Yes, tis the season to go shopping. Or at least that's what corporate America would like us to think. I just read this blog, and I am not religious, but I fully respect the commentary on this blog post. I think the holiday season should be a time for reflection, family, and setting your sight towards the new year. http://blogs.worldwatch.org/transformingcultures/rethinking-christmas/
There are many options that don't include participating in the shopping madness on Friday.
- Volunteer for a day
- Go for a hike
- Have a board game party
- Have friends over for leftovers
- watch a movie
- organize a clothing swap
- make your gifts for Christmas (like a calendar with family photos)
- balance your checkbook
- reasses your budget
- wash your car
- anything but go shopping :-)
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'Tis the season all right... Lately I've been waffling between "Buy nothing" and "Buy local". I was on board with the sentiment of that blog post until it suggested abandoning gift giving on Christmas entirely. Having worked in retail, I know that a lot of retail businesses make all their money during the holiday season. They can afford to be open the rest of the year because of Black Friday and Christmas. WalMart and those other big box stores could afford to stick around if people just went cold turkey on shopping, but little neighborhood shops would die out. Sure, maybe people would be buying less, but you have to consider the health of the economy too.
ReplyDeleteI won't be heading to WalMart this Friday, but a couple of my favorite boutiques in Portland are having sales... Should I support them, or have a "buy nothing" day?
Sigh. Sorry for the rant. :) I'm just not sure what the answer is.
I think there's something about the frenzy of the day that's odd for me. Growing up, I actually wasn't even conscious of the day until I was maybe 17. Perhaps because I was then old enough to buy my own gifts though I didn't actually participate until I was 21, and still didn't buy anything. It was the year that Bush told us to go out and help the country by shopping. Yes, I did venture out. But couldn't figure out what the big deal was. The sales sucked, so I figured I'd just wait until my usual end of season clearance shopping. I think his message was huge in affecting how we see shopping, translating it to some nationalistic behavior. Over the years it feels like more and more is being put on this one day, and Christmas is starting ever so earlier.
ReplyDeleteI'm not against buying and most days are buy nothing days simply because of budget. I'm totally for supporting local economies when I have the means. However, I think purchases should be calculated...not a part of a frenzy deals. If we put as much into celebrating birthdays as we do one holiday season, stores would have a more consistent flow of income. I know, not going to happen. But an interesting idea...