BLACK FRIDAY, SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY AND CYBER MONDAY

BLACK FRIDAY, SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY AND CYBER MONDAY

Honestly at this point I try to avoid them all. And really, that's saying something because I used to be a huge consumer whore. But the concept of waiting through masses of people to get to any of these anymore just is not my thing at this point of my life

First off, if you need to buy something for the folks in your life to show them you care and just can't spend time with them than perhaps I should recommend that you change your circle of friends. I know, that's a little much, but let's just call a spade a spade, too many people put themselves in debt buying shit they didn't need or stuff they didn't have to in order to show others that they care. More than anything, you shouldn't put yourself in debt for "sales" that will eventually cost you more in the long run in interest rates and fees in paying off the debt you are incurring.

Black Friday has turned into a shit show. Mobs of folks who avoid the dinner table or rush through the time together with family just to get to shopping throughout the night and into the morning on deals that aren't very much of a deal.

I drove by a shopping area that thanksgiving night and it was slammed in bumper to bumper traffic trying to get into these outlet shops. It made me feel a bit sad. I mean, there I was lamenting of the fact that I don't really have that much of a family currently to even spend the holidays with, so much so that I just went to Disney on Thanksgiving night, and here are all these folks going for Black Friday deals even before the day is done.

Cyber monday is the same shit and I'm sure I'll get another 100 emails alerting me of lame ass deals I have no interest in taking advantage of. In fact, it concerned me to think about how much e-commerce I have done this past year if the amount of emails was to that level. Cyber monday is also about self needs as well and let's not pretend that's not a lie. If you're buying online, it's more than likely to get yourself something than it is to get someone else something. Your algorithm points you to far more of your own interest than your friends. So let's call a spade a spade, it's all just buying shit for yourself with this illusion that you're holiday shopping and being productive in getting it out of the way sooner.


Small Business Saturday is also something that feels like a thing made up to make you feel good, but that doesn't actually really do much. Don't get me wrong, I shop small businesses whenever I can... any other day of the year. Those who tout about business Saturday usually don't give a flying fuck about those small businesses for the vast majority of the time.. you know, when they actually need that sort of longevity of revenue coming in.

I don't generally advocate for small business saturday because those who aren't currently shopping with small businesses really don't have the exposure to them as it is, let alone enough to check them out the day fucking after they blew all their bigger purchases at big box stores that can offer huge discounts. On top of that with black friday so close, folks have this expectation that small businesses need to offer them huge discounts as well, which they can't because they're small businesses. So it puts them in this odd situation of trying to meet needs of the consumer that they shouldn't be trying to in the first place at the risk of suffering as a business as a whole.

Wow, that's a very cynical point of view, right? But still, you should be pushing and telling friends of small shops and linking them to Etsy stores year round in stuff you think they would like in order to fully support them. Telling them to care about them on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and right before the month of folks attempting to buy shit for others and trying to ignore their own wants is just not very helpful to anyone.

In any case, just try to stay alive and try not to keep this consumerism going for too long. It's not very healthy in the long run. You can't buy your happiness. You'll just run out of cash long before you do.