It occurred to me that the week of Thanksgiving has become the week of names.
It begins two days before with “Giving Tuesday,” a relatively recent invention promoted by charities and other non-profits as a way to raise funds while people are in a thankful frame of mind and before they’ve spent every available dollar on Christmas gifts.
Then comes Thanksgiving Eve, otherwise known as “Nightmare Day” for those who are traveling, especially if the travel involves airports.
The heart of the week is Thanksgiving day, of course, though it might be more appropriately labeled as “Pig-Out Day.” In most settings, I suspect, food clearly takes center stage over thankfulness.
Thanksgiving Thursday is followed by “Black Friday,” so named because of an old rule of thumb that Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving pushes many retailers out of red figures and into the black for the year, with any profits to be made between then and Christmas.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is usually the first day of Advent on the Christian calendar, often considered the Sunday of Hope, and the Monday following has been dubbed “Cyber Monday” in hopes that folks who didn’t find the gifts they were looking for in the stores on Black Friday can order it from Amazon or another online store on Monday.
That leaves Saturday as the only day that, to my knowledge, still has naming rights available. “Hangover Saturday” might be appropriate, as folks try to recover from the feasting of Thanksgiving Day and the frenzy of Black Friday. Or it could be called “Pigskin Saturday,” as the college football season winds down with many traditional rivalries featured.
On the other hand, as both leftovers and houseguests become less appealing and hosts start longing for a return to normalcy, perhaps “So Long Saturday” might be the most appropriate moniker.
Feel free to post any better ideas. In the meantime, so long!