Let's Turn Black Friday into the Holiday Blues
Dr. Foster Mobley // Quotables
The day after Thanksgiving, hordes of shoppers trampled each other for cutthroat-priced holiday deals from the likes of Wal-Mart and Target. You might have been among those hordes. Retail experts call it Black Friday, but I call it Black-and-Blue Friday-because it leaves our bodies and our spirits bruised.
What's the attraction of Black Friday? I doubt that most of us truly need all the carloads of cheap goods that we cart home, or frankly, the deep discounts for which we behave like lemmings. And, we certainly don't do it for a feeling of community; Black Friday sales are like hand-to-hand combat. I think it may be due to the headlong scramble for the latest and cheapest that gives us a brief high of competitive power in an age when we feel powerless. But that's a fleeting high that teaches us nothing.
What if, for the remainder of this holiday season, you practiced and promoted turning the Black Friday mindlessness into the Holiday Blues? Psychologically, blue is the color of cool, peace, and introspection. More Americans spending the holiday season reflecting on their lives and families would impact our society in a far more positive way than a herd of shoppers overrunning a Best Buy.
Want to feel blue with me?