After feasting on a Thanksgiving dinner, families either settle in to get a good night sleep or get ready to partake in Black Friday shopping festivities.

Millions partake in the early morning shopping, but the unnecessary spending and uncivilized fight to score the best deals shouldn’t be the opening ceremony to the holiday season.

Is this really worth all the hassle, to wake up early?

Injuries and deaths are becoming more of a normal occurrence among Black Friday risk takers all in the search for the lowest price.

In 2010, a crowd of about 2,000 shoppers stumbled over a Wal-Mart employee to death, when they broke down the store’s doors, trapping him in a vestibule, according to usatoday.com.

The motives behind the consumerism driven lack of civilization is everything that the holiday season does not stand for.

In 2011, Target advertized its Black Friday sales by creating a character they named the “crazy Target lady,” a woman who proudly proclaims her OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), according to Andrew Leonard of Salon.com.

The “crazy Target lady” is definitley in the spirit of the holiday season because of her desiring to deck out her family in festive gear and holiday decorations.

The meaning behind the season is skewed as she frantically obsesses over consumerism ideals of what the season of giving truly is.

In 2011, a record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the holiday weekend starting on Thanksgiving, the average shopper spent $398.62.

Though this financial gain is beneficial for retailers, it is an economic risk and physical hazard for shoppers.

“No one who can afford otherwise goes out and stands in the cold with a crowd, to fight the stampeding, pepper-spraying mob for a discounted X-box,” according to Barry Ritholtz, wall street money manager and blogger.

Saving money during a sale is always a benefit, but for Americans, the art of finding a deal has turned into a competitive and dangerous sport.