Friday, November 23, 2012

You Don't Have To BlackFriday It, Did You Know That?



Due to financial instabilities of the economy within the world of this household, we are not going to be a part of the Black Friday money-saving madness today. People spend to save, but it's still spending.

Black Friday makes people lose their minds. McDonald's opens at 2:30 a.m., stores open at 4 a.m. with "Door Buster" savings where they only stock five or six of that bustin' item advertised to get you to show up and bust their doors down. They have no fear of you turning around and leaving when you find out the $89 flat screen TV you wanted is sold out; "well, as long as I'm here, I'll buy something else."

I'm sleeping in the day after Thanksgiving. I'll get up and walk around in my well worn mismatched pajamas, sipping on my newly habited Decaf, and make cinnamon rolls for my children. I know what I'll be missing, HUGE deals, 40 percent off and more! sales.

I'll especially miss out on things like this:

-Getting my face pepper sprayed when going for the last coveted door buster Xbox.

-Being trampled while already lined-up customers duck underneath a lifting store gate.

-Getting carried away in a sea of humanity over $2 waffle irons.

-Climbing across and into vats of sweet potatoes to get to a video game.

-And if you smugly think this wouldn't happen to you because you never go to the likes of Walmart or Best Buy, here's a scene of a hipster crowd at Urban Outfitters, showing the theft detector devices that were stomped down in an insane gates-opening dash.

There's a lot to miss.

This holiday, let's re-think the old habit of imitating what the mainstream does. Consider rejecting the spirit of greed and consumerism: not just because of the b.s listed above, but so that your family watches and learns from you. Do it for them. Let them see that the holidays are about sharing all we've been blessed with, with those that are struggling.

A holiday season without any thought for those without, or at a loss, is an impoverished holiday. 

Think about this: 1 in 4 children in America goes to bed hungry because of unemployment, neediness, the mental and physical health of their caretakers. You know how hard it is to fall asleep hungry? These children do, every night.

If you venture out today, let it be to a grocery store. Take your kids with you and let them fill a whole shopping cart with food for others. See those big food donation barrels placed at almost every grocery store door starting this week? Fill them. The best items to donate are baby cereal, dry cereals, delicious flavored instant oatmeals that only need water to prepare, packs of tuna, instant add water only pancake mix, canned soup or ravioli or beefy mac, jars of peanut butter, the mac & cheese that comes with the prepared sauce and doesn't need butter or milk.(see the pattern? Get the Add Water Only--we take much for granted, including that ALL households have milk, eggs, butter ... they don't.)

Go crazy that way. Lose your mind and buy every single box of ready-made Kraft there is and climb over each other to get them in the Food for Families food barrels.

Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing to see on the news tonight? People knocking each other over to fill those donation receptacles? Maybe someday, we'll get it right.

Peace Out.

xo

30 comments:

  1. Isn't it ironic that the day after giving thanks, people trample each other and act like greedy idiots to get more, more, more unnecessary "stuff".

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  2. I wish everyone would think like you - the world would be a better place. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. xo

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  3. I cannot thnk of any sale worth giving up precious time with my family and risking a perfectly good mood for. I also refuse to miss my spot in line for leftovers. Love you food barrel idea!

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  4. I have to admit that this time of year often makes me want to hide from the news, the Internet and a majority of public places due to the "need, need, need" "want, want, want" mentality of so many. Instead I search out like-minded souls who understand the way that I think. Thank goodness for you, my friend.

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  5. I say that all the time. That spending to save is still spending and I'm broke lol.

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  6. There was someone with a kid on their shoulders at the front of the line. When the gate (Urban Outfitters video)is halfway up, this person rushes through and knocks the kid backwards. There was no stopping and the kid went through as in a Limbo contest. Horrible enough without bringing a small child. I am happy to say I never ever participate in this madness, which should actually be outlawed. Bargains Be Damned!

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  7. I could totally get behind this. Think I'll share it around. Thanks!

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  8. I'm with you, sister. Except the decaf part. That terrifies me.

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    Replies
    1. I had no choice, Antonia: my stomach was eating me alive.

      I feel one thousand percent better. It's nice to not feel sick every day.

      xo

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  9. I am SO on this page this year. Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Just read your post today: I'm with you all the way. Our kids are watching ...

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  10. Stop making me cry on Black Friday.

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    Replies
    1. Love the name of your blog, how I WISH I knew how to find you.
      xo

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  11. THIS has been what's on my mind. You said it so well. I hope someday we get it right, too.

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    1. Right? IT's getting ridiculous;;already in the news about two injuries.

      People COME ON!

      It's only stuff!!

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  12. Why was McDonald's open so early? To feed the freaks? Gift cards? Giving away hashbrowns? weird.

    My wedding anniversary was Tuesday. We celebrated today. After sleeping in, my wife and i (my teenage daughter was Black Friday shopping with two friends, using her own money) went to our favorite restaurant, then stopped by a discount dollar type store to pick up a few small things.

    I read on Forbes that Black Friday shopping doesn't even help the stores make profits. It helps them break even. I can;t imagine being someone who waits in a line, knocks over an old lady, elbows a twelve-year-old just to get a tv for 100 dollars less than normal.

    Happy Holiday, Empress *bowing*

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  13. No shopping today here, either. A tiny bit of list making, as the season looms before me. But mostly sitting around in my jammies as my children play around me. And a little cleaning out of the toy bins. We have a growing box of things to give away. Tis the season, and tis mom's sanity need.

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  14. I can honestly say I've never been shopping on Black Friday.

    My mom died on Thanksgiving day, it was fitting as my siblings and I were so grateful to have had her in our lives.

    I like to keep this weekend as a special family time to reflect.

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    1. Mrs. Tuna: I am so sorry. I know how that colors the holiday for you: my father died on Thankgiving.
      Changes things, doesn' it.

      Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy the time with your dear ones.

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  15. I did go Black Friday shopping and I do every year, and I love it and for me its not really about the deals I like the excitement. I've never been anywhere near the kind of news worthy situations you've mentioned (and I've been to Best Buy) maybe people in Woodbury, Minnesota are calmer. Who knows. BUT that said I love your idea of filling those food bins. And yes, the add water part is very important and often forgotten.

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  16. I'm with you! I don't do Black Friday....just can't. I would rather sleep in and hang out with my boys :)

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  17. I don't know anyone who shops black friday. Online, perhaps.

    Know what they need at the shelters? New disposable razors. Socks for all ages. New underwear for all sizes. Diapers. Gloves for all sizes.

    Go to a linen store and buy everything you'd need to set up a new house. Bring it to the halfway house or battered women's shelter.

    Thanks for the post, empress.

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  18. It would be awesome see such an outpouring of giving!

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  19. I don't get it. You won't see me at any Black Friday sale, ever. But the food donations I like. Just maybe on another day.

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  20. Thank you so much for writing this, Alexandra. We never do Black Friday. It's a sick, warped message that brings out the oddest of people and the worst in people. No need for us or our children to witness or even partake in it. This year we worked on Friday but I need to rethink our traditions for next year...my son will be a little older then and I'd like for us to do something in the community.

    I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

    (Sorry to be late catching up! We ended up skipping town with good friends :-))

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  21. I just saw your note above. I didn't realize your father had died on Thanksgiving...I am so sorry.

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