Black Thursday? What next?

The NYT had an article on Veterans Day about stores in the U.S. opening late at night on Thanksgiving evening in order to beat the Black Friday rush. On the same day on Facebook, a friend posted a picture of Nordstrom's sign, which announces that they do not decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I have boycotted Macy's since 1992, due to their progressively more advanced Christmas decorations, which I believe now appear around Labor Day. Barring the obvious arguments about loving the season you're in and the commercialisation of a religious holiday, I think there are some other considerations afoot with this advance Black Friday movement.

I live in Switzerland. One of the first things I learned about Geneva is that all businesses are closed on Sunday, with the exception of 1) restaurants; 2) bakeries (the Swiss feel fresh bread is a natural right); 3) farmer markets like the one right near my flat; and 4) businesses willing to pay double their employees' salaries for working that day. This is because they view Sunday as a family day. They also close business around 7pm daily and actually in the past few years voted against having later shop hours. The result is that not only is it somewhat harder to get quotidian errands done, but one also does much less mindless shopping. I consume less here - and that's actually rather good.


As well, I have the longtime practice of buying Christmas gifts throughout the year, as an item strikes me for an individual whom I love. Often, I'm either taken with a locally-crafted item during travels around the world or I pick up curiosities at artisan markets like my beloved Art on the Avenue in Del Ray. Add to that my discomfort with large random crowds, of the sort often found during events like Black Friday. Among other things, this is perhaps more fiscally even than ratcheting up my credit card bill for two months of the year. And I'll admit to the rather showy and earnest measure of giving Heifer.org cows, flocks of ducks, and llamas or family preparedness kits from RedCross.org, or reading/blanket kits from ProjectNightNight.org (homeless kids support project started by my sister's college classmate Kendra) as well.

Where am I going? Well, I think that the fact that people - workers and consumers combined - are pushing back against advancing the Black Friday hours is promising. As the NYT points out, prior to the 1930s, there was a marketing campaign asking consumers if they really needed to disrupt the shop workers' holidays with their purchases. (This disappeared during the Great Depression - and think about the parallels with our current global economic environment.)
The bottom line for me is the idea that, on the most important holiday of the year, Americans are being offered the opportunity to... shop. Thanksgiving is our most significant secular holiday and is our opportunity to connect with friends and family, to spend time exploring and exalting in our bounty, and to give thanks for what we have. Do we really want to interrupt that day to go buy "things?" For whom? For the people whom we are leaving on the day of thanks and fellowship? Maybe it's more appropriate to scale back our purchasing - a skateboard instead of a bike - rather than to queue for hours to get a cheap $100 television (for the first 5 people who push past others and trample through a store). I'm sure my cousins who lost their father a week before Christmas would rather spend 12 more hours with him on Thanksgiving before the "score" of buying him a cashmere scarf for $10. Wouldn't you? Isn't your time with loved ones more precious than queuing for consumer goods?

I realize there are groups - like the sisters and step-sisters in the NYT story whose policeman cousin drops off pizza as they wait in line four hours from home - who make Black Friday an event. But where do we stop? And, with a nod to the early part of this century, where do we show respect for cashiers and stock clerks for whom the economic imperative of overtime means they can pay the rent?

I know I have reaped the bounty of Black Friday in the past. My mother has been at times one of those hardy souls who braved the crowds, my father toting her purchases. At this point in my life, I would rather receive socks - a source of great joy and mirth in our Christmas celebrations - or one of her fabulous hand-knit sweaters. (Caveat: NOT the hand-knit wool pants from childhood - wow, were they itchy!) Maybe I'm sentimental. Off the top of my head, some of my favorite gifts are: 1) my sister's donation in my name when I was traveling for Christmas last year; 2) a collection of favorite songs from my brother on a custom-made CD; 3) hand-drawn birthday cards from my nephews; 4) a song dedicated and sung to me on my birthday; and 5) my mother's plan for a unique quilt she will make for a significant milestone. Caveat: I do have very warm memories of one year receiving a box with only ribbon in it, then following the ribbon 200 yards down to the basement of our house, where a new bicycle was tied with a big red bow. (This was when I was in my early 30s, but had every bit the same appeal as when my grandfather traded with the postman to get me my first bike many years ago.)

I do enjoy consumer goods. But I value time with loved ones even more. What is your reaction to Black Friday? Do you have a tradition with friends or family? Have you ever had to work on this day? Or maybe you're far from family and looking for gifts brings you closer for a time you will enjoy? My approach and perspective is perhaps overly earnest, so I'd love to hear your thoughts.