Black Art for a Black Friday
Like millions of Americans, I got up at 6 am this morning. In past years there probably would have been millions more Americans, but the fewer of us that got up were all headed in the same direction - the shopping center.
Today I experienced Black Friday for this first time in my life. As a Canadian the whole concept of Black Friday alluded me. To be honest, as a kid, I thought the "black" in Black Friday referred to some tragedy. It led me to believe that I should be issuing my sympathies to Americans on this day.
But no, today is the day retailers are expected to "go into the black" in terms of profits for the year. In the pre-Christmas rush, large retailers across the US participate in lower pricing for popular items causing the American consumer to participate in commerce en masse.
I had told myself that other than a few deals of note, my participation was needed not to buy but to observe. I would act as a grand sociological observer among the wilds of the American shopper. How big would the crowds be? Do people really start shopping at 6am? How good were the deals?
So at 6:18am exactly this morning I headed off to visit the local Target, Best Buy, Old Navy and Circuit City.
Today, however, in the midst of a recession I can't actually say that there was the sort of crowds that had been described to me. Although there were line-ups to cash out, they seemed to dissipate fairly quickly. The parking lots did have a good number of cars packed with families piling into the stores, but were far from overflowing. Ladies and gentlemen, I have official eye-witness confirmation of a recession.
This exercise in mass commerce is not something Canadians are exempt from. Boxing Day is supposed to invoke the same sort of exercise in preplanning, early rising and mass buying. And my suspicion is that the Boxing Day crowds will be just as meek this year in Canada.
But why do these events exist? Why should "stuff" matter this much? For both countries, stuff is what seems to matter. I've said that Hobbes would love the US - to me it's the original home of commodious living. It's not that hard to live well here (which is not to say there aren't hardships), but Americans seem all too willing to forget the difference between living well and living excessively. So too do Canadians, despite our apparent socialist leanings.
The excessive commerce of Black Friday and Boxing Day are exemplary of this trend. That days are created by retailers and the media that intend to push people into the malls and shopping centers, stands as all too much evidence of the need for stuff.
The one small (very small) great thing about a recession is it can allow us to reset the clock - readjust our expectations and assess our true needs. Hopefully through all of this we end up seeing that stuff is only stuff. And it's pretty far from being substance.
Like millions of Americans, I got up at 6 am this morning. In past years there probably would have been millions more Americans, but the fewer of us that got up were all headed in the same direction - the shopping center.
Today I experienced Black Friday for this first time in my life. As a Canadian the whole concept of Black Friday alluded me. To be honest, as a kid, I thought the "black" in Black Friday referred to some tragedy. It led me to believe that I should be issuing my sympathies to Americans on this day.
But no, today is the day retailers are expected to "go into the black" in terms of profits for the year. In the pre-Christmas rush, large retailers across the US participate in lower pricing for popular items causing the American consumer to participate in commerce en masse.
I had told myself that other than a few deals of note, my participation was needed not to buy but to observe. I would act as a grand sociological observer among the wilds of the American shopper. How big would the crowds be? Do people really start shopping at 6am? How good were the deals?
So at 6:18am exactly this morning I headed off to visit the local Target, Best Buy, Old Navy and Circuit City.
Today, however, in the midst of a recession I can't actually say that there was the sort of crowds that had been described to me. Although there were line-ups to cash out, they seemed to dissipate fairly quickly. The parking lots did have a good number of cars packed with families piling into the stores, but were far from overflowing. Ladies and gentlemen, I have official eye-witness confirmation of a recession.
This exercise in mass commerce is not something Canadians are exempt from. Boxing Day is supposed to invoke the same sort of exercise in preplanning, early rising and mass buying. And my suspicion is that the Boxing Day crowds will be just as meek this year in Canada.
But why do these events exist? Why should "stuff" matter this much? For both countries, stuff is what seems to matter. I've said that Hobbes would love the US - to me it's the original home of commodious living. It's not that hard to live well here (which is not to say there aren't hardships), but Americans seem all too willing to forget the difference between living well and living excessively. So too do Canadians, despite our apparent socialist leanings.
The excessive commerce of Black Friday and Boxing Day are exemplary of this trend. That days are created by retailers and the media that intend to push people into the malls and shopping centers, stands as all too much evidence of the need for stuff.
The one small (very small) great thing about a recession is it can allow us to reset the clock - readjust our expectations and assess our true needs. Hopefully through all of this we end up seeing that stuff is only stuff. And it's pretty far from being substance.
posted by Jen S. @ 10:40 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home