Black Friday: What Matters

The Christmas season produces a lot of messages that leave us so far away from the greatest treasures in life.  For example: I am writing this on the morning of Black Friday.  Some shoppers have now been at it 10 and a half hours, having camped out in front of or inside a store before then.  With deals starting sooner this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if the atmosphere of a Thanksgiving meal at the dinner table was traded in for a tailgate party for some.  And honestly, that seems a little fun to me.  When I think about it, I picture families in their Snuggies, under their football tents with the deep fryer cooking a delicious turkey to go with the sides everyone brought with them in disposable pans.  And since the event is “BYOB,” everyone’s beverage of choice is on hand.  There’s laughter.  There’s fellowship.  There’s family holding places in line for bathroom breaks.  It’s just great.  Even grabbing carts and running around the store when it opens sounds fun, as people load up on Christmas gifts and still have enough left over to treat themselves to a big, juicy flatscreen.  What an excellent way to kick off the season of family togetherness and goodwill to all men!

I’ve almost painted a Normal Rockwell Black Friday experience above.  In fact, I know some people truly have fun waiting in line and shopping.  Like I said, it can be like a tailgate party.  Still I wonder, how many people are getting ready for the “big game”?

Consumerism is one nasty bug that infects many of us this time of year.  Our “it’s the thought that counts” efforts can turn to anger, and we must have what it is we want.  Mixed in with the Christmas spirit that fillls the air is that nasty desire to feed our lust for mere products.  We become unpleasant.  We hurt each other.  And quite literally, some don’t even live to see Christmas.

Maybe this, more than anything, is was gives the biggest sales day of the year its negative connotations.  It’s no loner about saving money in an effort to budget smart, or a warm and fuzzy shared experience among family and friends.  It very quickly can cut to the core and become all about us.

For the second year, I’ve become all too familiar with the lady in the Target commercials who is gearing up for the 2-Day Sale (dear Target executives: please email me about where to send my advertising check).  Although the commercials are incredibly effective in promoting what they’re advertising, they often get on my nerves.  However (and I don’t really know how), I can see the good in the Target lady.  Through all her screaming, gingerbread “store” building, mirror-talking and “shop-training,” and even in their final ads where she is basically seen celebrating and in awe, I see the good in her.

Yes, when I look at the Target lady, I picture her as a wife, mother and daughter who finds happiness in putting thought and dedication into her Christmas shopping.  I see a woman who, on Christmas morning, will smile and applaud her family as they unwrap the gift they’ve really been wanting.  She, like so many others, reminds me that a day like Black Friday isn’t all that bad.  (Side note: This analysis of the Target lady also reminds me I watch entirely too much television.)

And then I get up and go to a store.  When I get there, I see that what I want is sold out.  When I ask if there’s more “in the back,” an associate tells me they were all put out.  I leave disappointed, as well as more than a little angry.  I can barely muster up enough kindness in me to hold a door open for a lady coming in as I am leaving.  I don’t like that side of me.

How has your Black Friday gone?  Have you focused on the things that matter?  Can you see any good in a day like today, or do even the sales papers bring out the worst in you?

For more Black Friday thoughts, check out this fine post with the most delicious looking turkey pictured on Gene Jennings’ blog here.

And remember, this Christmas season, to stick with what matters (and although I didn’t get into it in this post, on “who” matters.)