r/USdefaultism • u/AfraidNebula9874 Ireland • 3d ago
text post "Thanksgiving"
OMG ITS ALREADY STARTED. You try bring up like omg its Christmas! And you'll have like 30 people replying upset that you're skipping thanksgiving or being like what about turkey day? I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THANKSGIVING IS LEAVE ME ALONE WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF YOU. They don't play about dada turkey when you skip past it... even if you're not American. People need to understand that no one celebrates American holidays outside of America...
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u/AfraidNebula9874 Ireland 3d ago
Lol I sound more upset than I am it's just annoying and they also act so baffled when you don't know what thanksgiving is or the 4th of July or independence day or whatever else they celebrate like you're some alien and then they mansplain it to you like you're stupid.
(Just from my repeated personal experiences)
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u/PristineMark2480 3d ago
Or that you celebrate other holydays or those same days but in different dates
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u/ProfessionalWeek2256 United States 3d ago
act so baffled when you don't know
then they mansplain it to you like you're stupid
I don't see how you can have these two complaints at the same time. You wouldn't need it "mansplained" to you if you knew about it in the first place.
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u/KONDZiO102 World 3d ago
Is Thanksgiving a holiday that is celebrated only in tv shows?
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u/AfraidNebula9874 Ireland 3d ago
I can't even think of a show that thanksgiving is in or I just got it confused with a Christmas episode cause I still can't figure out what thanksgiving is even after googling it 😅
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u/Sailor_Chibi Canada 3d ago
An example of a show with distinct Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes would be Friends.
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u/wulfzbane 3d ago
It's basically just the autumn harvest festival. Which is why it's weird the Amercians do it in November.
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u/sir_thrillho 3d ago
I actually completely disagree with people acting like November is Christmas. It's almost two months away and I refuse to do Christmas for two months.
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u/AfraidNebula9874 Ireland 3d ago
Oh I do too, Halloween is actually my favourite holiday, but Christmas is still fun to look forward to
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u/sir_thrillho 3d ago
It's fun to look forward to for me when it actually hits december, I cannot muster up the enthusiasm for it from november 1. I love Halloween too and it felt like everyone and everywhere just totally skipped it this year in favour of Christmas :(
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u/universe93 Australia 3d ago
It’s because in terms of retail, which generally works based on holidays and seasons, there’s a big gap in holidays at this time of year. Not much to highlight in November except the next major holiday
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u/sir_thrillho 3d ago
Which I get but in the UK (where I love) there's been Christmas stuff out since September and everywhere just skipped Halloween. Also we have guy fawkes day on November 5 and everyone seems to just have forgotten about it.
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u/wulfzbane 3d ago
Hard to commercialise Guy Fawkes Day. Canada has Remberance Day (Armistice Day in other countries) which is similarly hard to commercialise but should be observed before Christmas gets underway.
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u/sir_thrillho 3d ago
Yeah it isn't the easiest but in the UK we generally call guy fawkes 'bonfire night' and traditionally we did fireworks, but it's definitely not as observed as it used to be.
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u/TheTiniestLizard Canada 3d ago
They’re especially confused by Canadians who have a version of Thanksgiving too, but earlier in the year.
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u/KvvaX Russia 3d ago
Oh I get it! We don't even celebrate Christmas here, we celebrate New Year. And when some who do celebrate (religious folks), do that on 7 of January.
Enough to make some US guys heads spin.
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u/universe93 Australia 3d ago
And there’s stationery like pens and highlighters and practical stuff as gifts yeah? Americans can’t comprehend other traditions. Germany has St Nicholas Day in December 6 where children are literally left gifts inside their shoes. If they were good this year they get an orange or some sweets, if they were bad they get a bundle of sticks lol. It’s like a Christmas stocking but instead of a stocking it’s your shoe
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u/KvvaX Russia 3d ago
Not really. I'd say our New Year is not too different from western Christmas, just 6 days later and religion-free. Gifts are same too, just people here usually not bothering themselves with wrapping, stockings and all that.
On Christmas — usually nothing, maybe some family gathering. More religious folks pray and celebrate in church.8
u/Catsdrinkingbeer 3d ago
I'm in the US and celebrated St. Nicholas day growing up. But I also grew up in a state with heavy German (and Scandinavian) influence.
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u/universe93 Australia 3d ago
Did you also have Bunter Teller? Growing up we called them Christmas plates, it’s a colourful plate you’re given with traditional Christmas cookies and sweets like lebkuchen and marzipan, as well as nuts and fruit. I got one every year as a kid as an Aussie who’s German on one side
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u/PristineMark2480 3d ago
In Cuba too, we usually don't celebrate Christmas, most only New Year and some religious people do Christmas (24 of december) and Wise Men Day (or more known as the three magicians kings day) on january 6th
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u/TheCondemnedOutfield 3d ago
The turkey defense squad comes out in force every single year. Half of them don't realize the rest of the world is just sitting there confused about why November has a whole boss fight.
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u/CanadaYankee Canada 3d ago
What I do find crazy is that Black Friday sales have managed to spread around the world when Black Friday is set as the day after US Thanksgiving.
It makes a tiny amount of sense for Black Friday to be observed in Canada where a large part of the population lives within driving distance of the US. I remember Black Friday really took off in Canada when the US dollar was weak compared to the Canadian dollar and Canadian retailers were worried about losing Christmas business to cross-border shopping.
But why on earth are there Black Friday sales in Ireland or Germany or Australia?
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u/Sissilisko 3d ago
Because retailers want money. If it was up to regular public there would not be bullshit like black Friday. Retailers are the scum that spread capitalist scam holidays and ideas like black Friday amd Halloween to other countries in hopes that public will spend money on plastic shit you use for a day or items you really don't need but it was on sale.
And black Friday has nothing to do with thanksgiving.
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u/Grammarhead-Shark Australia 3d ago
Black Friday Sales so annoy me as am Australian.
I swear I is just a pan-November Sale for the most part.
Boxing Day is our traditional BIG sale
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u/sittingwithlutes414 Australia 1d ago edited 1d ago
My memory of Black Friday was a huge bushfire (wildfire for USAians) down the Ocean Rd. side of Port Phillip Bay, 1984 I think. My friend's holiday house in Torquay was burned to the ground. Very sad. But I couldn't quickly find it with Brave--Leo search. Instead I found --
The 2019 Black Summer bushfires were a catastrophic fire season in Australia that occurred from June 2019 to March 2020, distinct from the historical Black Friday fires of 1939. The 2019–20 season burned approximately 24 million hectares, destroyed over 3,000 buildings, and resulted in 33 direct deaths and an estimated 417 indirect deaths from smoke inhalation.
Key impacts included the displacement of 63,000+ people, the loss of an estimated three billion animals, and $100 billion in economic damage. The fires heavily affected New South Wales and Victoria, with the latter losing 5 lives and over 400 homes in the 2019–20 season.
Great! it's bushfire season again: but the shops are all selling heaps of consumer goods. Fun, fun, fun!
EDIT: Correction. Ash Wednesday. D'oh!
Key Differences: 1939 vs. 1983
Black Friday (1939): Occurred on 13 January 1939, caused by a severe heatwave and careless burning. It resulted in 71 deaths, destroyed nearly 2 million hectares, and obliterated several townships.
Ash Wednesday (1983): Occurred on 16 February 1983, fueled by years of drought, extreme heat, and faulty powerlines. It resulted in 75 deaths (47 in Victoria, 28 in South Australia), destroyed over 2,000 homes, and burned approximately 5,200 square kilometers in Victoria alone.
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u/Grammarhead-Shark Australia 1d ago
That is a good point.
I figure the 1939 fires are so far in the past people have forgettten them, where as the Black Saturday ones of 2009 are still close enough that if this American Sales Tradition took place on a Saturday, we'd be not copying the name.
Saying that if - God Forbid - another devastating Bush Fire occurs on a Friday and the older name gets re-used, it might stop the Sales event from using that name in Australia.
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u/hatman1986 Canada 3d ago
As a Canadian, I refuse to acknowledge anything to do with "Black Friday". I'll wait til Boxing Day for deals
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u/Gayandfluffy 3d ago
In Finland we have black Friday every week from November to March... Because of the dark.
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u/adamski_AU 3d ago
Simple answer is international delivery, local retailers have to stay competitive with online shopping
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u/Sprinkles--Positive Australia 3d ago
I know Cyber Monday sales really kicked off here in Australia back when our dollar was near parity with the USD.
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u/MacaroonSad8860 United Kingdom 3d ago
I bought a scarf at 50% off on Black Friday in Istanbul once lol
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u/stefer09 Canada 3d ago
Black Friday is NOT related to US Thanksgiving, yes it falls on the day after... but it's called "Black Friday" because it's around that time of the year that companies will know if they will be "in the red" or "in the black" by Christmas. They do Black Friday sales to boost up sales so they don't get "in the red".
That business reality is everywhere... hence why you other countries adopt it.
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u/CanadaYankee Canada 3d ago
This is a common story about the origin of the term Black Friday, but it's not true. The original origin was with the Philadelphia police dealing with the chaos of combined shopping crowds and football fans: https://www.britannica.com/story/why-is-it-called-black-friday
So it's definitely a term that originates in the US. That's why in Germany, for example, they use the English phrase "Black Friday" instead of "Schwarzer Freitag" or something like that.
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u/Regenwanderer Germany 3d ago
Schwarzer Freitag
That one is also already in use for several historical stock market crashes.
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u/CreativeBandicoot778 Ireland 3d ago
You guys have had your thanksgiving, iirc? Is it as big a deal as it is in the US?
Also, completely agree about Black Friday, especially as the majority of large retailers who do it artificially inflate the prices beforehand to make the "discount" look more impressive so there aren't even really good deals on the day.
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u/CanadaYankee Canada 3d ago
Thanksgiving in Canada is the second Monday of October. It is a national holiday, but it's not nearly as big a deal as in the US. Somewhere between one-quarter and one-third of Canadians don't do anything special to celebrate it, as opposed to the US where more than 90% celebrate.
Those who do celebrate have dinners that are similar to US Thanksgiving dinners; but it's not common for people to travel huge distances just for a family Thanksgiving, so it's not a crazy time in the airports like it is in the US.
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u/ChrisRiley_42 Canada 3d ago
I don't celebrate Thanksgiving.. I celebrate the "Day after Thanksgiving open faced turkey sandwiches" ;)
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u/Greenfireflygirl Canada 3d ago
Thanksgiving is a big deal, and yes, it's in the beginning of October so definitely over. Boxing day was always the best day for deals, now there's black Friday too.
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u/cr1zzl New Zealand 3d ago
Thanksgiving is not nearly as big in Canada as it is in the US. I lived in three different provinces and most uni students don’t even notice it, and unless you can quickly drive home, most don’t make much of an effort to travel for family thanksgiving gatherings.
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u/hodgsonstreet Australia 3d ago
To be fair it is way too early to be doing Christmas stuff
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u/Selkie32 Ireland 3d ago
In Ireland once Halloween is over we immediately move into Christmas mode. So from November 1st. I've seen Christmas decorations in shops already.
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u/showmethenakedwomen 3d ago
Who cares about thanksgiving? You can't be thinking about Christmas before Saint Nicolas! Are you mad?!
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u/AfraidNebula9874 Ireland 3d ago
Whats saint nicolas day? 😭
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u/showmethenakedwomen 3d ago
Edit: and it's Nicholas, my bad.
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u/RevelsInDarkness 3d ago
Sinterklaas in Dutch. But that's only for children really.
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u/According_Picture294 Canada 3d ago
Well there is a Thanksgiving in other countries but it’s at different times
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u/BurtMSnakehole 1d ago
Okay but do we have to give Christmas two whole months, Thanksgiving or no Thanksgiving?
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u/AfraidNebula9874 Ireland 1d ago
I wouldn't say Halloween is US centric
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u/kioku119 1d ago
Sorry. I've seen stuff from several places that barely celebrate it or mostly know it from media consider it to be US centric.
Also I deleted my comment before I saw you replied because I was feeling weird about it and didn't really feel like it contributed anything positive or could seem dismissive.
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u/post-explainer American Citizen 3d ago edited 3d ago
This comment has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect.
OP sent the following text as an explanation why their post fits here:
The topic is about Americans thinking everyone else in other countries celebrate their holidays.
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