Black Friday Mayhem

"Just like how Thanksgiving can bring out the best of us, in a matter of just a few hours Black Friday can bring out the worst..."

Mayhem is the only word I can come up with. Okay - maybe not. Gluttony, excessive consumerism, selfishness, rudeness, and on and on. I have thought for many years that Black Friday brings out the very worst in us. And just so this does not sound preachy, that includes me also.

Every year it is the same thing. Stores jockeying for position by altering hours, people camped out for hours or days, and then of course, the lines. But what I find the most troubling is the total loss of civility (and sometimes humanity) once the bell goes off. People pushing each other, grabbing from each other, and yes, sometimes even fighting each other. All this done for the most flimsy of reasons - excessive consumerism. 

This bull rush of inhumanity can even turn deadly. In the past, some people have been shot. Some have been hurt by being trampled. This year a WalMart employee died when swept up by the crowds and dying underfoot. And it is shameful. All this just to see how one can save $30 on an X-Box, Playstation or a set of sheets.

There is however, some good news. From what I have been hearing and reading about is Cyber Monday is really starting to cut into Black Friday. And that is a good thing. Shopping from the convenience of your study or living room is a darn sight better than going out at zero dark thirty to fight crazed humanity. Myself? It think Amazon is the best invention since canned beer. That is my drug of choice.

My wife and I have already done most of our Christmas shopping. We did it early in the year. We looked for deals. We bought in the spring, in the summer and in the fall. And we spent more this year than last year. What did we buy? Lots of stuff for kids we don't even know. Rather than falling into the trap of excess consumerism (as we have so many times in the past), every year we vow to spend less on ourselves and more on kids around the world who have absolutely nothing. Yes, we support Operation Christmas Child, run by Franklin Graham's organization Samaritan's Purse. This year we packed and delivered 25 shoe boxes. Next year it will be 30.

Well now that I have been on a rant about Black Friday, I am going out today for a Black Friday special. One of the local gas stations has a yearly sale on car wash coupons they only offer on this weekend. Once I buy those coupons, my annual Black Friday itch will be scratched.