Shop Till You Drop
Black Friday. A black tradition, if ever there was one. A day of frenzied shopping and shoving and spending and insanity in general. A way to twist the very laudable tradition of giving into a wasteland of unneeded and unwanted junk. Stocking stuffers galore that after a week turn into store room stuffers or garbage stuffers. Large department stores that rub their hands in glee as unwitting consumers fall for the gaudy decorations and screaming offers of savings, discounts, sales, once-in-a-lifetime steals. Something so good couldn't remain confined to the U.S., or to one day. All this week in Spain we now have Black Friday Deals.
It used to be that gifts in Spain were given only on Epiphany, mimicking the arrival of the Magi with their three gifts at Bethlehem. Those presents were mainly for children and were bought in the last two weeks of December without frenzy, quietly. The frenzy came on the seventh of January, the first day of the winter sales. That was the day of the big discounts and savings on, mostly, winter clothes. Now, there is still a large outpouring of consumers on the first day of winter sales, but the frenzy has shifted to December and late November.
Sundays are still blue law in Spain. Stores do not open on Sundays except when a holiday falls near or on the weekend. And in December. Every Sunday in December large department stores and malls open, to the delight of inveterate shoppers. We have been on a Sunday afternoon to a mall or the closest department store. Whenever we went we tried to go early. Because after four thirty or five, until closing at nine or ten, you can't move without bumping into someone's elbow. But we've never gone with full wallets and avid eyes. We've gone more like when, living in Boston, my parents and I would go to a mall. We would go to look around, to walk in an enclosed space on a winter's day. We would almost never buy unless we saw something we needed at a good price.
The crisis has put a clamp on most overly-joyous giving. Those who lost their job couldn't spend. Those who maintained their job wouldn't spend, just in case. There is a tiny recovery going on, but those who have recently found new jobs still don't have the money to spend. Their jobs are too precarious and their salaries barely cover living expenses. The spending comes mostly from those who conserved their jobs and now feel safer. One area where spending is going up is the Christmas lottery. That beautiful dream of becoming rich and jumping up and down in absolute joy around the twentieth of December is enticing. But I have read somewhere that the probabilities of winning that lottery is like a drop in a five-liter pail of water. Besides, if we were to win, we would have to pay twenty percent taxes on the prize. I don't feel like giving this government more money than it already takes.
This year I'll try to do like most years. Ignore clamorous calls to spend and search for presents for my immediate family that are special to them, that they need or would like to have. My daughter has already asked for two books. My husband never wants anything, but I'll still try to find a little something. My father will probably get a piece of clothing he will wear. And little else. Finding one or two things that you know that person will appreciate and value is much better than buying the store just because. We don't need Black Friday or Sales Sunday. Just a little reasoning and a lot of love.
It used to be that gifts in Spain were given only on Epiphany, mimicking the arrival of the Magi with their three gifts at Bethlehem. Those presents were mainly for children and were bought in the last two weeks of December without frenzy, quietly. The frenzy came on the seventh of January, the first day of the winter sales. That was the day of the big discounts and savings on, mostly, winter clothes. Now, there is still a large outpouring of consumers on the first day of winter sales, but the frenzy has shifted to December and late November.
Sundays are still blue law in Spain. Stores do not open on Sundays except when a holiday falls near or on the weekend. And in December. Every Sunday in December large department stores and malls open, to the delight of inveterate shoppers. We have been on a Sunday afternoon to a mall or the closest department store. Whenever we went we tried to go early. Because after four thirty or five, until closing at nine or ten, you can't move without bumping into someone's elbow. But we've never gone with full wallets and avid eyes. We've gone more like when, living in Boston, my parents and I would go to a mall. We would go to look around, to walk in an enclosed space on a winter's day. We would almost never buy unless we saw something we needed at a good price.
The crisis has put a clamp on most overly-joyous giving. Those who lost their job couldn't spend. Those who maintained their job wouldn't spend, just in case. There is a tiny recovery going on, but those who have recently found new jobs still don't have the money to spend. Their jobs are too precarious and their salaries barely cover living expenses. The spending comes mostly from those who conserved their jobs and now feel safer. One area where spending is going up is the Christmas lottery. That beautiful dream of becoming rich and jumping up and down in absolute joy around the twentieth of December is enticing. But I have read somewhere that the probabilities of winning that lottery is like a drop in a five-liter pail of water. Besides, if we were to win, we would have to pay twenty percent taxes on the prize. I don't feel like giving this government more money than it already takes.
This year I'll try to do like most years. Ignore clamorous calls to spend and search for presents for my immediate family that are special to them, that they need or would like to have. My daughter has already asked for two books. My husband never wants anything, but I'll still try to find a little something. My father will probably get a piece of clothing he will wear. And little else. Finding one or two things that you know that person will appreciate and value is much better than buying the store just because. We don't need Black Friday or Sales Sunday. Just a little reasoning and a lot of love.
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