what they really should call it is "black and blue friday." not because people sometimes end up with bruises on their arms as they fight their way through the crowds (though that, too) but because their souls are bruised. their souls are bruised by the idea that money matters.
oh, sure, money matters. but it doesn't matter more than staying at home with your family, where you belong.
it doesn't matter more than allowing other people to stay home with their families, where they belong.
if you are a black friday fanatic, you have probably mapped out your mission. you have probably studied the ads - ad nauesum - and you probably know where you're going first and where you're going second and where you're going third. you probably feel pretty proud of yourself for being so organized and so thrifty. after all, you're not doing it for yourself - you're doing it for your family.
i remember when the day after thanksgiving wasn't known as "black friday." somehow, our parents managed to put food on the table even though they didn't break the door down with "bargains."
they still managed to pay the light bill and the phone bill and the gas bill.
on the day after thanksgiving, we took a walk or played cards or went outside and hung lights.
mom wasn't dead tired.
dad wasn't dead tired.
funny.
there was stuff under the tree.
