Fuck Black Friday

Greetings, dear readers.

Today is Black Friday, otherwise known as the start of the Christmas shopping season and the high holy day of consumerism. Though the name of this uniquely American holiday is of obscure origin, Black Friday is marked by people lining up outside of stores in the wee early hours of the morning and stampeding in as soon as the doors open to score goodies. It's a day marked by outrageous images and videos of fights over toys, clothes and electronics, police arrests and the occasional hospital trip or death caused by shoppers high on the adrenaline rush.

Rocky got it right. Pic found here

But for my family, we will have none of that nonsense.

As the crudely-worded title of this post implies, I have nothing but contempt for Black Friday. The reason is simple-people lose their minds over it! It's like a giant pig fest with people swarming the stores and malls, going into debt buying things they or their families may not need or ever use. It's stupid, and to risk an arrest record over it is even MORE stupid!

I admit, in times past, I too engaged in Black Friday shopping. I never could wake up at 2AM and go camp outside of Best Buy to score DVDs or whatever, preferring to sleep instead. It would usually be around noon or so when my brother and I would head on over to the mall and shop. We never went crazy with our expedition, but we did buy stuff.

Scenes from Black Friday 2011. My favorite Sephora eyeshadow palette

The one time I've ever owned (and probably will ever own) MAC makeup. This was a smoky eye set.

As my socioeconomic status plunged following my college graduation and entrance into the work world, I began to appreciate why someone like my husband despised the materialism embraced by the middle class and sought to distance himself as far away from it as he could. Does my despising of Black Friday and the crass materialism associated with it have a class aspect to it? Absolutely! Because I lack the income to go shopping on such days, I see it for the contrived farce that it is. Even when I had money, I thought Black Friday was stupid. Poverty has merely reinforced that observation.

I should clarify that I do not scorn Black Friday shoppers who exercise control over their behaviors and spending. Just the wild ones have caught my ire.

So in spite of the ads and calls to shop on Black Friday, my family and I stayed home. I would rather save money and give my child the gifts of time and experience instead of toys which she'll lose interest in after an hour or so. Materialism is a god most unworthy of a sacrifice.