(un)civilized ku # 1 ~ Black Friday
Friday, November 23, 2007 at 09:05AM 
A Black Friday feeling • click to embiggenBlack Friday, for those of you not in the US of A, is the annual post-turkeyday bacchanal that kicks off the Xmas shopping season in frenetic style.
It's difficult for me to accept, but zillions of my fellow citizens set their alarms for 2-3 AM so that they could beat feet to the nearest mall/store to stand in line for a 4-5 AM opening. All in the name of getting first shot at 'door-buster' bargains (only until 7 AM). Many have scouted the store days in advance so that, the moment the doors open, they can bolt directly to the most desirable object in the world of their choice. After all, there are only a 'limited' number of 'specials' to be had.
IMO, this no longer can be called 'shopping'. It's a sport - competition of the highest order. I have known Olympic athletes who spend less time, effort, and focus on their sport than these so-called bargain hunters do.
Me? No way. Today, I'll be at least 30 miles from the nearest frenzy center. None of that-stand-in line, spend-and-get nonsense for me. No sir. I plan on spending a quiet day at home in front of a warm fire and my computer screen searching for a good deal on that new Olympus E-3
FYI - that's 'The Biggest Toy Store In The World' - the NYC Times Square ToysRUs - in the righthand photo. It's a paragon of shopping run amok on just about any day of the year. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like today.
Reader Comments (4)
Mark,
Couldn't have expressed it better myself. For once, we are in complete agreement. Tonight, I'll turn on the news and they will, of course, have a story about the line that formed in front of one of the local WalMarts or whatever store at 3:00 in the morning. They'll interview a couple of the local idiots and ask them what treasures they were seeking, just like they interview an NFL quarterback after a big game. My wife and I will watch this and shake our heads and once again be absolutely convinced that we're all doomed. No hope. There simply is no intelligent life here.
Another amazing tidbit - I love the image of the old cemetery. Unlike much of your work, it contains no chaos and no complexity. It's a simple and thought provoking image. For me, it visually expresses the sentiment in my last couple of sentences above. A question, though: Do you consider this photograph to be "outside" of your normal style?
The two pictures are perfect of what "Black Friday" really is. And Paul is so correct on the news media. They won't have to dig to find some actual news, just stand outside the local "Maul" and stick a mike in the face of the village idiots.
n a phone conversation on "Black Friday", I was surprised to learn that a friend of mine, Jeff was going to be taking his children out shopping. " Are you kidding me?" I asked. "You're going out there?". "Yes." he responded. "I'm surprised you're not, considering your fascination with human nature. I see this as a good opportunity to show my kids the bad side of christmas shopping." He continued. " We'll probably make a game of it… You know… like look for the fattest person in the store." That line sparked an idea in in my head.
A scavenger hunt featuring the seven deadly sins:
1. Lust
2. Gluttony
3. Greed
4. Sloth
5. Wrath
6. Envy
7. Pride
What irony and what better time of the year could you go to one place, such as Wal-Mart, and find an example of all of these. Next year, I may get a small group together
and do this.
Oh Yeah… Nice photos Mark.
Wow. Lot of hatred for Wal-mart here. I shop there a fair bit, and this is mainly because their prices helped me shave $250/mth off my grocery budget. $200 of that goes into my daughter's college fund each month.
As to Black Friday, I'm disgusted with the whole culture of materialism. I moved out of the big house in the big city to a smaller place in the country because I wanted to get away from that.