Black Friday Keeps Backing Up, Swallowing Up Thanksgiving

Recently I did a live broadcast from Terry's Tees here in Owensboro. It was the official kick-off of our 2011 'O Christmas Tee' campaign. So when I did my first break, the floodgates opened, and in came the WBKR faithful to pick up the shirts. As you know, the 'O Christmas Tee' holiday t-shirts must be worn on Black Friday if you want a shot at a Country Christmas Vacation from Gaylord Opryland Resort. But now it seems the line between Thanksgiving and Black Friday--I'll call it, oh I don't know, MIDNIGHT--is becoming very blurry. One of the ladies who came in to pick up a shirt works at Wal-mart and she confirmed that the retail behemoth will begin its Black Friday sales on Thursday, the day formerly--and STILL, in some circles--known as Thanksgiving. It seems more and more retail giants are getting an earlier start on the busiest shopping day of the year.  I guess 24 hours just isn't enough anymore. And I know of at least one guy in Nebraska who wishes it were. He's Omaha Target employee Anthony Hardwick, and he's started a petition in the hope that Target stores will return to having Black Friday on Friday; because he'll have to start work at 11PM, he will miss all of Thanksgiving with his family because he'll be asleep. I wish him well, but, to be perfectly honest, it sounds like an exercise in futility. Shoppers hit stores on Black Friday like runaway freight trains, and I suspect if given the opportunity to start even sooner, they'll do it. I remember when the day after Thanksgiving was just the first day of Christmas shopping season. Now it seems it's one step away from becoming a federal holiday. Well, come to think of it, it HAS taken one step backward and ENGULFED a federal holiday. Charcoal Gray Thursday, anyone?