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Even Backyard Camping Is More Fun |
It’s a week before Black Friday
(for your balance of timelines, I wrote this last Saturday), which this year I
am referring to as Blacker Thursday, and I just heard the news that people are
already camping out in front of stores, ready to pounce the sales clerks the
minute the doors open. Seven days they
will be sitting in that spot. They will
sleep there, eat there, and - well, hopefully, they won’t go to the bathroom
there. This is extreme. Too extreme.
While I thought the people who
got in line a day before the sales began were missing the point of
Thanksgiving, I think these people need a mental check up. How do you take a week of your life to sit in
a chair and just wait? Okay I can see me
doing it just to escape for a bit since I love sitting and staring at nothing,
but not for a whole week and not in front of a department store or even a book
store. What product is worth that type
of insane commitment? Did they use
vacation time? Take a leave of absence? Do they even have a job to begin with? If they don’t have a job, are they on
welfare, and if they are they need to get out of the line and go get a
job. If they took vacation time for this
madness, then their priorities are really skewed.
How do the department stores
tolerate people living on their front walkway?
Do they just ignore the “No Loitering” signs? If I was a homeless person, I’d be pissed and
scream discrimination. Or I’d lie down
in the line and sleep unmolested for a week.
By the time the doors opened everyone would look and smell the same,
anyway, and the stores should then refuse service. Of course, the retailers are probably using
the campers as free publicity. “Spend
Your Money Here has such great door busting sales, people are lining up a week
in advance to scoop them up.” Their
store made the news thanks to a few misguided consumers.
I can imagine those in line think
they sound noble during the post-holiday chatter. “I hope you like that new iPad. I sacrificed a week of my life while being
stared at by normal people just so I wouldn’t miss a chance to buy that for
you.”
“Um, Dad, I’m a Microsoft kind of
guy.”
Ridiculous. How on earth could anyone believe any
merchandise is worth a week away from their family? We have become a confused people as to what
is truly important in life.
As parents, we want to give our
children the best. I can totally
understand that and I may even sit in a line for an hour or two to get it and
work a few extra shifts to afford it.
However, I will not sacrifice that kind of time away from them in order
to do it. I will not sacrifice family
dinners and tucking them into bed in order to buy them an Xbox 360, which they
will later use to ignore me with, anyway.
I would hope that they would not be that selfish and greedy as to expect
me to.
We have truly missed the
importance of the holiday season. It is
not about the gifts under the tree or in the stockings. It’s about the gift of oneself to one’s
family and those you love. If you’re
going to camp, make it at a national park and take them with you. Don’t camp out alone in front of a department
store where they have to bring you food and hold your place. I promise, your family will remember the national
park far longer than the television or computer you’re planning on buying
them. They need memories, not
merchandise, and the good thing is you don’t have to buy a warranty, because
memories don’t wear down. They actually
become more valuable with age. Make your
family a collector of memories, instead of useless paraphernalia. Your home can only hold so much clutter,
anyway. Your mind, however, has
unlimited shelf space.
* * * * *
Suggested Posts ~ The Gift of Sacrifice
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