I ain't your Christmas Puppet no more, Buy More.
Every year we say that the Christmas sales are starting earlier and earlier – it is accepted, conventional wisdom.
But it’s not true, usually. If it were, then by now the department stores would be decking their halls in July.
But it’s true this year. The big box stores and Wal-Tar-Best Marts are moving their Black Friday sales from 5 a.m. or 4 a.m. to midnight on Thanksgiving night, and some even earlier than that. They say they have to, because the other stores are doing it and they need to compete.
Yeah, right. Well, I’m done being their Christmas Puppet.
I’m not against consumption – it’s your choice, although I think materialism took over our brains in the 2000s and contributed to the economic bubble. For the next 5-10 years, consumers and nations will be paying off their debts and spending less, depressing the economy, and that’s the price we pay for a decade or two of overheated growth.
I’m not against shopping (although I hate doing it). I get that it could be fun for some folks to camp out overnight at a store to get the best deals. I understand that with unemployment and the economy where they are, it is important to get the best deals we can.
But to be honest I’m a little steamed that the Buy More’s are now telling people that, to get first crack at the Black Friday deals, they are going to need to leave their Thanksgiving dinner tables and families on Thursday in order to get in line. (I’ll leave the issue of the employees having to miss Thanksgiving all together to the employees to work out, but I’m not going to be at the store when it opens.)
We’ve been Pavlov’s dogs to these guys for years. When they pushed the Black Friday store openings into the ungodly hours, we lined up (and trampled each other). When they put “limited quantities” of X-dozen-inch screen TVs on sale at 50% off, we believed foolishly that we could be one of the fortunate few who got one. When they ring the sale bell and tell us to drool, we ask how many buckets.
Done. I’m done. I ain’t singing and dancing for the Buy More no more.
I’m a free market capitalist, and these stores can do whatever they want. But I am going to buy locally this year (from stores owned and managed by locals), and for the stuff we need to get from the bigger outlets, I’m going 100% online, and not from the Buy More’s.
I’m done. You went too far. I’m not going to be your Christmas Puppet any more, Buy More.