Black Friday

Sounds sinister, "Black Friday." What a day to follow Thanksgiving. They just couldn't leave the homey food fest alone, could they, as a rather "non-commercial" holiday supposedly centered around getting some family quality time. Sure, some people used to get some of their holiday shopping done after Thursday's fresh, hot slabs of turkey had become Friday's sandwich scraps, but then the Big Box stores figured they could turn the forth Thursday, a day off, in retail oblivion, when most stores are/were (thankfully) closed, into a shake down for the biggest festival of retail gluttony of the year. So a day of excess eating (and football) is just a prelude to the real game: When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping... EARLY. Like 2 AM. Like five hours before the stores even open.

Is that why they call it "black" Friday? Because it's the only day of the year people line up in the DARK to wait in line to buy new flatscreen HDTVs? Or because it drives the sensible and more humble but un-American semi-fringe-materialists into a deep, deep depression? (Treading lightly is seen as a sign of WEAKNESS in this country.)

Oh, I know it's probably called "Black Friday" because it's meant to put the stores in the black. Get it, folks? It ain't for you they're doing this? It's for the shareholders. And how many shares are you holding? If not many, then what goes around may not come around. All this loot bagging may not trickle down to you. The "black" are PROFITS, and you're not the one profitting.

Really, it used to seem a little whimsical, getting some nice stuff for family and friends. Now, with a raft of early bird fliers and timed offers, it just seems like blood sport. They want you to think the jostling crowds are part of it, as if shopping for appliances is at its best when it's a contact sport.

Sort of like the football that had already broadcast a cancerous pall over a day meant to give humble thanks. For food and some basic necessities. The outright, stadium-sized gluttony of stuff is the name of the game, and the more you spend, the more your credit rating needs a grave digger. The more your credit cards need not a higher spending limit but scissors.

Now spending addicts, I mean sports fans, Best Big Box City's got your number, NOT your best interests at heart.