Flack Friday

The consumptive cost of being consumed by commerce

There are some skilled consumers who are the Maestro of the Maelstroms at the mall, the Chopin of Shopping and can endure any length of line with their legendary patience. But at what cost? What costs and consequences are incurred beyond simply financial ones? Do we sacrifice more in the tirade than just our time and treasure as we tap, swipe or insert our plastic or crumpled cash for the prize? What is really exchanged and consumed in the experience? (Image: stockcake.com)

The thrills and chills of Black Friday are finally over! To those of you who braved the hordes of hurried holiday hooligans, congratulations! To those of you who stayed safe and sound snuggled in your bed rather than crammed and cramped into nearly never-ending lines, I commend you.

I remember when I had the energy to crave and brave such conditions. During one such occasion, as I was standing in line after a hard-fought battle for a new computer printer, I realized that in all the confusion I had forgotten to get a simple gallon of milk.

Who goes shopping for milk on Black Friday, you ask? Who, me???

Thankfully, a nice gentleman behind me offered to save my spot while I dove back into the frantic fray of deal-desperate desperados and prayed to not get mangled for the milk. I finally found my way back to the line, which had barely moved, and began waiting for my turn at the pearly gates for purchasers.

Suddenly, a voice behind me said, “Just what do you think you’re doing?” I felt a cold chill all the way from Mt. Crumpit as I turned towards the person standing two places behind me.

It seems that I didn’t check with this person before I foolishly gave up my coveted spot for a risky milk run.

I sensed that their cheerfulness was more of a chore as I tried to reason my treason by politely explaining that it would only take an extra few seconds to ring up my milk. I even offered to trade places with them, which they declined disapprovingly. Eventually, we reached a truce and on my way home I pondered the sadness of that moment.

Black Friday had turned into Blue Friday; the color one’s heart turns when Christmas becomes a competition of consumers more than a holiday of happiness.

Has the true meaning of Christmas been plundered by bargains, super sales, long lines, shopping and wrapping? In the famous phrases of one unforgettable and regrettable Grinch, spoken in shock as he stood puzzling how every Who in Whoville could still wake-up with a song of gratitude and joy in their hearts after he confiscated their Christmas…

“How could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags.”

It’s worth noting that the Grinch puzzled for three hours on this miraculous matter, which is almost as long as it took me to make my purchases, including my milk! Thankfully, he realized his demise and even though it hurt, his heart grew three sizes!

However, when we give from our finances more than our feelings, our wallets and our hearts shrink thee sizes, or more!

Let us say bye-bye to the Buy! Buy! and remember the wise words of that once groveling Grinch, who never spoke a truer truth; “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more.” I think he would agree today that there is no ‘perhaps’ about it.

I encourage each of us to do our parts to make Christmas mean a lot more by spending less with our wallets and more with our hearts.