Avoiding another Black Friday fatality
After writing about old-fashioned values of thrift a few weeks ago, I actually thought we might be having a traditional Christmas season. Guess not. Desperate retailers have stoked the fires of consumerism once again with outrageous promotions, hoping shoppers will ignore their tanking pension plans and hit the plastic.
On what has come to be known as Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), a needless tragedy took place. After a store clerk unlocked the doors for an early morning sale, stampeding shoppers trampled her to death then refused to leave when the manager tried to close the store.
What does this say about our competitive consumerism? How could a civilized society tolerate a riot that swept all compassion from those who heedlessly ran over another human being to buy a discounted laptop or electronic game?
I’m inclined to believe that this behavior is an affliction of the middle class or at least those who are still reasonably well off. That’s because I’ve seen people who are truly hungry wait patiently in line at the food pantry for a much-needed bag of groceries or at the rescue mission for a hot meal. No cuts, no pushing or shoving, much less a lethal stampede.
One would think those who still have their jobs, their homes and the money to heat them, perhaps their college tuition paid and some kind of health care, would behave better.
During this time of economic turmoil, I’ve taken to listening to “Marketplace Money” on National Public Radio. A weekly segment of the show features experts answering personal money-related questions from people who have various financial problems. Last week, a woman asked if she should spend a thousand or more on gifts for her children even though she hadn’t been able to save anything toward Christmas giving.
The expert’s answer: absolutely not. If you’ve been unable to save over the past year and have any credit card debt at all, he said, you would be risking too much. A job loss, or even a furlough, an unexpected or uncovered medical expense could mean severe hardship.
That doesn’t mean turning your back on the Christmas season if you traditionally observe. It just means doing it a different way. Do things with your children; enjoy places and events that don’t cost money. Make gifts, even if it’s just baking cookies, and make your own greeting cards. Good advice from the expert.
I’ve never known a child who didn’t enjoy the attention that comes with doing useful things for other people. To this, I would add, if you still have a home, treasure the warmth it provides. Tinsel not required. Play Christmas records on the old CD player or phonograph, or on any musical instrument left over from school band. And sing. Babies (and dogs) may join in, though usually not in the prevailing key. So what.
Make simple decorations out of stuff left over from old art projects. Take a walk in the park or the woods (if they’re nearby) and pick up a few pinecones, small fir branches or mistletoe. Spending time with the children makes for lasting memories far beyond those of store-bought toys that are usually broken before Easter.
This also could be a rare opportunity (a teachable moment, if you will) to show your children that there is joy in doing little things for those who can’t do for themselves.
Ask for help cleaning out cupboards and selecting a few things that haven’t been used in the past year. Clothing, linens, shoes, books and toys, all are welcome at thrift shops. Let the children make choices, help with packing and delivery. And explain that outgrown and neglected things will be important to people who have very little.
Then check out the kitchen for cans and boxes of good food that probably won’t be used before their expiration dates. Bag these up and ask the kids to help you deliver them to the local food pantry. Donation boxes at post offices and other public spaces are handy, but nothing impresses kids as much as placing food gifts into the hands of the hungry, or at least those who serve them.
I understand the plight of retailers who earn most of any year’s profit during the three or four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. It’s a short time to make up losses from the rest of the year when overhead continues to rise even as purchases decline.
But if I buy anything this year, it will be from a small independent shop whose holiday sales may keep them in business until the economy turns around. I’ll pay cash, so the shopkeeper won’t have to pay the credit card fee and I won’t have to worry about being in debt.
When I deliver library books to shut-ins, I’ll take along a grandchild. If we have extra homemade cookies, we’ll bring them, too. It’s never too early for small lessons in humanity.
If we all do just a little bit of that, who knows, we may avoid another Black Friday tragedy.