Some of us have been going beyond simply avoiding the frenzied mobs at the mall the day after Thanksgiving, for a number of years. We intentionally avoid any purchase on that day. This “Black Friday” full of obligatory consumption, angry parking, elbows, whining kids and glazed countenances is not one of the better parts of the American Experience. Although the stampedes and mini-riots over the latest plastic “hot item” make for amusing news.
Join us for the peaceful, easy feeling of Buy Nothing Day.
This Thanksgiving weekend, take the day you get off, off. Don’t join and exacerbate the mob. If you must buy those just-the-thing-I-need-how-nice items, do it another day. Listen to Tom Lehrer’s Christmas Carol as an antidote for all the inescapable seasonal music. Rent some classic videos on Wednesday, and watch them with the family on Friday. Play football in the yard or chess by the fire. Write holiday greetings to old friends. Bake from scratch! Make memories, not debts.
This is not a specific plea for easing up on consumption, but rather about breaking with the media-inspired feeding frenzy as a holiday kick-off.
This post inspired by Erich’s recent posts about Commercialism and Consumerism .
What a fabulous idea. Count me in!
I'm very much with ya on this! But I worry about the shopkeepers. They are our friends and family. They need to eat too.
Hehe, I work at JC Penneys. I have to be there at 5AM. Atleast I don't work at WalMart.
Ah, yes. The shopkeepers. One of my personae is <a title="MrTitanium's shop" href="http://mrtitanium.com/art4sale.html">MrTitanium.com. My income in the last month of the year is notably more than that of any other month. As I tried to make clear above, just sit this one day out.
As to those who work retail on that bleak and exhausting day, you do have my sympathies.
Amen!!!
I did my time in retail, been there done that, no more! Nothing lowered my opinion of humanity like working in retail, rude and demanding customers, Bah Humbug! (to borrow a favorite Dickensian quote)
I will admit to having gone out once or twice the day after Christmas though…
2007 reminder: Nov 23<sup>rd</sup> is Buy Nothing Day. Sit with the family and relax. Avoid "Black Friday".
Read Erich's recent post entitled Wanna go to church? Tired of shopping? Go to "The Church of Stop Shopping."
National Buy Nothing Day 2008 is this Friday! Although retailers (like me 🙄 ) fear this Black Friday for its expected less-than-intimidating sales this year, I still think that this Adbusters campaign is worthy.