For the past two decades, it has been a tradition of mine to get up ridiculously early on the day after Thanksgiving and stand in line (in varying degrees of weather) for an hour or so before making a rush through two or three stores that have a few specials on things that I like. More recently (say in the past seven or eight years), I have been bringing my daughters (if they are willing) and sometimes my brother with me. This year I was planning to let Trevor come along as well.
The problem? I might not follow my own tradition this year. For one, the specials aren't all that special. Each year, it seems that fewer of the things that I like are actually at a fantastic price on this one day. Instead, the stores seem to be sucking people in with only a handful of great deals and a truckload of mediocrity.
A second problem is that many of these stores are now having their "Black Friday" specials on Thanksgiving. To begin with, they can't be Friday specials if they are on a Thursday. Also, I worked in retail for a little while; Black Friday was not optional when it came to work. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a national holiday, but I'm betting that those workers don't have any more choice than we did when I was working retail. I don't want to encourage that sort of business.
Lastly, our budget is ridiculously tight. While I don't spend much on myself during the rest of the year, I usually put in about $200 on Black Friday (on rare occasions, I spend more). This year, we do not have that much in discretionary money. In truth, we might never have, but now we have no access to credit cards, no extra income from Baker, and a pay cut from Lincoln.
And yet I still want to go. It was something that I look forward to every year, even if I can't entirely explain why. I also know that Trevor would be disappointed if we stop going on the year when he was expecting to go.
... I guess that I better look over the ads again ...
The problem? I might not follow my own tradition this year. For one, the specials aren't all that special. Each year, it seems that fewer of the things that I like are actually at a fantastic price on this one day. Instead, the stores seem to be sucking people in with only a handful of great deals and a truckload of mediocrity.
A second problem is that many of these stores are now having their "Black Friday" specials on Thanksgiving. To begin with, they can't be Friday specials if they are on a Thursday. Also, I worked in retail for a little while; Black Friday was not optional when it came to work. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a national holiday, but I'm betting that those workers don't have any more choice than we did when I was working retail. I don't want to encourage that sort of business.
Lastly, our budget is ridiculously tight. While I don't spend much on myself during the rest of the year, I usually put in about $200 on Black Friday (on rare occasions, I spend more). This year, we do not have that much in discretionary money. In truth, we might never have, but now we have no access to credit cards, no extra income from Baker, and a pay cut from Lincoln.
And yet I still want to go. It was something that I look forward to every year, even if I can't entirely explain why. I also know that Trevor would be disappointed if we stop going on the year when he was expecting to go.
... I guess that I better look over the ads again ...
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