A few years ago I got some coupons for a chain clothing store. They were good only on Black Friday, so I thought, what the heck - might as well give it a shot. It was horrible. Even after the morning rush was over, the stores were packed. The employees were overworked and angry, the customers were dazed and rude, and the sales weren’t even that great. That was the year I said, “Never again.”
That might seem a little drastic, but it made perfect sense for me, since I have a mild phobia of crowds to begin with. But over time I’ve come to see this act to preserve my own sanity as more of a principled stance. After all, we bemoan the ugly consumerism of the Christmas season, but we kick off our celebrations by trampling each other at dawn for the latest hot toy. We scoff at how early stores start advertising and decorating for Christmas, but then we reward them for their efforts by lining up around the block to take advantage of the sales we’ve been reading about. We can shake our heads all we want, but the only way to reverse this trend is to refuse to participate in it.
Lately, there’s been a movement to take the anti-Black Friday sentiment a step further and declare it “Buy Nothing Day.” You can read more about it here - it’s a form of protest against consumerism. While critics point out (correctly) that it doesn’t actually do anything to reduce consumption, since people will just postpone their shopping to the weekend, I like to think of it more as a spiritual exercise. Taking some time at the beginning of the holiday season to step back and mentally prepare can only be a good thing.
If you’re thinking of participating, you can find some ideas for alternate activities here. Personally, I’ll be taking some time to prioritize my charitable giving for the coming year, something I’ve been meaning to do for awhile, but haven’t had the time. However, I’m not 100% sure I’ll be able to follow an absolute spending moratorium, mainly because I was thinking of going to the movies with my mom. I’ll give myself a pass on that one, mainly because I live 300 miles away from my mom, and we don’t get that much time to spend together. Regardless, I do know I’ll head into the Christmas season without anything crossed off my Christmas list, but a little calmer.
PG-Rated
I tried! DH and I are visiting family, so we had to do a bit of grocery shopping (carrots and onions to make the turkey stew) and replenish the caffeine supply (mochas from a cute little coffee shop). But that’s it!