Fade To Black (Friday)

While I am not a fan of hearing Christmas music and seeing signs about holiday shopping before Halloween, I have come to accept that stores are increasingly dependent on this season to make money, so they are desperate to get people mentally in the holiday spirit as soon as possible. That is why for the last three weeks my mail has consisted of more catalogs than actual letters and is the past two weeks I have seen more Christmas trees in parking lots than I ever will in nature. But despite this holiday spirit creeping earlier and earlier on the calendar, we still have Christmas tradition people are sticking with and that is Black Friday. I can not tell you how much this confuses me, because of all the things wrong with holidays that we should be in a hurry to change, Black Friday would come in very high on that list. Everything else about Christmas is encroaching on the rest of the calendar, so why are we so beholden to this concept which some marketing person only came up with a few years ago? Clearly, people are willing to show up at any time as long as the deal is good enough, so why are we so tied to waiting until Friday to kick off the sales?

I've made my feelings on the situation quite clear in previous posts, but to recap: I don't do Black Friday. To me no amount of savings are worth standing in line at 4 AM and nearly getting trampled just to find out I probably bought the wrong size anyway. Plus, I value sleep more than almost any product in the world. Third, I usually have a bad time coming up with gift ideas and have found Black Friday is not the time to wander stores and hope inspiration strikes. Lastly, I have found that you could get pretty good deals at any point this week. That means this entire thing comes down to a math problem in which 30% off + 1/25 of the crowds + a full night's sleep > 60% off. But beyond that, I actually think Black Friday is the clearest picture of what is wrong with us as a people. I get really bummed seeing alleged adults fighting over a toy they have to know their kid will only play with for 20 minutes before moving on to the next fad. The fact people are numb to stories about people getting injured or sprayed with pepper spray should tell you all you need to know about whether or not we have let this get out of hand. This morning I saw a story about a woman essentially getting arrested for cutting in line. Sure, we want to do that the rest of the year, but the fact that it is actually a crime one day of the year is a pretty clear sign that we may be taking this day a little too seriously.

Also, I am starting to question just how good some of these deals actually are. Sure, there are some big name electronics up for grabs at prices you probably won't see ever again, but for every 100" TV available for a song, are we sure they aren't jacking up the prices of all the components you need to actually make it work? Let's not forget, these are big companies whose job is to make money and they aren't inclined to give you a sweet deal out of the kindness of their hearts. They have to pay all those employees who at at work in the middle of the night (some are even getting holiday pay), and these corporations need to make that money back somewhere. I feel like even if you start shopping in a couple weeks you will get comparable prices. On top of that, I think some of these people would be well-served to do a little math. No doubt the savings on big items can be substantial, but if you are waiting to buy something which is $10, than a few extra percentage points won't make that big of a difference. This is the same theory I have about the people who hold off buying things until that sales tax holiday. Sometimes paying a little extra is worth knowing the item you want will actually be there when you go to buy it.

I guess the only reason Black Friday still exists is because there are still traditionalist who are still hanging on to the idea that you should finish one holiday before starting another. And I will grant you that for every person like me who understands seeing Christmas decorations come out after Memorial Day, there are probably just as many people who get really angry about it. And while I respect that stance, I just can't figure out why this is the one place where stores are willing to stick to traditions. (Still, it is the flimsiest of concessions because at some point, aren't you just shopping on Thanksgiving anyway? Sure, 12:01 is technically Friday, but if anyone asked when you are heading to the store you would tell them Thursday night.) Is there really that big a difference from putting out the decorations and offering the holiday prices? Next year I would love it if a store decided to either give Black Friday savings starting on the Monday before Thanksgiving or declare the savings are going to be there on Friday, but they will be opening their store at a reasonable hour. I know holiday shopping can sometimes feel like a competition, but there is a ton of time left before Christmas (even more with Thanksgiving so early this year) and you actually don't get anything for finishing first. Save your sanity and let the other guys fight over the last Playstation game.