Black Friday

Originally published 11/29/13.


Taking a break from history and politics, and delving into economics and society a bit here.  Why do people put up with Black Friday?

We’ve all seen the sales flyers and commercials– cut your holiday short, or get up at some God forsaken time in the morning, and save 20-50% off everything in the store!  Why should we buy into this crap?  Why not stay home, enjoy your holiday with your family, and take advantage of the many other sales throughout the Christmas shopping season?  It’s not like tomorrow is the only day of the year that the sweater you want to buy for little Susie or the blender you want to buy Grandma are going to be on sale.  But it’s the only day you’re going to have to stand in line for 2 hours, after getting up at 04:00 to get to the store at 05:00 and then literally fighting your way through the crowds, to get that sweater or blender.

Why aren’t people angry that they’re being charged more and more every year throughout the year on these goods that are being sold for some ‘ridiculously’ low price for part of a quarter each year?  These stores are not losing money on these sales.  So they’re either pricing everything so it’s lower than their normal price, but still brings in a nice profit, or they’re sticking it to us throughout the year to make up that major percentage they’re losing for a few hours, a day, or a week.  No one focuses on that, even today with pay stagnating or dropping, taxes going up, and prices going up– everyone just jumps on that big sale so they can get little Johnny his Xbox and dirt bike for Christmas.  Why not drop your prices throughout the year, if you can sell so much more product for a lower price, retail stores?  It seems to me you’re verging on pricing yourselves out of the market the rest of the year.  You’re not cutting your own throats to make these sales, but you’re cutting ours 10 months out of the year either because you can, or because you need to make up for that small loss to kick off your Christmas shopping season.  Sorry, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Old Navy, Belk, etc., I refuse to play your game.  I’ll either buy things at the time and place I feel like buying them on some other, less crowded day, or I and my family will do without.  I understand making a profit, and the fact that the more successful a business is, the more money it brings in for its owners and employees, but playing games with your customers and putting a burden on us (either to catch that ‘awesome’ sale or to even afford your products) cuts into your profits.

That brings me to the people who do participate in this nonsense.  Is it worth not hearing your kid whine, or being ‘the best aunt ever’, to leave your family early on Thanksgiving to grab a nap, then go camp out on some store’s sidewalk until midnight to get that doll?  Is it worth fighting people, either just shoving through the crowds, or even worse stooping to actually punching some poor shopper in the face or trampling someone, just to get that video game your kid’s been whining about since it was previewed at E3?  How far have we fallen as a society that this is acceptable behaviour?  No material item is worth acting like an enraged, stampeding animal to me.  And don’t give me that crap about it not being about the item itself, but the joy it brings the recipient of the gift.  That smile on Christmas morning is not worth knowing that I acted like I have no dignity nor common decency just to get that present.  Even if you don’t assault someone to get that present, just knowing that you buy into the crass consumerism that has become Christmas should make you feel sad.

Christmas is not about giving big, expensive, flashy presents to everyone.  It’s about family, and if you’re Christian, it’s about the birth of Christ.  I’m not Christian, but I still celebrate Christmas– as a time for gathering together with family and friends, sharing what you can (even if it’s just some food and your companionship for a few hours), being generous with what you have even if it’s very little materially, and trying to be the best person you can and seeing the good in others even if it’s just for a day or two.  Both as a child and now as an  adult, I’ve done without quite a bit.  Some Christmases were quite lean as a kid, and as an adult my fiance and I have only celebrated 1 out of the last 3 Christmases by exchanging gifts, and this will probably be another gift-free Christmas.  He had some Christmases without a whole lot of presents under the tree, too.  But it didn’t kill us not to get that new bike the year we asked for it, but to have to wait for our birthdays or the next Christmas.  In fact, I think it made us better people for not having everything handed to us, and learning that sometimes you have to make do or do without.  I’m not saying not to buy presents at all, just weigh whether the present is worth the trouble.