I once made a disparaging comment to a friend about people who rush the doors of their local retailers to snag Black Friday deals.
She told me I was being elitist. I had money to buy nice presents for my family. Many of those waiting in the cold, dark night for the Walmart doors to open didn’t, and Black Friday might be their only shot at getting something nice for their kids and spouses and parents.
She had a point. Maybe that characterization doesn’t apply to everybody caught up in the post-Thanksgiving frenzy, but it was true enough back then to make me shut my mouth about it.
Now they’re messing with Thanksgiving itself, which sucks for the employees forced to work and for the shoppers who are letting themselves be tricked into deals that usually aren’t. “The stuff on sale now will be even cheaper in a few weeks,” wrote New York Post columnist Nicole Gelinas who goes on to write:
There’s nothing wrong with marketing ploys. But there is something wrong with preying on people’s impulses to the extent that they are sacrificing time with their families for one day that shouldn’t be commercialized. Time is the real gift.
Because you know what’s next, right? After-Christmas sales…starting on Christmas morning.
Quite a while ago, I made a remark about people in the grocery store taking their sweet time shopping, holding up the likes of who dash in, grab things, cash out and go. The love of my life reminded me we were fortunate enough to not have to worry about making a dollar stretch, and in a nice way reminded me that people with a lot less have to take the time to find the best deal to make their dollars work for them. All true and although I grew up with little or nothing and know I am empathetic to those in a lot mired ire straits than me, it’s easy to forget. And harder to remind those that love us to remind us to be more considerate when shopping – for anything.
Whether your friend is right or not, even then, the marketing ploys were simply for sales, not to help others “get something nice for their loved ones.” I would rather have little to give my kids than deal with the craziness of this trend. I don’t think that stores should open on Thanksgiving. I’m still having trouble with everything being open on Sundays. I have now been unemployed for 11 months and this Christmas will be particularly difficult. While we could be doing worse, the advertising is making me feel bad for those that simply cannot afford to go out and shop, deals or not.
The commercialism and retail competition is killing the family spirit of Christmas and with it now Thanksgiving. Religion is irrelevant. Christianity is irrelevant. This is just and excuse for people to shop and “beat” the next person to the best deal!