Bleak Friday

I spent this Thanksgiving in my hometown, Richland, Washington.  Having watched the news I was well aware that some retailers chose to open their doors on or immediately after Thanksgiving Day.  The Black Friday sales typically draw huge crowds in big cities but my sister and I were curious what kind of crowd would form at the Target in Richland, a city where until just recently the traffic signals switched over to flashing yellow at precisely 9 PM.

What we found was kind of shocking and sad, but not altogether surprising.  We arrived about 10 minutes before midnight and there was a line of people that stretched the length of Target's large parking log.  I estimate there were at least 500 people standing out in the cold and wind.  Some, I'm sure, were there for curiosity or simply to be able to say they participated in a Black Friday store opening.  But many were there to unwittingly affirm how badly consumerism has eroded the quality of our lives.  Americans are now so easily manipulated that people have completely lost sight of what should actually matter.

We watched as the doors opened and people sprinted through, presumably to grab one of the limited "doorbuster" specials that didn't seem overly special to me.  The parking lot at the Walmart across the street was also packed having opened at 10 PM on Thanksgiving.  Elsewhere someone unleashed pepper spray on other shoppers to score a cheap Xbox and another person was shot by someone trying to rob them of their Black Friday purchases in the parking lot.

It's all a very disappointing commentary on the era in which we live.  I'm convinced that it will never be as good as it was and few people will ever see the significance of what they've lost.  We had a handful of days each year where the only thing there was to do was be with family and friends... and learn to appreciate what actually matters.