I love Thanksgiving- Food, family, and festive family traditions putting up Christmas decor. It's a shame they ruin it with shopping. At one point in my life, there was a point to rush out and grab gifts for people I love, but now I mostly just buy things I intend to buy anyway because they are on sale that weekend. This year, I didn't go anywhere at all. I stayed home, worked in my yard, and ordered online, and it was a peaceful and glorious followup to the Thanksgiving calm.
Gray Thursday began this year with two extra weeks of pre-black friday sales and Christmas music. I understand that with Thanksgiving being so late stores are desperate to break even, but I have to wonder at their strategy. Doesn't it make more sense to have sales at other times of year and break even earlier? Besides, it looked to me while perusing ads that everyone proposed to sell the exact same things for the exact same prices. Two items of note I remember. My jeans were actually on sale at Walmart for under $10 like every year, and since I lost weight I needed a smaller size. Other stores were advertising door busters at $17 or more. Some other stores were selling 22lr ammo as doorbusters limited to one box each at the same price Walmart charges every day of the year. So much for the shortage being over.
Instead of planning a shopping trip, I looked at all the things I don't need and helped my folks decorate for Christmas. Usually my kid sister plays that major role, but she's not around this year for the first time since she was born, and so I got to fill in the gaps. Just like in our prayers, I think we rush through the gratitude portion and into the portion where we try to boss God around the universe with a Wish List that's more about demands than humble petitioning. I was grateful I didn't have to go out and waste time standing in lines I didn't expect spending money I don't have to buy things I don't need to impress people I don't like (I saw that quote misattributed today to the movie Fight Club when it predates that flick). I spent time with my family and then working on my own domicile, and it felt good even though I was exhausted thoroughly.
Before we parted ways, my dad and I talked about family traditions at Christmas. He used to go out Christmas eve with my sister to K-Mart just to people watch and for fun. Instead, this year, he and I went over and watched people rush over on Gray Thursday to be the first to buy things in a commercial conformity. We talked about old Christmases, about our traditions, and I thought about how much I prefer the experiences of my childhood to what I can see today in the world at large.
Armed with warnings about the low quality of Black Friday merchandise and aware from previous years that things go on sale more deeply later, I decided to do something else this year. My yard still looks like a construction site, but I have made visible progress on something to please the eye and gladden the heart. Rather than follow the shrupshire sheep, I gave thanks and then didn't petition my maker for anything. There is only one thing I would ask for Christmas this year, but that choice is up to her. My life, this year, are pretty great. Although there were no fireworks, I realize that I'm wealthier than most people alive now and better off than the wealthy of yesteryear. Nothing bad happened, and that's rare to say, and things continue to be well. You can't buy that on Black Friday, but I can ignore Grey Thursday and see that sunlight shines through the clouds.
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