Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Used to be it was the start of the Christmas shopping season, but that started weeks ago! In any case, it is the busiest shopping day of the year. Some call it Black Friday. For others it is Buy-Nothing Day. For the Revgalblogpals, it's a topic for the Friday Five so here goes!
1. Would you ever/have you ever stood in line for something--tickets, good deals on electronics, Tickle Me Elmo? I have stood in line for Star Wars Movie tickets. And Lord of the Rings. Oh yeah, when SW Episode 1 came out my friend CoCo & I stood in line at Toys R Us when the Star Wars toys came out. The mad rush was crazy. I'm not sure we even ended up buying anything. In general though, and especially these days, I am not inclined to stand in line to buy something.
2. Do you enjoy shopping as a recreational activity? Nope. I used to enjoy it as a therapeutic activity, but thanks be to God I got over that delusion. Now I shop when I need something. Or when I really want something, as today I went to Barnes & Noble and bought 2 mystery novels that I by no means needed but definitely wanted. That said, I went into the store, found what I wanted and headed straight to the check out. No browsing involved.
3. Your favorite place to browse without necessarily buying anything. Book stores (even though I just said that I didn't browse in one today!). I used to browse for new books and then put them on hold at the library.
4. Gift cards: handy gifts for the loved one who has everything, or cold impersonal symbol of all that is wrong in our culture? A wee bit impersonal, but oh so helpful! I used a gift card to purchase my 2 mystery novels today in fact. And I'm still nursing along the Starbucks gift card I got from my old job.
5. Discuss the spiritual and theological issues inherent in people coming to blows over a Playstation 3. Well, a little known fact about me is that I survived 5 K-Mart Christmas shopping seasons as a cashier & customer service supervisor. I remember the Tickle Me Elmo shortage. I remember numerous other "shortages" and the angst and devastation in the parents/spouses/loved ones faces when they could not obtain "the" gift for their loved one. Sometimes I think it comes down to wanting to please said loved one which is a good thing, if a bit misguided in outlet. Other times I think the concept of people coming to blows and fighting over grossly overpriced pieces of electronic equipment is not only misguided, it's sad and tells us that there is a great deal missing to fill people's souls with goodness in our society.
6 comments:
I must admit that I don't like giving gift cards, but I really enjoy receiving them! Is that an odd double standard?
I might reply to this Friday meme later since I have plenty of shopping stories to tell.
How was your Thanksgiving???
Me too Songbird. Maybe we're holding ourselves to a higher standard? Or maybe we're tired of getting gifts we have to dust. :-)
Lisa - Turkey Day was great. Too much food. Nice liturgy. Great conversation.
Songbird & Rev Maria - I've rarely bought gift cards, although I love to receive them. Usually I give them for family & friends who live far away. Much cheaper than shipping a gift they may or may not like.
wow...the kmart job had to have been terribly stressful. glad you made it it through!
Hey... what about coming out at midnight for the new Harry Potter book(s)? Ah, some fond memories... sadly I didn't enjoy the fun of waiting (people watching) with you and had to be on the other end selling it to you.
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