Black Friday - Seriously?

I do not comprehend the Black Friday phenomenon.  What is the allure of that wild masochistic activity?  Fair minded marketing experts who stay with just the facts say that a couple of weeks, sometimes just days after it's all over those great prices people fought the insanity to get drop significantly.  Why put yourself through all of that?  Supposedly, if you don't subject yourself to that stampeding, frenzy abuse you might miss getting that prized gift at a bargain price.  Most of it will be junk in a year or two.  Do we realize the value we are putting on things?  How many of us give that much energy and time and expense to our relationships?  Our job?  Our health?

Shopping can be a fun, useful, enjoyable experience.  But waiting in long lines outside some mall or giant store in the middle of the night and then once in elbowing your way through narrow aisles packed with angry, pushy shoppers seems somehow strangely messed up.  It may be good for store owners, and it might provide some kind of boost to the economy, but is this just another way of contributing to the collapse of our society?  Giving so much of ourselves to this orgy of spending at the expense of our social order, how we treat others, and what we consider really important, is worth thinking about.

Forget Black Friday.  Stay home and bake a pie.  Take your dog for a long walk.  Play with your kids at the park.  Watch a good movie.  Spend the day with someone you love.  All that stuff in the stores will still be there and probably be cheaper next week.  And if not, so what?  There will always be something else to buy.

(c) 2011 Timothy Moody

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