Yes, you read that title right; Jeff Bezos is a hero for single-handedly resurrecting an American holiday and squashing the dark aftermath. I am of course referring to Thanksgiving
In the not-too-distant past, Thanksgiving was a holiday that, while beloved, was always cut short by it’s evil twin, Black Friday. It started nonchalantly enough, on midnight following Thanksgiving, people would go out to their preferred retailer and take advantage of large savings for Christmas. The concept alone isn’t too bad, however, it tended to bring out the animalistic mentality of shoppers. Stories of people being trampled, beaten to death, shot, stabbed and otherwise maimed inside these brick-and-mortar stores were depressingly common. Several morbid websites had even been erected to the sole purposes of keeping track of Black Friday fatalities, as if reducing the human suffering to a laughable statistic; these are human lives we are talking about, not the Jaguars offense.
Worse yet, was the irony of the whole situation. This shopping frenzy comes directly after we spend a holiday intended on being thankful for what we have in life with the people who mean the most to us. Families gather around a table, often reflecting on whatever fortunes they have (good health, housing, steady income, emotional support, whatever it may be). However, when the clock ticked from 23:59 to 00:00, all semblance of inventorying one’s blessings went out the window to rampage on a total stranger at a faceless shopping center.
The situation deteriorated even more when retail giants tried to one-up each other with opening progressively earlier and earlier in a capitalistic arms race to capture the lions share of the Black Friday dollars. Normally, I support such open capitalism. However, it felt viscerally wrong to see a society where people left their families early on Thanksgiving to secure a discount on a kitchen appliance they’ll never use. Our culture further devolved when some extremists were camping out by the entrance of BigBox retailers so they could secure a place in line. These fringe shoppers, instead of being condemned, were instead glorified for foregoing a feast with loved ones in favor of shopping
I recall a few years ago near Thanksgiving seeing a commercial on the TV in the company break room, one retailer proudly announced that they would be closed on Thanksgiving-as if they had won a medal. This retailer decided to use respecting a cherished American holiday as a selling point, and the sad part was, they weren’t wrong.
The stage was set, now enter the balding billionaire with an penchant for optimizing supply chain logistics. Bezos ruthlessly cut costs and red tape to introduce to the world Amazon Prime, his service that guaranteed two-day shipping. With that, people were able to stay within the comfort of their living rooms and order whatever their hearts desired, with the full confidence of knowing that it’ll arrive within 48 hours. Suddenly, nobody had to venture far from home. They could buy whenever they wanted, and whenever they wanted became post-Thanksgiving. The savvy entrepreneur had coined Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving, that hosted the best sales.
With this, BigBox retailers and shopping malls across America slowly but surely started to empty on Thanksgiving. Then the crowds receded to a manageable level when the clock struck midnight. Through sheer force of lower in-person populace, the number of needless tragedies went down. People no longer had to skip Thanksgiving dinner for the best deals, the wealthy wannabe-astronaut had them covered. In his quest for ruthless profits and market share, Bezos has indirectly re-humanized one of the few precious holidays we have left in the United States. Less people dying over a larger TV means more Thanksgivings spent with the ones that matter most. Less people leaving family early on Thursday inevitably means we can have that hallowed day back. So, I am personally thankful to Jeff Bezos; thank you for giving me back one of my last remaining holidays.
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