Basil & Butterflies

As we all know, the biggest shopping day of the year is the Friday after Thanksgiving. Generally, this makes it the perfect day for Geoff and I to stay away from shopping. Neither of us loves shopping to begin with, but when you add in massive crowds, flashing “deal” signs, and traffic-jammed parking lots, the day’s torturous elements far outweigh any money saved. More than that, there is something about the day that has rubbed me wrong since I was in high school and worked retail in a bookstore in a mall. I watched people crowding into the mall, moving quickly from store to store, rushing to make the deal times. The whole scene struck me as animalistic—humans as “consuming animals” rather than people.

Brute consumption is the point of Black Friday. Any sale scheme that entices customers to part with their money is deemed fair game. And, really, I can’t blame businesses, whose whole purpose is to make a profit. But, I do often wonder about the society, we as a whole, are creating where finding deals and finding more stuff (as opposed to necessities) is so thrilling. My local news carried a story yesterday about people who got in line on Thanksgiving for deals on Black Friday. Presumably, at least some of these folks had families; yet, for some reason these people found it more compelling to get in line for stuff than to spend time with those families.

I wonder if we are sacrificing too much in the ironic quest to obtain things we don’t need. In exchange for free services and low-cost goods, we get phone solicitations at home (interrupting family time), we take in hundreds (if not thousands) of advertisements per day, we cut short family time to seek out and pay for better deals, and we allow a holiday that was originally about the miracle of Incarnation to be transformed into a “season” of buying. Of course, this doesn’t even get into the ecological, social justice, and moral costs of contributing to a consumption-focused society.

So, I understand the impetus for movements like “Buy Nothing Day.” The organizers of this day specifically ask people to buy nothing on Black Friday (hopefully also including incurring limited utility costs by unplugging appliances, etc.). It may seem as if only a coordinated effort will have any effect on the spiraling culture of consumption. I commend their efforts at raising public awareness about the day, but this movement isn’t really my bag either. Why? Because Buy Nothing Day comes across as the exact opposite of Buy Everything Day (Black Friday), right down to dictating how people should spend their day.

I am interested in more organic pursuits. If people have something that they need (say, a new refrigerator), why shouldn’t they go and purchase it on the day of a sale where they can save $250? This is even more crucial in our current reality in the United States, where 1 out of every 10 people is at least 30 days behind on their mortgages, and our unemployment rate is an increasing 10.2 percent. If Black Friday deals make it possible for people to afford winter coats or household goods, who am I to tell them that they shouldn’t support the institution of Black Friday?

In the end, I suppose the element of Black Friday that bothers me most is the notion that people who miss out on the deals are fools…that everyone can be persuaded by bright signs and shiny tchotkes to part with their hard-earned money.  But, it is almost as irritating to be told that people are wrong or bad for participating in the day. Either way, there are implied, judgment-based messages of how people should spend their time on the day after Thanksgiving. I prefer to move past this notion that people are animals (sheep, anyone?) who can be prodded with relative ease into a course of action that may be contrary to the interests of their families. Of course, moving past this farm framework may take a coordinated movement…

By the way, my family had a fantastic Black Friday. We went on a hike and spent money on dinner out (which included a shared pumpkin milkshake at an outside table….cold, but hilarious). I suppose, we were in-between on the spectrum of spending…the retail folks would be unhappy with us, as would the buy-nothing group. But we had a fun, memorable day. And that’s what matters to me.

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