"Mom, can we go shopping tomorrow?" the question came from my sweet child, as she and her sibling watched a family friendly animated movie on network television Thanksgiving night. Against my better judgment, I'd thought it sounded like a good idea to let them watch a channel other than PBS for some children's programming. I answered that, no, we wouldn't be shopping, but we'd be doing some of the other sports and family activities we'd already planned.
"Please, it's Black Friday, and you're gonna miss out," my daughter tried to reason. She wasn't sure exactly what it was that we needed to buy, but an hour's worth of commercials had conveyed to her a sense of urgency. Oddly, most of the commercials I'd noticed weren't even for toys, but were instead for household gadgets. She never mentioned a specific item, but just that it sounded like we needed to go shopping.
Later that night I made the mistake of trying a quick run for glass pie pans and baking supplies at a popular discount store. My bad timing: it was a couple of minutes before 10 o'clock, and the parking lot was overflowing with shoppers who seemed to feel a sense of urgency. I couldn't find a parking space. I gave up on getting supplies there and made do with what I could find at the grocery store.
Maybe our household will miss out on the deal of the year or we won't have the latest version of every electronic gadget. I'm not against shopping or bargain hunting, I just choose to not get caught up in the frenzy of it all. Black Friday reminds me of some wise words from a thoughtful mom I interviewed last year about what you might call conscious consumerism.
Black Friday Shopping Alternatives
Black Friday Shopping Alternatives
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