?