The days of waiting in line all night for a chance at a bargain are over.
I am doing well to move this morning. No longer being accustomed to standing on my feet for hours on end, yesterday’s marathon of ten hours in the kitchen did me in. My ankles were throbbing as I fell into bed early last night. This morning, walking the dog was painful. None of my joints wanted to cooperate. This is all beside the fact that I still feel totally overstuffed from dinner. After yesterday, I don’t see how anyone can even think about getting up too damn early and standing in line for an alleged deal.
Black Friday used to be a tradition for a lot of families, but that tradition seems to be waning rather heavily.  I took note as we walked through the neighborhood this morning. Several cars were missing yesterday as many had gone to visit relatives for the holiday. However, everyone was back home this morning. No one was out shopping at 4:00 AM. The only vehicle out was the local newspaper carrier.
While it’s still much too early to get many reliable reports, lower numbers seem to be the case elsewhere. Britain tried adopting the U.S. tradition a few years ago, but reports this morning are that UK shoppers and retailers have largely turned their backs on Black Friday. We’re accustomed to hearing tales of chaos and fighting, but Business Insider sent someone out early to Wal-Mart and they reported everything was quiet, calm, and not the least bit overcrowded. Black Friday as we once knew it is dead. Sure, there’s still shopping, and greed, and one-day sales, but the whole event has changed and isn’t likely to return to the madhouse it once was.
This is a good thing.
The Myth Of Black Friday
Black Friday has never been the big savings bonanza people tend to think. Prices are marked down on a few highly visible loss leaders in an attempt to get people into stores. For decades, that plan has worked. Here’s a rather hilarious video that explains the whole concept:
For years we’ve fallen for this piece of retail fraud. We like the idea of sales. In fact, we’ve conditioned ourselves to not pay what we think is full price for anything. Retailers know this. So, that “full price” is falsified so that the actual “full price” looks like a bargain. We fall for the trick every time.
We also like the holidays and for many Black Friday shopping is a part of their holiday routine. Whole families have been known to go out together, setting up tents in frigid temperatures, and pretending to love every minute of it because, hey, it’s the holidays and it’s families. Retailers know that as well and they’ve pushed store openings earlier to the point that many now open on Thanksgiving day itself. Why? Because they know you just can’t wait to start the holidays.
So, while retailers may be guilty of starting the whole Black Friday ruse, we’re the ones guilty of perpetuating it and making it worse. The ridiculousness only works because we buy into the whole myth. If we actually applied intelligent thought to the matter, the whole event would quickly go away.
But Wait, Something Is Changing
This year Black Friday is noticeably different. Multiple news sources are finding that Black Friday is losing its focus and online sales surged yesterday as more people decided to stay home and shop online. Major big-box retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy as well as online powerhouse Amazon all started their Black Friday sales two weeks in advance for those savvy enough to be paying attention.
In some ways, Black Friday isn’t just a one-day event, but an entire shopping season unto itself. With online sales having grown by over 16%, brick-and-mortar retailers are having to scramble harder and getting much less in return. Last year’s Black Friday numbers were some of the most disappointing ever, leaving a large number of stores still looking at red on their accounting books rather than black. The hope this year has been that by expanding the sales as well as embracing online shopping that disaster might be averted.
Take note, though: US retailers weren’t hurting nearly as bad as they let on. Sales numbers at discount merchants, which is where most of you are shopping in the first place, have been booming. Deep discounters, such as Dollar Store and Dollar Tree are actually expanding, building more stores, and hiring more staff. Who’s left hurting are high-dollar luxury goods stores and high-end department stores such as Macy’s and Nordstrom. Mall stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch and American Apparel are at risk of having to close more stores if this holiday season does not improve dramatically, and there’s no indication it will.
Sure, we still love a good sale, but fewer of us are willing to get out of bed at some ungodly hour on a cold morning in November to actually take advantage of those sales. We’d rather sit home, surf on our phones, and buy that cute sweater online. Black Friday as a day of chaos and high sales appears to be all but dead.
Controlling Our Greed
I’ve complained about Black Friday before. In fact, these photos were first part of a Black Friday rant four years ago. Unfortunately, we lost that particular article when the server crashed a couple of years ago. Still, my point is that this exercise in sheer greed is not new. Just because the shape of Black Friday is expanding beyond a single 24-hour period doesn’t mean that we’re buying any less. We’re not. If anything, our constant consumption has taken our shopping to new heights. While the bash-em-in-the-head version of Black Friday might be over, what we’ve done is expand the scope and methodology of our greed. We’re buying more.
Sure, where we’re shopping has changed. We’re buying more from local stores, which improves our local economy. We’re buying more online, which helps the environment a little bit, allegedly. We’re still buying, though, and not necessarily so we can give to others. While the numbers vary wildly from one report to another, a fair portion of us useBlack Friday sales to buy things for ourselves. That new big screen TV? Yeah, that’s going in our own living room. We can call if a family gift if you want, but we still know the actual reasoning was pure selfishness. We deserve it, right? That sweater? Hey, it’s getting colder out and that one you bought last year is looking a bit ratty. And you can never have too many pants.
We don’t need to have a Black Friday to be greedy. We just are. We always have been. Each year, we say we’re going to give more to charity. Each year, there are more opportunities to real good. Each year, we just let those opportunities slip right on by. Why? Because those boots are40% off the price previously marked up 50$. We’re not buying them for the kids, or for Aunt Ella. Those are going in our own closets. We’re greedy.
Herein lies the perpetual hypocrisy of Thanksgiving, a reflection of much of the hypocrisy other countries see in all of America. We claim to be so concerned about others. We claim to want what is best for the world. But in the end, it’s our own fat asses we take care of. We give thanks for what we have and then demand more.
I made sausage balls yesterday and set them out for everyone to snack on throughout the day. My hope was that they would be enough to keep the little ones out of my hair. It didn’t work. They looked at the overflowing container and asked, “It this all we’re getting?”
We learn greed young. We need to get over our fat selves. Let’s kill Black Friday for good. Stay home. Don’t shop for what you don’t legitimately need. Stop the greed.
6 Reasons No One Likes You
Broken Princess (2011)
“Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. Photography is a major force in explaining man to man.” -Edward Steichen
[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Yesterday we explained to everyone that you’re going to die. Armed with that knowledge, one might think that people would be a bit nicer, more accommodating, and trying to leave an enduring legacy of peace and hope. Nope, that’s not happening. Instead, we’re surrounded by people who are absolutely rotten and don’t seem to be capable of understanding exactly why it is that no one likes them. The whole situation might be funny if it weren’t for the fact that roughly half the US population is not only unlikable but absolutely baffled as to why. Please, allow us to try and shed some light on the subject. While the justifications are myriad, we have concatenated them down to six primary reasons that no one likes you.
Let me state for the record that we are combining all negative attitudes toward anyone within the LGBTQ community. Gay jokes are no longer acceptable. “That’s so gay” is one of the most rude statements you can make. All those derogatory terms you’ve been using? I can’t think of any faster way to get reasonable people to turn their back and walk away. LGBTQ people are absolutely no threat to you, so stop being so damn afraid. They’re not out to recruit you. They’re not going to cause the downfall of society. They’re not responsible for bad weather. Letting them marry isn’t going to effect your sham of a marriage. Get over yourself already and accept them for the beautiful people they are.
Interestingly enough, we’re not necessarily talking about the 1% here. At least, we’re not talking about the richest .o1%. I’ve met some of those people and found them to be among the most generous because they realize that, to a very large extent, they got lucky. What no one likes is the person who is among the nouveau rich and can’t be bothered to share their wealth with anyone else. They think they need a third house, a fourth car, or a bigger boat while complaining about all those “other” people who simply would like a living wage without having to work three jobs. For you, I have a very important message:
Whether one has any money or not, only thinking about yourself, insisting that the world revolves around you, is just as bad a social crime as being a greedy SOB. This would include the sales manager who keeps demanding more of his/her floor people so they have less work to do themselves. Bosses who make everyone else work weekends but doesn’t work one themselves also falls into this category. Oh, and let’s not forget the people who demand everyone help them move but are always “busy” when someone else needs help. It is time you understand that we see through your bullshit and we don’t like you.[/one_half]
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I genuinely fail to understand this whole war on the poor and disadvantaged that has popped up over the past few years. This is very much not a part of the United States in which I grew up and it has the ability to make me angry about as fast as anything can. I was raised that when you see someone who needs help, you help them, not spit at them or yell at them to “get a job.” We felt pity for those who were unemployed and had difficulty finding work. There was an understanding that even those who are on government assistance still often need additional help with clothing and transportation. Helping people was not just the Christian thing to do, it was the human thing to do. Now, not helping is actually a plank in some people’s presidential platform! Poor are called greedy just for wanting to feed their children. Homeless are shamed because they lost jobs that went overseas. You talk bad about disadvantaged people and not only does no one like you but I firmly believe the universe will wreak vengeance on you.
There is a whole culture of violence across the country that seems to be growing. Perhaps it is fueled by anger to some degree, but more than anything I find it is fueled by fears that are totally unreasonable. Racism is part of it, but there’s more than that going on for violence between people of the same color is higher than ever. We’re finally starting to call out publicly those people who commit acts of domestic violence against family members, and unnecessary violence among law enforcement is getting some attention. But bullying still remains a critical issue and gang on gang violence hasn’t backed off for years. If you’re involved in hurting other people on any level, no one likes you. No one wants you around. No one wants to risk being your next victim.
Nine percent. That’s how many people in the US approve of Congress. Let’s flip that number, shall we? Ninety-one percent of all the people from one end of this country to the other dislike the United States Congress. This isn’t a new revelation, of course, but it is an all-time low and damned if the members of Congress don’t seem to care. We send them to Washington, we pay their salaries, we pay their staff’s salaries, we entrust them with the care of the nation and what do they do? Nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true; they generate a lot of hot air as complain about how horrible everyone else is. Heaven forbid any of them actually set a good example or anything like that. Members of Congress, we loathe you.
Of course, how you choose to behave is something totally under your control. No one forces you to be an asshole, you choose it. You have the ability to change. That doesn’t mean everyone will suddenly like you because we’re used to not trusting; but if you can change, so can everyone’s opinion of you. Just try.[/one_half_last]
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