Spanish views from a small town

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...