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Friday Black Friday
By Marc | November 22, 2007
Today is unofficially known in the U.S. as "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving which starts off the Christmas shopping season. The big chain stores open their doors at some unholy hour to sell stuff at really good deals until:
a. a pre-determined time (usually around noon or so);
b. their limited stock is gone; or
c. they have hit their quota for blood spills in aisle 7.
And people fall for it, we have fallen for it. It might be a neat thing if someone thought, "You know, Aunt Petunia has always wanted an electric mattress pad, and this looks like a really good price. Maybe I should pick one up." But, in most cases, they don’t. They go in, see a bargain, and will fight tooth and nail to get it. It doesn’t matter if they have any clue as to who that gift will go to; that little detail they can determine later.
When I start my holiday shopping (or when I was single and in complete control of it), I think of the person I’m giving the gift to, determine what their interests are, try to figure out what they are lacking that they could use, and then decide to purchase or make said item. It seems like a pretty good plan to me, but the more I have to live in the real world, the tougher it is to be that noble.
You see, I really wanted to start bashing this insane sale event (and I still may), but I can’t really do that and completely blame the customers. I think we will be braving some of these battlefields, but not really early. We have kids and we value the sleep we are able to get. (At least Julie does.) We are also going because, like many people, Christmas is on a budget.
When it comes to our kids, this means we are able to get more things for them than we would paying full price.
We still think about what we’re giving people, but we go in with a game plan to get only the things we are sure the people on our list will like.
I know that, being a Christian, I should say something profound like, "Jesus is the reason for the season". Sure, that is the reason, but there is always the tradition of giving at Christmas that reflects God’s gift to us. I could care less about receiving anything, but I really enjoy giving. And by shopping frugally, we are able to give more without being stupid about spending.
In Matthew 10, Christ tells his disciples, before he sends them out to preach and heal, to be as "shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves".
I think taking advantage of a really good sale is very smart, but that doesn’t mean we have to totally lose ourselves over it. Go in, grab, pay, get out. Don’t fall into the mentality of the crowd. I always think of a line from a Black Sabbath song from the early 80’s: "When you listen to fools, the mob rules."
If you really must shop today, please keep your wits about you and remember that most of the people who run you down with a shopping cart normally might be a decent person, and the people who work at the stores don’t make the policies. They just work there, so please try to give them (and as many people as you can) a kind word or gesture.
I still don’t like the way stores (on the corporate end) try to make us dance like puppets for a sale. They know what they’re doing and feed off it.
In a perfect world, we would not have to worry about money and give gifts with more abandon. We would also have the time to make something really nice if we didn’t want to spend hardly any money but wanted to show we care. But, as it is, we, like so many other people, must be frugal and simply don’t have the time. So we must brave the crowds and faint from exhaustion, but still try to remain the people God would be proud of.
Be thrifty, but not cheap. Be shrewd, but don’t cheat your fellow man. And remember the reason for the season.
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