Black Friday
My parents, who came of age during the Great Depression, were as thrifty as you can get.
They'd drive from store to store to find a bargain, maybe spending more on gas than they saved.
But...
I don't think they'd be part of the recent explosion of "Black Friday" events that sometimes result in people behaving badly. Very badly.
I'll admit it: I hate shopping. There's no way I'll ever understand what makes someone camp out for hours to be the first in the store so they can save $100 on a TV. Maybe it's to save money, but it often looks more like greed.
To me it's another demonstration of how we Americans have become more consumers than citizens. It's especially sad that the all-American holiday of Thanksgiving has become an obscene festival of buying more stuff.
Buy Nothing Day
Our Canadian friends at Adbusters have been trying to fight this for years with their Buy Nothing Day campaign.
Makes sense to me, but apparently not to many of my fellow Americans.
If you enjoy Black Friday shopping, please help me understand why by adding your comments below.
