There’s nothing I love more than a good sale. The thrill when you walk up to a store and see a sidewalk sale set up out front.
The challenge of rifling through clearance racks in the backs of department stores. The camaraderie with the other shoppers who are also taking advantage of markdowns.
The validation you feel when the clerk checks you out and comments on the awesome deals you’ve found (compounded if they tell you the total amount you saved).
Sale shopping can be a near religious experience, and we’re coming upon the most wonderful time of the year, when stores reach out to shoppers with enticing prices and we feed right into the consumerism our economy so desperately needs.
Open houses, doorbusters, Christmas sales, post-Christmas deals and that holiday to end all holidays: Black Friday.
Look, I’m not saying Black Friday is a better holiday than the day that precedes it; I’m just saying sales are more exciting than ancient parades and turkeys.
One of the holidays is full of the spirit of America, and I think we all know which one it is.
The two holidays are getting increasingly confused, anyway, as stores open earlier and earlier for their Black Friday festivities.
This year, Walmart is opening for Black Friday at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, and Target is following suit at 9 p.m. Other stores like Best Buy hold out until midnight, one minute after Thanksgiving is officially over.
The Mall at Barnes Crossing is also opening at midnight for the first time this year, with the exception of good old JC Penney, who refuses to open until 6 a.m.
Many will applaud JCP for their stubbornness, and I must say I agree that someone needs to put a stop to this madness. You can’t start a holiday called Black Friday on a Thursday: that’s just false advertising. It ruins the sanctity of the holiday.
You don’t get sales until after all the turkey has been put away and the datebook on your phone flips over to Friday. That’s just the way it is. Besides that, Black Friday encroaching upon Turkey Day is just plain rude.
Thanksgiving is about family, and it’s difficult to enjoy spending time with Aunt Jo and Uncle Bob when you’re leaving to get in line at Wal-Mart before supper is over.
Even Cyber Monday seems to be subject to this time jump phenomenon. Amazon, the cyber superstore, begins its sales the Monday before Thanksgiving and updates them daily, culminating on Cyber Monday.
Several other online markets are starting their advertising and teaser sales earlier and earlier.
I’ve got to admit, it takes a bit of fun out of the biggest online sale day of the year when I’m getting emails for other crazy good sales for the entire week preceding it.
Even so, I feel there’s probably no stopping consumerism from taking over bit by bit. One day the sales will probably start at noon on Thanksgiving and serve complimentary turkey and cranberry sauce.
I say we should make the best of it. Invite Aunt Midge to stand in line at Belk while you go with Cousin Shelly to pick up some Estée Lauder perfume for your grandmother.
Have your geek cousin set up a computer program to do price checks so you can challenge the match price guarantee. Set up walkie talkies for all your family members and launch a secret initiative whose goal is getting the best deals for everyone. When you get right down to it, all holidays can be family holidays.
Just make sure you’re careful out there. Not all of us are full of the Black Friday spirit, and crowds can get pretty nasty. Every year there are horrible injuries sustained from Black Friday mobs.
One might hope having the holiday so close to family togetherness might bring out the best in people, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. So go get your sales, spend time with the whole family and revel in the beautiful prices. But make sure to stay safe. After all, your brother values your safety far above the Wii U.