Black Friday No Way

Happy Thanksgiving!

Despite what you may assume from the title, I'm not bashing the idea of having Christmas sales so early in the year.

I AM going to get serious though. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people gather outside stores in the wee morning hours after Thanksgiving. These tired, turkey drugged shoppers then wait with increasing anxiety as the minutes slowly drag by until the store opens. Finally, one terrified associate is either bullied into or brave enough to turn the key and allow customers to swarm the store for the big sale.

Every year, someone dies.

That initial push always kills someone. A life, something irreplaceable and impossible to discount is lost. It doesn't happen very often, but it happens more often than it should.

Just to illustrate the point, imagine having to have this conversation.

"Oh, I'm sorry, how did your beloved family member die?"

"Sales shopping."

Really? Is it worth it for someone to lose their precious family member and never see them again in future Thanksgivings?

Not to mention the arguing, the bickering, the stealing, the shop lifting, the easy theft, and the total disrepair of morals that would have held true had the shoppers been more awake, alert, and less desperate.

Granted, some families can only afford nice things on this one particular day. Yes, stores are trying to depressurize the day with online shopping and extending the sale around that particular day to the rest of the month.

Still, someone always dies.

For stuff.

For things that will wear out and break down and in the end only bring a few moments of pleasure.

For things that can be bought at the same price with the right discount and coupon combo any other day of the year or afforded with the right savings plan.

Why?

Because we are impatient. Because it's exciting to race. Because stuff is presented as bright and shiny and needed.

Historically, there have been times when a single death was all it took to enact cultural movements. Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination triggered World War I. Emmett Till's brutal murder sparked sympathy for the Civil Rights Movement. Today, people are shot by police and gangsters and plenty are in arms to call for things like gun reform, end of racism and police brutality.

People die on Black Friday and all you hear is, "Too bad. Isn't that so sad?"

There are no loud wars on the stuff culture. There are no cries for dis-banning the practice of Black Friday. Wars on the stuff culture don't turn profits. People don't like hearing the word "no" or the phrase, "you don't need that" or "you can't have it." I guess the major difference between the people who die shopping and the innocent people who die on the streets because of gang violence is that there is no solid bad guy, except for our culture of stuff.

Sorry for the especially dark post. As you read this, this holiday season, remember the people around you, and be aware of them, love them, watch out for them, protect them. Even if they're not your baby. If you are shopping early tomorrow, watch for the people that fall and then fight for their lives.

It's more important than any 75% discount.