Here’s something I don’t understand about Thanksgiving: Black Friday. After spending a day luxuriating in the warmth of family and togetherness, and giving thanks you don’t live in whatever crappy country your ancestors came from, you’re supposed to get up at 5:00 a.m. and trample lots of middle-aged people in order to get a Sony Playstation for $20 less than it normally costs.
Let’s analyze that last sentence right there.
Getting up at 5:00 a.m. It’s a holiday. If it comes down to getting a better present for the members of my family or hitting the snooze button a few more times, do I really need to tell you which option wins out? Let’s just say I’ll be sipping coffee and watching CNN at 10:45 a.m.
And what’s with the whole trampling people thing? You always read about somebody dying during a stampede to get into Wal-Mart or BJ’s. I can understand rushing to get to a BJ (sorry, couldn’t resist! I could make BJ’s jokes for hours! Instead of a present, just give your loved one a gift certificate for BJ’s! Ha ha!), but isn’t the point of these stores supposed to be that everything is so cheap in the first place because it’s made in China where three-year old children put together iPod Nanos at gunpoint? Can the prices of disposal crap be even lower? Besides, the idea behind these stories in the first place is so you can shake your head at the insanity of people willing to risk death in order to get three new pairs of Dockers for $11. Before you go back to sipping coffee in the comfort of your parents’ kitchen at 10:45 a.m. the morning after Thanksgiving.
If the spirit of the holiday is to give thanks for what we have, then why do most people go rushing about like rabid bulls the next day to accumulate as much stuff as possible?
Then again, I’m OK with this being part of the holiday season, as long as it involves BJ’s.
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In this week’s episode, we ponder what various movies would be like if they had the same ending as James Cameron’s the Abyss, where aliens randomly show up and save the hero at the end. You’ll never think about Terms of Endearment in the same way again. You can stream the show here and at SelfAbsorbed.me, and subscribe in iTunes. As always, please spread the word about the show to your parole officers, toll collectors and the weird lady who works behind the counter at your local bakery. And write a review of the show and rate us in iTunes!


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