There’s little doubt what the top news story of the past, and probably ensuing, 24 hours is: Black Friday shopping. Yesterday’s papers and TV news worked in repeated references to the bold new national initiative to “allow” Christmas shoppers into the malls early, some of them waiting till a full minute after midnight so as not to show disrespect for our most sacred of American holidays, Thanksgiving. KIRO 7 even had an hourly breakdown on early-morning weather conditions (there could be ice on those windshields, folks) for the frenzied hordes. This morning the P-I already has a full report on the rampaging minions (forecast headcount: 20,000) at Alderwood Mall. One promising quote: ‘”I think this is the dumbest idea they have ever had,” said Matt Carter, 28, of Snohomish.’ And why? Because, you know, Christmas is a holy time of worship in the name of our Lord? Because Christmas has been corrupted from a season of reflection, fellowship and glad tidings into a sickening seige of cutthroat consumerism where all that matters is the best markdown and highest retail profits? Because the notion that thousands of people have nothing better to do on the night after Thanksgiving than troll mall aisles is just plain insane, if it weren’t so desperately sad?
Not quite. It’s the dumbest idea because “they need more security.”
So verily, do not say unto me, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Hey buddy, the line’s back there.
In other so-called news:
Prop 1’s failure raises the timeline of when to institute tolls: ‘ “There’s no question about it,” Senate Transportation Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, said. “The issue is whether you toll early”…’ Or as the Prop 1 vote should’ve been framed: Pay us now, or pay us later. We can look to the toll–riddled Bay Area for guidance. Most bridges are $4 and headed for $5, the Golden Gate is $5 and headed for $8 or $10. They put out feelers to gauge public opinion on rate hikes, and most of the time it’s a shrug. Voters there understand you have to get the money from somewhere. Here I doubt reaction will be so blithe. A lot of motorists apparently think bridges should be free. Little do they know, $3 is a bargain!
East of the mountains may be clear and cold, but the air is ugly. As are, surprise, the politics. Now we all know that anonymous bloggers, especially on this site, have nothing but the highest regard for truth, honesty, justice and the American way. But in Yakima, apparently they don’t cotton to the idea. The mayor thinks a newly elected council member should resign simply because his wife dished dirt on his opponent in an anonymous blog. And get this: some of it wasn’t even true! Anonymity is a cancer on Web dialog, of course — one reason identity-authenticating Facebook is so hot right now…which is why top Google (fully vested, it should be noted) execs, according to TechCrunch, are actually leaving the search giant for riper opportunities with the younger, smarter set. Somewhere Steve Ballmer is smiling…
And thanks to Erica C. Barnett for answering the question I posed Thanksgiving eve on whatever happened to the Amazon play for SoLa? Um, nothing. Although I have to say, it looks like the neighbors are getting suckered. Hey, maybe they’ve just been overwhelmed by the spirit of giving this holiday season.
Shop on, ye Christian soliders! Or as Dan might put it in his ongoing series, “O they will know we are Christians by the Black Friday discount tags on our shrinkwrapped baubles…”
Let me see if I got this straight. Paul has distain for Black Friday. So is he saying it’s smarter for people not to shop today, when many products have been discounted, and instead shop on other days when the products have not been marked down and are at full price?
Black Friday is the day myself, my girl, and my neighbors all sit around and get plastered all day long playing cards specifically in order to waste the complete fucking day. The lack of mall anxiety is a bonus!
Gotta love those user fees! Those who use pay, while those who don’t want to pay can drive around either through Renton or Kenmore. I suppose I’ll have to factor a toll into my lust for a Dick’s Delux, fries (best in the Western World), and a vanilla shake, but isn’t life but a series of one trade-off after another?
Here’s hoping tolls educate the public that there is no such thing as a free anything. Eventually, access to the optional ought to reflect more a correlation to cost than comfort; let those who wish to ride/hike/see whatever pay tolls and fees that cover more of the cost of whatever rather than have the money come from those who don’t.
In other words…price light rail more toward self-sufficiency then tell me how popular it is.
Say what you will about Black Friday, but at least it’s still technically the day after Thanksgiving, albeit by mere seconds, and not the day after Halloween or worse, the day after Labor Day.
Let’s not, however, confuse the lust for electronics, which seems to drive much Black Friday mania, with the Reason for the Season. While the Ol’ Piper loves to receive gifts as much as anyone, I love even more the giving of them and seeing others receive them not so much for the size of them, but for the way in which they allow me to say, “Thank you for being who you are in my life.”
My neighbor across the street – as good a Democrat as you’ll ever know on the planet – celebrates the gift of life every day given that she’s struggling with her third or fourth bout of ovarian cancer. She has no need of a Play Station or IPhone or any of that superfluous crap in order to grasp both the concept of Thanksgiving and the blessing of Christmas.
If others wish to camp out in below-freezing weather in order to be first in line to get a $299 laptop, that’s their choice; it’s still a free country last time I checked. While it’s not my cup of chai, the exercise of freedom chosen by others isn’t something I’ll criticize. In short, don’t like it? Don’t do it. After all, there are bigger fish at Fry’s!
Besides, anyone wanting to make a big brouhaha about it needs to keep in mind, especially if they get all churchy in their choice of words, that before you gripe about the sliver in someone’s eye, better pull the log out of your own.
Heading as we are into the best time of the year, it’s pretty nigh unto impossible to get me to not visit my inner child and to not think of it on both Santa and Salvation levels. Life is good, and when it’s not, I spend a few minutes with Mary Ann who’ll remind me.
The Piper
What would Jesus Say?
What would Jesus say
Who cares what Jesus would say or do? He was probably a mentally ill man with delusions of grandeur who thought people should worship him. And who cares what Paul says? Smug distain for consumerism bores me. The bottom line about Black Friday is people are buying items they want or need on sale, instead of at full price. That’s smart.
25 thousand people showed up at the Alderwood mall last night. No, I wasn’t one of them.
I heard tell that everyone was shoulder to shoulder shuffling through the concourses. Not all the stores were open. Many people were wondering why they bothered.
I mean why? There’s something wrong with that picture.
Last time I was at Alderwood, we bought a range at Sears. (Our old thirty year Frigidaire had died.) We had a good time, window shopping, bought some ice-cream at Coldstone. We were amused by all the giddy consumerism in the area, even took part in a bit of it.
In a previous open thread I mentioned Morgan Spurlock’s new movie, What Would Jesus Buy?, about Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. Another feature today in Alternet:
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/68485/
Brother Paul, I think I’m getting religion on this! The Gawd of Stop Shopping loves you, and so do I.
The MSM (including supposed liberal bastions like NPR) cover “Black Friday” the way the local TV networks cover a Seattle snow storm. It gets the nature porn treatment, wrapped in a knowing headshake and air of inevitability.
@7…YLB…
My Gawd! A burgeoning Republican! Sears? Yikes! What’s next? Wal-Mart gift cards for the kiddies?
Has anyone noticed what a hunk of trash Land’s End became after being acquired by Sears & Throwback?
The Piper
@6 Black Friday isn’t the lowest prices will go, not by a long shot. Instead, purely from a consumer POV, it’s merely a calculation balancing price with availability. That “new” (actually out of date if not obsolete) camera for the unheard-of $99 today will be $79 in a week or two…if there are any left. There may not be, but a higher-priced model today will be cheaper then, and there will be units for sale. If you want junk cheap, Black Friday is a good bet. If you want real value, you don’t lose anything by waiting, especially if you factor in gas spent idling in gridlock and your own time (how much do you pay yourself an hour?).
Hi, I’m an idiot, and I agree with people who say boycott shopping on Black Friday. I want to buy the things I need when they are not on sale. I want to pay full price.
@10…PA…
The $19.99 DVD player available at Bartell’s only until 11:00 a.m. today (price goes up to $29.99) that I want to buy for my grandsons in North Carolina (the oldest decided watching the disc tray move in an out was more entertaining than watching a movie…until he decided to “help it” move faster than factory spec allowed and broke it) is also available at Amazon.com for $25.
While I’ll pay sales tax at, Amazon’s free shipping more than offsets the $6 higher price thus vitiating my need to slam some old lady to the floor (ever been to a Bartell’s where over half the customers aren’t old ladies?) in order to get the last one.
Black Friday fever is like playoff fever. People stand in line not because they want to see the game, but because they want to tell everyone they stood in line for tickets. We’re all privileged to define “quality of life” in whatever manner we see fit, and to some, that quality includes bragging rights about being first.
Tell me…is there a difference between Times Square on New Year’s Eve and Black Friday?
The Piper
@ 3 Piper
I enjoyed and appreciated your post. Nice one!
Actually, I finally got around today to checking emails from friends, wishing me Happy Thanksgiving. One was “Thanksgiving With Maxine” with a bunch of cartoons. I ESPECIALLY loved the last one:
Maxine, in the dark, is laying in bed in her nightie and matching dangling tasseled cap. Says:
If you get up early to go Christmas shopping today, you can save a ton of money. Of course, if you roll over and say, “Screw shopping this year,” you can save even more.
Good ol’ Maxine! Cranky ol’ Lady after my own heart. I slept in til noon myself today without a twinge of guilt! I will probably do like usual. Buy movie passes with extra cash for popcorn. Saves major $money$ in shipping costs to Phoenix. Usually, after Christmas dinner, everyone’s too broke themselves to buy a movie and it’s become a family tradition for the young people once dishes are done. They hit one of those 6 Theater places and split up into smaller groups for whatever show appeals. I know, dull kind of gift. But works every year, why mess with success?
Piper @ 3:
Great post, but I do have a small bone to pick with you. Ever since Fatburger came to town, that’s my burger of choice whenever I get back to the Seattle area. Dick’s never really did cut it for me. They have a Fatburger up at one of the casinos in Stateline (S. Lake Tahoe), but that’s too long a drive for me (even though my courier route takes me there every night, albeit no earlier than midnight or so), so I have to ‘settle’ for a Guacamole Bacon burger from Carl’s Jr.
BTW, my wife and I didn’t even bother to leave the house for Black Friday until a few hours ago to window-shop at the new Cabela’s. Even for a non-hunting, non-fishing, non-camping (why camp when you’re a WorldMark owner?) city-boy liberal such as myself, that place is pretty awesome. We just buy gift cards and certificates most of the time, and make flavored oils and vinegars for our closest friends most years.
@15…BJ…
I know a lot of grown men who swear heaven looks like a Cabella’s. Me? I always used to go to Outdoor Emporium when it was at Republican and Harrison just up from Westlake. Best prices on fly gear anywhere!
Haven’t been in the new store since it moved to 4th Ave. near Safeco Field, but its parking lot is the best place to park when going to Mariners games, especially since it’s right on the freeway onramp.
Thanks for your nice words…they’re appreciated.
The Piper
@13…FnF…
Thank you for your nice words. I do very much appreciate them. Hope yours was a great Thanksgiving.
The Piper
I am glad people like YLB – The Clueless One (TM) decided not to save money on Friday. His and other anti-capitalists here on Wipes (TM) staying home allowed me to find parking and get some real bargains, like 80% off on sneakers, 60% coats, and 75% on other things.
Please YLB – The Clueless One (TM) stay away from the bargains and spend your money on higher prices!!!!
I have written a blog post that I think you may agree with, as I find the whole Black Friday thing a very sad affair…
http://provocativechurch.blogs.....dness.html
Love to hear what you think.