It’s that time of year when Black Friday ad campaigns start popping up on TV. For many, they serve as a public safety announcement on par with Cold War-era air raid drills–a warning sign for (sane) American citizens to safely avoid all box stores. Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy–all are to be avoided like the zombie outbreak zones that they are.
On the day after Thanksgiving, hordes of the walking dead–err, I mean shoppers, will descend upon the local shopping center with a beer and turkey bloated wrath. Credit card ready for swiping. But before they line up to pay for things they don’t need with money they don’t have, they’ll be pushing, shoving, cussing and in some cases, shooting each other in the name of consumerism. ‘Tis the season, right?
If this is how people act when they perceive scarcity of cheaply made consumer goods from China, how would they act if the economy totally bottomed out and prices on gas and food skyrocketed over night? Food for thought.
All it takes is one lunatic in a large crowd of tired and cold wage-slaves to get the real party started. As someone who’s worked Black Friday at Best Buy, I can attest to the mindlessness of it all. You’ll never understand what I mean until you’ve earned your retail Bronze Star for surviving this event.
If you currently work in retail and read this, there’s clearly nothing else to say. The video above pretty much summarizes the narrative tone behind this article. Obviously not everyone that shops on Black Friday is a ruthless consumer, but you have to question the ethics of placing such a high value on buying things “just because”.
What was once a day of rest and spending time with family at home has devolved into a cultural past-time that gets Americans to part with billions of dollars because marketing companies train them from the time they’re in diapers to think they have to. It’s a joke. A guttural punch-line and is evidenced by a culture in decline.
Look, there’s no shame in giving each other gifts. That’s not what I’m trying to say. We all do it. I’ll do it this year, but each year that passes I’m less inclined participate. Why? Because that’s not what the holiday is about. Anybody remember that Jesus fellow that the holiday is named for? Even if you don’t believe in Christ, a rational person would agree that it’s a bit ridiculous that gift giving of three wise-men has come to mean it’s OK to trample human bodies in the doorway of a Wal-Mart.
To what ends are you willing to lower your dignity and jeopardize your health to buy a marked up electronic device that was assembled by an Indonesian kid with 7 fingers? This Christmas we should cut back a little and spend more time with our family at home. Make ginger bread houses, watch Christmas movies, play outside, set up a board game, put on the holiday music. If people want to spend Thanksgiving break sitting in traffic, making impulse purchases and being stressed out on their day off work–let them. They can have it.
After you’re done taking a few good pictures/videos, try to put your smartphone down. As awkward as it might be to look at each other for that long without glowing screens to break up the scenery (awkwardness), I promise you it will be fine. People did it for centuries and they lived. Over-use of the modern cell-phone has all but ruined some of life’s simpler enjoyments–like concerts and going to the movies.
As a society, we move entirely too fast–and for what? To run ourselves ragged? The carnal desire for materialism can rob us of our inner-peace and easily empty our financial resources. There’s serious consequences to the “I gotta have it” syndrome, which is why it’s important to exercise one of the strongest values of the human spirit: patience.
Roman philosopher Seneca once said “To be everywhere is to be nowhere.” Here’s one from Ecclesiastes 4:6: “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.”
This might come off sanctimonious and will be a bitter pill for some to swallow, but it’s past time to re-evaluate our values. Today it’s commonly taught that to criticize, to judge, or to look down upon those who act or behave inappropriately, is itself inappropriate behavior. Look what that mindset has wrought. Let’s try something different this year.
Where To Rent 2-Way Radios in Chicago
If you’re one of the unfortunate souls who drew the shortest straw when November work schedules were being filled out, then you’re going to want as much help as you can get when controlling the floor of your store.
Crowd control is serious business. No matter if it’s at a concert or sporting event, anytime you get a couple thousand people together in one tight spot with alcohol involved, the sparks will fly. That’s why employees in charge of monitoring the store and incoming customers should be on their toes and utilize communication devices such as 2-way radio rentals. It gets loud in stores during Black Friday weekend, and store issued radio devices are often in short supply or become inefficient when being used non-stop. For electronic rentals in your area, visit RentItToday.com.
