I'll let this picture give visual aid to my opinion of "Black Friday".
When I woke up early this morning, I turned on radio news. In bed, warm and cozy, I listened to the reports of people who stayed out in the cold all night long but talked animatedly about the bargains they would receive as a reward.
It reminded me of tailgating. The party atmosphere. They sat along the wall of the store, portable heaters blasting, wrapped in blankets, waiting for friends or family who would bring them coffee and hot food. They excitedly talked about the purchases they anticipated.
The thing I found so utterly disgusting is that particular mall is about half a mile from a homeless camp.
Bet they weren't sitting in a line, all smiles, warming their hands, drinking coffee while the vision of expensive electronic goods danced in their heads.
Some things just make me sick.
~*
Friday, November 23, 2007
Horse Manure!
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29 comments:
yeah, that's twisted.
It also makes me feel kind of sad for these people whose lives are so empty that they have to be filled with buying more and more things.
While I can't say I don't love shopping, there is something very disturbing about camping out all night and braving a literal stampede all for the sake of the bargain.
So am I to understand that people can't shop as long as there are homeless?
I mean I understand the objection to commercialism, but it is also incredibly easy not to participate, right? There's also the assumption that people who shop don't donate time and money and energy to charitable causes? Or am I reading this wrong?
Flutter, it is about excess. We all have to shop to maintain our households. What I have been seeing today on the news reports is excess.
People getting into fist fights over who gets to enter the store first?
It's repugnant.
I don't understand the whole day after Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, either.
The only good thing about it is that I know to stay out of the way of the "crowds"!
I don't think we understand real cost here sometimes.
What a juxtaposition of people "braving" the cold for shopping nearby to people suffering the cold due to homelessness.
Powerful, Chani.
I don't argue the people choosing to sit out there to shop...free to do so (while I sleep comfortably in my bed LOL).
It's just a powerful comparison of people outside all night, for such different reasons. Makes me pause.
Julie
Using My Words
I find Christmas depressing for that very reason. It has become all about the stuff. The sentiment, the fellowship, the humanity has all been lost.
My sister in law went out shopping today. Couldn't wait. She was ECSTATIC at the thought of the bargains she would be getting. It bothered me.
Not to mention...why are people thinking about Christmas already? Oh, wait, no. They're not thinking about *Christmas*. They're thinking about PRESENTS. Which I understand in children, but not in grown-ups.
As someone who used to "do" black friday, I can speak from personal experience when I say that getting caught up in the gift buying trap is somewhat dangerous. I've gone through full holiday seasons so stressed out about getting the shopping done, the baking done, the cleaning done, the decorating done, the everything...done...that I've come away from the season feeling homesick and depressed. All of that time could have been spent cuddling up with my husband, sharing coffee with friends, or being reflective about what the real gifts are in my life. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy a good bargain. I still do. And I enjoy giving meaningful gifts during the holidays. But what I can honestly admit is that I entered into the holiday insanity of the past because it kept me busy and distracted. I was afraid of what I knew was really missing from my life. And I was afraid to feel the feelings associated with that. And when you are walking around afraid all of the time, turning your head to look at the homeless isn't something you are capable of doing. Because it reminds you of your own empty heart and empty home. I think that the media and our commercial society in general capitalizes on that fact...and in the end, all we are really celebrating is our emptiness.
We live in a society that brainwashes us to buy, and it is difficult to resist unless you actively carve out your own non-consumer values. I posted today about consumerism I have noticed in the innocent "free blogger" blogworld via NaBloPoMo. It's insidious. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. You tell me.
Avoiding malls is an all year long activity for me. Today is the high holy day of not shopping.
I'm trembling under my sheets waiting for Christmas to pass.
On this topic, I'm with meno, Chani, and everyone else who avoids shopping malls whenever possible. I'm trying to get rid of "stuph" and simplify my life these days ... and I hate crowds!
Hugs and blessings,
ah I see what you're saying. Thanks for the clarification.
Hatred of materialism is still hatred.
Good points. Didn't go near a mall today, though I did go to the supermarket to buy more stuffing mix.
I've never understood the desire to "camp out" at a store or mall to be first to get a new electronic toy or gadget. It's greedy and twisted, I think. When there's a brawl between a few in line and someone gets whacked in the face, I giggle. They deserve it. Now I sound twisted :o/
so...I don't get it. people were up all night in line? For a deal.
Hell. I did that when I was a teenager, lined uo for David Bowie tickets. But that was different. It was romantic. It was music. It was art.
We took ourselves VERY seriously.
oh chani. you are so on the nose here.
I completely agree!
The TV this morning broadcast helicopter video shots of mall parking lots already filled with cars at 4:00 a.m.! Absurd!
Whatever blows your skirt up, I guess. Luckily, it takes much more interesting things than that to get under my petticoats!
"...is that particular mall is about half a mile from a homeless camp."
what a juxtaposition indeed. and, doesn't that say it all?
Happy Thanksgiving, Chani! I've been out of blogging for more than a week - sorry about that...
This is a good post and an amazing juxtaposition. I feel that, and I agree that our culture and shopping and materialism and consumerism is BAD NEWS. In fact, I feel that really, really deeply.
I do disagree a little bit though, with pointing the finger specifically at black friday. I know several people/families that are just above the "homeless" line who work really hard all year researching the sales that will occur that day, then hardly sleep all night in order to stand in line. And what they are buying are the clothes their children will need for school that year, and toys at a price they can finally afford so their kids can having something to open on Christmas.
So, AMEN for pointing our eyes to the societal disease of consumerism we all seem to blindly suffer from. But I still love the great sales on Black Friday. :S catherine
I call it Black Mood Friday, and I wouldn't be caught dead in a store on the day after Thanksgiving.
The whole thing is repulsive to me, not least of which is the people choosing to spend the cold night outdoors because they CAN, not because they have to like the homeless.
It's just an orgy of mercantile greed which I cannot imagine buying into. And like Meno, I don't like malls any time of year, or crowds.
Bah, humbug on Black Friday.
If it makes folks happy to freezze their butts off in the cold so they can get stuff, power to 'em. I don't understand it but I guess to each his own. I do remember getting to a toy store before it opened onyear trying to get a specific toy one of my kids would have been dissapointed if she had not gotten for Christmas.
I so agree with you! Wonderful post.
I'm sort of in two places on this. I like the idea of a group of people becoming chummy while all joining in waiting for something, whether it is Christmas sales or anything else. I like that they were tailgating and being friendly to one another rather than being pushy or nasty. And, like Flutter, I don't think they shouldn't be allowed to shop just because people are homeless. We should not try to lower one standard of living, we should try to raise the other.
On the other hand, like Julie, I found that your contrast gave me pause.
The thing I found so utterly disgusting is that particular mall is about half a mile from a homeless camp.
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