Black Friday

Trying this Black Friday post again.  Will have to save every few minutes in case something happens.  ;)

I love going out and shopping on Black Friday.  I have tons of great memories from growing up and going Black Friday shopping.  I love getting up in the middle of the night (or staying up late) to join the crowds of crazies and look for the great sales on Christmas gifts.  I love driving through Starbucks in the middle of the night for a much needed caffeine pick-me-up.  I like planning our route and making my list on Thanksgiving day so we have a plan of where we're going the next day.  It's just a fun event!  :)

That being said, Black Friday is also getting a little disappointing.  I get emails from bfads.net.  They keep me up to date on the latest Black Friday news.  Last week I got an email from them that mentioned some of the stores had released their start times for Black Friday.  I was disappointed to read that several stores are opening to begin their sales as early as Thanksgiving morning.  :(  Now I've gone shopping on Thanksgiving before, because the sales have been leaking from Black Friday into Thanksgiving for several years, but usually that means that sales begin at 8pm, 10pm, or midnight (I know, technically midnight is Friday).

I'm disappointed in the stores opening so early on Thanksgiving for several reasons.
1- I was in the retail industry not that long ago, and it's just mean of the big corporations to make their employees, who are making minimum wage or right around there, miss this special holiday with their families because their employers are open now.  Not to mention, it encourages others to cut their Thanksgivings with their families short in order to go out shopping for the best deals.  This is not what Thanksgiving is about.
2- Black Friday is going to lose all it's meaning, because hardly any shopping will actually take place on Friday.  Now that someone has started the ball rolling and Thanksgiving is no longer off limits, it's only going to get worse.  Eventually sales will begin the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, then the week before.  Eventually we'll forget that we waited until the day after Thanksgiving for our shopping at all.
3- Great deals are not that important!!  I think it was Wal-mart last year that had a sale starting as early as 6pm on Thanksgiving.  I didn't get to Walmart until around 8pm.  Because, frankly, nothing was worth that sacrifice.  Family comes first and Thanksgiving is about family, not stuff.

So no, I won't be skipping dinner on Thanksgiving to go shop.  No, I won't be hitting a few stores before breakfast on Thanksgiving.  During the early afternoon food coma, when everyone is sitting around watching football, full, happy, and dreary, if a store has an online sale running, I may order a couple things.  But other than that, until 8pm (or later) on Thanksgiving, I won't be out shopping.  I wonder if the Walton's and the other megacorp families will be out working on Thanksgiving day like their minimum wage employees are forced to do.  Just sad.  And, because of this, when I do reach the stores this year (because let's face it, I'll still go) I'll try to smile and say Happy Thanksgiving to the employees just trying to keep their jobs, forced in on what used to be a holiday, and missing time with their own families in order to provide.  Because while Black Friday can be a little crazy, that's no reason not to be civil to one another.  We are all human, after all.

Well, I don't think that's exactly where I was going when I started this post last week, but it gets most of my points across.  I'm not as focused this morning.  No coffee yet.  ;)  Hope you have a nice day, and I hope you, too, will be an example of civility come Black Friday.  :)