Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays because of the five F’s: fun, football, food, friends and family.

There are definitely more things I am thankful for outside of those five things. But this year in particular, it seemed like Thanksgiving was not recognized on the national level.

While Christmas is another one of my favorite holidays, it continues to overshadow Thanksgiving more and more each year.

Americans have become accustomed to Christmas music playing on the radio immediately after Halloween, and many people begin to decorate for the Dec. 25 holiday in early November. Thanksgiving was overlooked even more this year after stores such as Walmart, Toys “R” Us, Target, Sears and K-Mart opened Thursday night instead of waiting until midnight for Black Friday deals.

Have people become so needy to buy presents either for others or themselves that they can’t wait three or four more hours?

Instead of spending more time at home or at a relative’s house on Thanksgiving, some people focus more on gearing up for Black Friday shopping to the point where it has become Black Thursday.

Take into consideration those who had to work at stores that opened at 8 or 9 p.m. I’m sure there are a number of other things those employees would have rather done than work for the end of their Thanksgiving.

Fortunately, I was able to spend Thanksgiving with most of my family members without Black Friday being a distraction.

While I did not plan to partake in Black Friday shopping, my inability to go to sleep at a decent hour and curiosity to see people fighting over Christmas presents intrigued me to make a few stops at some Johnson County stores.

So, around midnight, I ventured to Walmart to see how packed it still was after opening at 8 p.m. Although it was not as chaotic as it probably was at 8 p.m., there were still more people shopping than I normally see at Walmart.

Since I figured I might as well make the trip worthwhile, I made my first ever Black Friday purchase by buying a s’mores and hot chocolate kit with two mugs for a total of $9.98. Even though I probably spent far less money that most Black Friday shoppers spent, it bugged me a little bit that I actually bought something even though I was not about to fight someone over the kit.

Unsurprisingly, I did not feel anywhere close to being tired, so I went to check out the zoo of people at Oak Park Mall and see if Barnes and Noble was open to get a gift card for someone.

While it seemed like everything else in Oak Park Mall was open, Barnes and Noble was not, but my curiosity to see how desperate people were to buy certain items fueled me to walk around for a while.

At first, I thought the lines inside of American Eagle were long, until I walked past Victoria’s Secret Pink. There were long lines outside of these stores, but evidently I came about an hour and a half after all hell had been breaking loose.

It was not until watching the news that I saw how crazy the scene at Victoria’s Secret Pink was. When the doors opened a half hour sooner than expected, customers nearly knocked over security guards and store employees to get their hands on $12 yoga pants.

I am certainly not the expert on how much a good pair of yoga pants cost, but the sun will still shine another day whether or not a customer is able to purchase some.

That brings me back to the point of what to be thankful for. Are people more thankful to spend hours plotting on how to obtain replaceable items such a pair of $12 yoga pants or being able to spend quality time with close friends and family members?

Next year when Thanksgiving comes around, take some time to think what the holiday is really about and what you are thankful for before you find yourself like the people bull-rushing at Oak Park Mall to buy a few discounted items.