Boycotting Black Friday And Other Thoughts On Holiday Cheer
By Nicole Belle Sunday Nov 29, 2009 7:00pmRev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping protesting at the NYC Disney Store in August of this year.
I spent my Thanksgiving holidays in New York City this year. Our Thanksgiving dinner was not our traditional turkey gluttony because we were visiting my cousin and her newborn baby and a huge feast was just not logistically possible in her tiny kitchen and with the demands of a baby. Still, we were together (MaxMarginal's mom recommended a great little bistro that even pleased my finicky aunt), we enjoyed ourselves immensely and that's what the holidays are about, right?
But it was another kind of the deadly sins that caught my family's attention after Thanksgiving: the avarice of Black Friday. Walking back to our hotel from the Upper West Side, my children noticed that there were far more people camping out at the Best Buy and Macy's than were there for the Thanksgiving Day parade. Walmart proudly announced in TV ads that they would open at 4 am (!!!) for shoppers. Ads for JCPenneys/Kohls/Kmart/Sears were similarly emblazoned with promises of great deals for those willing to forfeit sleep for shopping.
Now I know that we need to spend to stimulate the economy, but this adulation to conspicuous consumption even made my "gimme gimme" youngsters a little sick. I'm not as far over as to subscribe to the BuyNothingChristmas; my kids will have a few presents to open under the tree. But nothing that would require me to brave the malls in the wee hours of the morning, nor enable virtual slave labor in third world countries for the sake of our vanity. However, one of the things I insist my kids do every year is make gifts for family. One year we made hundreds of truffles and packaged them prettily. Another year, we made personalized ornaments. Another year were decorated coupons for chores and good deeds. The point is that they have to do something, not purchase something, which is the way I prefer to focus my attention on Black Friday.
What do you for the holidays to get yourselves in the spirit?
And on a semi-related note, Huffington Post has put together a list of 15 toys that you should never, and I do mean never, consider purchasing for your child. Like the Death Wish Elmo:
Yeah, that gets me in the holiday mood, how about you? For more, see Mike Mozart's FAILToys YouTube Channel.
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my tank was empty.
It's quite an achievement that Rev. Billy can be so uplifting with his anti- sweatshop/consumerism message. We need more people like him!
He just wants people to give him the money instead.
I suggest you look at the link above.
... is the Playmobil airport security checkpoint playset. Nothing says home for the holidays like having your children totally prepared for a tazering at the local airport should they not submit to the demands of the Friendly Homeland Security people.
I guess I'm still a victim of pre-nine-eleven thinking, back when air travel wasn't such a pain.
But security is ridiculous.
Going to NY, my 7 year old had to remove her shoes, and they confiscated a 6 oz bottle of apple-scented lotion she had in her luggage, but my pepper spray key chain and 10 oz bottle of moisturizer got through.
On the return trip, they confiscated a tube of toothpaste in my 12 year old's bag. My pepper spray was still not detected.
It's a combination of paranoia and intimidation. When you fly into New Zealand, they, too, have some incredibly rigorous and occasionally intrusive 'security' procedures as well... for detecting agricultural pests and hazards. They're VERY strict about bringing in foreign fruits and veg and seeds and things than live in wood and fur and so forth; this is a hell of a clean country and they want to keep it that way. I nearly got nicked once for a forgotten banana peel in my carry-on (Heathrow had no rubbish bins - part of their anti-terrorist 'security', so I'd put it in my bag rather than just tossing it in a corner somewhere) and the friendly little beagle sniffer in Auckland wagged his tail at me. I got a severe fingerwagging by the handler, and let off with a warning.
But a seven year old taking her shoes off? Confiscating her toothpaste? Laughable. Damn, it's nice living in a sane country...
I'm on my annual retreat where I hole up in my little apartment and don't venture out from the day after Thanksgiving until after the first of the new year. What little shopping I do for the youngest grandkids was done weeks ago and even that was on line.
I made up my mind quite a few years back when holiday shopping was officially turned into just another embarrassing spectacle of greed and gluttony, I would never contribute a dime to the "Black Friday" feeding frenzy or anything connected with it.
It's worked pretty well for me.
No shopping over the holidays.period.
Nope. don't do it. Haven't done it in years.
We get together with friends and family and break bread and have some nice wine. That's it.
Hey, it works.
No one gets offended because you couldn't get them something.
All the pressure is gone from feelin like you have to go out and buy someone something when you don't have the money.
When we have these gatherings, it can be any month of the year.
It doesn't have to be this time of year. This time of year is crazy.
It's all money,money,money. Spend ,spend ,spend. We're over it.
We celebrate all year round. It's this time of the year that we back off.
As for the youngsters. I make them surfboards. Or, i go down to Big Sur and see some friends and get some jade jewelry for them.
what the Elmo doll was saying. But why does that kid need a whole roomfull of Elmo dolls?
The Elmo doll "learns" the name of the child.
And my eldest had a bunch of Elmos too. When a big family like mine discovers a kid likes something, they tend to all send the same gift.
James?
It is clearly an attempt to invoice someone for services rendered.
Someone can swear up and down that "eeehl aym" is "kill James", but I don't hear it. Maybe the audio on the recording (or the youtubification) is the problem. I'd allow that possibility.
And wasn't this Elmo thing from a year or two ago? Nevermind that either.
We've got here a mom, a mom who knows that this is an electronic toy. One who says you hook it to a computer to "teach" it the child's name. So she knows that it's an electronic device.
Obviously the device malfunctions, and starts babbling gibberish which may or may not be "Kill James". Doesn't matter, it's not behaving as intended. Mom now has at least two general options:
1) Assume device is malfunctioning and treat as such by troubleshooting (removing and reinserting batteries, pounding on it, reprogramming it), or returning it for exchange, or even just removing the batteries so it says nothing.
2) Decide that she's slipped into the Twilight Zone where little dolls threaten to kill you.
This lady picked #2 and called the local news on a slow day. Seriously, folks.
And that car would have been awesome. Danger be dammed. Hammacher Schlemmer has a gas powered mini Corvette that goes 35mph for kids 8 and up! Only $32k! If only I'd been a child of parents with that much disposable income and that little common sense. Woulda been great for at least 3 minutes.
The rest of those are either in really, horrifyingly bad taste (Lil' Monkey), insensitive (girls only janitor's kit) or unintentionally hilarious (masturbating Tarzan).
That was harder than listening for satanic lyrics in Led Zeppelin played backwards.
So, if you program the Elmo doll with certain words, then replace the batteries, it might say something like, "eel ang" and then some dumb mother will sue Sesame Street because she imagines the doll is threatening to kill her son?
It's more than a stretch. How about looking for some real toys that might actually harm children?
The problem with journalism today is they go out of their way to ignore real consumer protection stories, so they don't offend their advertisers.
Guess she got her 1:32 of fame.
Elmo was saying "Carol King" and obviously this woman took into account that "Tapestry" was the most Satanic album/thing since Crowley's Tarot deck.
I got really disgusted with what happened last Black Friday. No holiday is worth killing someone over cheap crap from China. So I will be trying to make as many of my Christmas gifts as I can, whether it's a special piece of jewelry, something hand-sewn, or knitted, or something baked in the kitchen.
This year though, because I am moving into a new home right smack dab in the middle of the month and my tools are packed away, and also because I am doing so well right now and my health care situation is where it needs to be, I decided that I'd get my mother a computer this year. Other people will preferably be getting something purchased from http://www.etsy.com from me, and I am also the type of doofus who includes her pets in Christmas too, so they have some small little goodies coming from Petsmart.
One of the many things I think stinks about consumerism is there's no thought given to what people give. When ever I have a present to prepare for someone, I at least really try to think of the person getting it as much as possible, what makes them unique, etc. So even though I'm buying things this year I'm going to make it as personal as much as possible.
Edit - For those who hadn't clicked the Etsy link but are curious about it, Etsy's a site for independent artists, crafters, etc. to sell their wares. So everything is handmade or vintage/antique. And they ban anyone who tries to sell non-handmade, big-box crap that can't be used as craft/art supplies. :)
the Hunger Site and its sister sites' stores.
Much of it is fair trade and a portion of the proceeds goes to worthy charities.
it as much as I should. Thanks for the reminder. :) I'm definitely going to have to give something to the Gifts that Give More if nothing else. :)
What do you for the holidays to get yourselves in the spirit?
I drink heavily. Nothing beats waking up with a massive hangover at Noon on Christmas!
A Christmas Carol, and other Christmas themed books. The bad part I'm hormonal right now, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra is giving me the weepies, lol.
I used to love Christmas, but now I look at it with distain. It is all about people going into debt and buying crap from China. The upper 1% can keep Christmas, we need to start figuring out how we are going to survive without the money the rich are stealing from us. We need to start bartering to get the goods and services we need. Rich people can keep their stupid money and hopefully it will become worthless because we will not need it.
Living in Korea, I avoid the hype completely. It's a holiday here, but not like there.
Back in Canada, I used to like seeing friends. Gifts not required. I don't care for gifts. If someone must, flowers, fruit, cheese, chocolate, nuts, coffee, etc, are good. I wouldn't say no if someone dropped a chunk of black squidgy h*sh on me either. I like Christmas music too.
I can think of a few queer boys that would be delighted to get that Cleaning Trolley. My first partner was delighted to get a toy washing machine on Christmas. And, as I've said before, for years I wanted an Easy Bake Oven!!! Oh man. Instead I had to use my Mom's big oven, but it wasn't the same. For years I begged my mother to let me use the steam iron. She finally did. Boy that was living!!
this is such a dumb idea. just don't buy things regular price if you want to stick it to them. I shopped my ass off on Friday and Saturday. Only bought sale items and I had held off major purchases all year for this season.
we can't even get people to boycott Exxon, how the hell are we going to get people to NOT shop on the most popular day/weekend of the year.
I bought lunch and gas to get home.
You can make a difference by boycotting.
It requires discipline to carry out.
What do you suppose would happen if on a designated Sunday no one would show up at church, followed by a Sunday where no one donated money for the cause.
It is all about YOUR money and how much control that you wish to exercise that control.
Why not negotiate every price! Typically there is a 50% markup from wholesale price. Somewhere between the retail and wholesale prices is the bargain. This every day low price meme coming from major chains is a house of cards waiting for hard nosed consumers to challenge and knock down.
Here is how you do it:
Wholesale price is $200.00
Retail price is $400.00
Add 25% for overhead costs $300.00
That is where you start, there is $100.00 of YOUR money at stake.
Do not wait for the bargain.......create your own bargain.
this need to go shopping at 4am the day after Thanksgiving is pathetic, as are the xmas trees going up in retail stores on Halloween. Our family creates its own tradition and it helps with some of the cynicism during the holidays. we buy books, toys that we can learn from, and always a toy that is useless. we make gifts, wooden boxes, doll houses etc....come up with a different menu every year that reflects the diversity in our society. We buy a living tree to be replanted. Try and see the Nutcracker, and always volunteer to be with those without...this is something we do throughout the year as well. And then of course good wine is on hand. I love this time of year and I resent retailers and hungry mad shoppers for taking away what is special about the holidays
great tradition I read about that someone had is they keep a shelf of children's books, and every year they do buy one book to add to the shelf. On Christmas eve, a member of the family gets to pick a book off of the shelf for the family to enjoy together. I really love hearing about that!
Boycott entered the english lexicon from an incident in County Mayo Ireland in 1880.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/boycott
BTW Captain Boycott was forced to return to England in Dec 1880.
My fave thrift store on Sundays has 2 different colors of clothing price tags at 5 items for $1. That's as good as if they paid me! Oklahoma City; cost of living is cheap here.
Some people don't like the idea of used clothes or buying other used stuff, but doesn't bother me one bit. The clothes are good too! E.g., awhile back I got a practically new Lands' End man's tall large cashmere sweater, beige, for a couple of bucks.
A friend of mine works at Target. She says it's hell.
When I was married, my husband and I had an agreement - I promised to give him exactly the same thing that I wanted him to give me; an iron-clad promise to buy absolutely nothing. I cannot see the point in spending money we don't have on people we don't like that much for things they don't need. Instead, we invited 'orphaned' friends to dinner and had a great time, no gifts required or accepted. Without the pressure to 'prove' we loved each other, we could just... love each other.
A holiday anecdote - when we were little, Our Kid was just barely three years old and watched everyone getting ready for Christmas. She didn't have any money, and didn't go shopping. But she understood it on a level few grown-ups ever do. On Christmas morning, my father got a half-smoked pack of cigarettes she'd filched off the table when he wasn't looking, my mother got a bottle of baby shampoo that had gone missing from under the sink, and I got a cardboard toilet tube stuffed with dead pens and pencil stubs, all wrapped up in discarded bits of Happy Birthday wrapping paper from the junk cupboard. I don't remember a single other gift I got that year, but the memory of those have stayed with me for fifty years. To me, THAT'S Christmas.
I bought a ticket to Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was wonderful.
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