I’m not one to risk an arm, a leg, an eye or teeth – much less contracting frostbite – just to be the first through the big-box store door on Friday morning to score a flat-screen TV or tablet, but the whole concept of Black Friday still is offensive. This year, of course, some retailers aren’t even waiting till Friday, and we all know what that means for Thanksgiving, which should be one of those sacred holidays (and why they call them “holidays” is a mystery to me, but that’s another program).
The “black” part is supposed to be about retailers kicking off the season so they can be “in the black” at the end, but historically, putting “black” in front of a day of the week has always meant a financial panic or some other disaster. I guess the naming was deliberate, but I’m not sure it has the desired effect.
It’s all just a big game, though, as retailers have to show the huge numbers for Black Friday as an indicator of how the shopping season will go and the overall health of the economy. But I resent the idea that you have to have your will on file somewhere and your life insurance in force before you go shopping.
At the very least, can’t we compromise a little bit and push it all back to Saturday, if only as a Thanksgiving digestion aid? And please, can we eventually go back to celebrating seasons some time during the actual seasons?
I’m waiting for a kid to show up at the front door next Halloween dressed as Santa – trust me, it’s coming.
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Monday, December 29, 2008
The Season of Gifting
When some of us sit down to make New Year’s resolutions, it’s fair to say that cutting back on spending will be a popular choice, if circumstances haven’t already forced that on us.
In our family, we make a pre-holiday resolution to have a “little Christmas,” meaning, we’re going to cut way back on gift-giving, though we never quite make it. True, we did spend less this year, but that was largely because stuff cost less, as the merchants were desperate. A big thanks to Amazon for the free shipping.
A lot of the spending has to do with annual gift-giving to other branches of the family. Some may say this is wasteful and the result of false obligation, but there is something to be said for tradition. At least, if you’re going to cut people off after umpteen years, you owe them an explanation. Sometimes you don’t even know that you have a family until you get their boxes of pears or whatever.
For me, the wrapping of the gifts is the hard part. This time I will hear from the green freaks who will complain about the waste generation and damage to the environment. Nevertheless, wrapping is important to us, so much so that I almost feel as if we’re grading each other. Paper selection, 9.1; color coordination, 8.7; Scotch tape use, 7.3; degree of difficulty, 5.9. My wife and I work as a production team. She hates working with paper and I hate ribbons and bows, so we divide up the work.
I must say there are few things more satisfying than finding exactly the right gift for someone, when you know they need it or crave it, even if it costs a little more. For the others, there is always the gift card, if you defeat the cop-out feeling.
But gifts don’t always have the expected effect. A friend’s little girl, who is just over a year old, was showered with gifts, including a teddy bear and such. But what most interested her was the wrapping, not the gifts themselves.
If your experience as a giver or receiver or both was less than perfect, well, there’s always next year’s holiday season. And birthdays are pretty good practice in between.
There, now I’ve said it.
In our family, we make a pre-holiday resolution to have a “little Christmas,” meaning, we’re going to cut way back on gift-giving, though we never quite make it. True, we did spend less this year, but that was largely because stuff cost less, as the merchants were desperate. A big thanks to Amazon for the free shipping.
A lot of the spending has to do with annual gift-giving to other branches of the family. Some may say this is wasteful and the result of false obligation, but there is something to be said for tradition. At least, if you’re going to cut people off after umpteen years, you owe them an explanation. Sometimes you don’t even know that you have a family until you get their boxes of pears or whatever.
For me, the wrapping of the gifts is the hard part. This time I will hear from the green freaks who will complain about the waste generation and damage to the environment. Nevertheless, wrapping is important to us, so much so that I almost feel as if we’re grading each other. Paper selection, 9.1; color coordination, 8.7; Scotch tape use, 7.3; degree of difficulty, 5.9. My wife and I work as a production team. She hates working with paper and I hate ribbons and bows, so we divide up the work.
I must say there are few things more satisfying than finding exactly the right gift for someone, when you know they need it or crave it, even if it costs a little more. For the others, there is always the gift card, if you defeat the cop-out feeling.
But gifts don’t always have the expected effect. A friend’s little girl, who is just over a year old, was showered with gifts, including a teddy bear and such. But what most interested her was the wrapping, not the gifts themselves.
If your experience as a giver or receiver or both was less than perfect, well, there’s always next year’s holiday season. And birthdays are pretty good practice in between.
There, now I’ve said it.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Is the Glass Half Full?
Does this economic collapse have an upside? I hesitate to even go there because of the perceived insensitivity to those who have lost their jobs in the middle of the Christmas season. But even forest fires do have a cleansing effect.
First of all, what’s happened has been necessary. The Wall Street whizbangs were flying too high. There was no accountability for bad loans. These are lessons that needed to be learned.
And many of our captains of finance and industry needed to be shocked out of their comfort zone. The economic calamity is having the effect of hastening the death of failing enterprises, or if not that, forcing those in charge to rethink what they’ve been doing. If there had been no economic meltdown, the automakers could all continue with business as usual for that much longer. I used to be in newspapers,, and we’ve all known for a long time how much that business has to change. But now it’s really do or die, and for many, it’s too late to do.
What about all those people out of work? The immediate prospects are dire. But for many who lose their jobs, it’s a new opportunity. To do what, most of those out of work don’t know right now, and that’s an uncomfortable place to be.
A friend of mine who was a newspaper editor quit the position in a huff about a year and a half ago. He was angry about the way the corporation was doing business and how it was treating its people and its customers. He spent the next few months on his blog bashing the company. But this doesn’t put food on the table, so he took some real estate courses, got his California license and is now a Realtor. You’re going to say, not such a good time for that business, either. But people always need places to live, and while home prices are down, sales volume will pick up as bargain hunters move in. He admits that if you told him 18 months ago he was going to be in real estate, he would have laughed pretty hard.
Somehow, I have faith that the harder these hard times are, the faster we’re going to get through them – and the world will be a better place for it on the other side.
There, now I’ve said it.
First of all, what’s happened has been necessary. The Wall Street whizbangs were flying too high. There was no accountability for bad loans. These are lessons that needed to be learned.
And many of our captains of finance and industry needed to be shocked out of their comfort zone. The economic calamity is having the effect of hastening the death of failing enterprises, or if not that, forcing those in charge to rethink what they’ve been doing. If there had been no economic meltdown, the automakers could all continue with business as usual for that much longer. I used to be in newspapers,, and we’ve all known for a long time how much that business has to change. But now it’s really do or die, and for many, it’s too late to do.
What about all those people out of work? The immediate prospects are dire. But for many who lose their jobs, it’s a new opportunity. To do what, most of those out of work don’t know right now, and that’s an uncomfortable place to be.
A friend of mine who was a newspaper editor quit the position in a huff about a year and a half ago. He was angry about the way the corporation was doing business and how it was treating its people and its customers. He spent the next few months on his blog bashing the company. But this doesn’t put food on the table, so he took some real estate courses, got his California license and is now a Realtor. You’re going to say, not such a good time for that business, either. But people always need places to live, and while home prices are down, sales volume will pick up as bargain hunters move in. He admits that if you told him 18 months ago he was going to be in real estate, he would have laughed pretty hard.
Somehow, I have faith that the harder these hard times are, the faster we’re going to get through them – and the world will be a better place for it on the other side.
There, now I’ve said it.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Party Monster
So your company has decided not to hold a holiday party this year. Or instead of flying you and all the other employees to Maui for dinner, they told you it’s your job to bring the spinach dip.
They used to be called Christmas parties. Now we call them holiday parties so as not to offend anyone – except perhaps those who don’t observe any holidays this time of year. But be honest – are they really all that much fun?
Your boss puts on the event in part to thank you for all your hard work and in part to update you on the state of the company. The second part, maybe you can do without this time around.
As for conviviality with your colleagues, probably most of you are convivial with those you want to be convivial with the rest of the year. And, of course, you can’t be too convivial at a company holiday party – there are prices to pay for that when you go back to work.
I guess it all depends on the approach. If the company puts on a party out of a sense of obligation, then your presence at the party is an obligation, too. It’s different if the atmosphere involves everyone getting together to try to have a little fun in spite of what’s going on. But what most of us don’t need this year is another obligation.
So if the boss tells you there’s no party this year, well, worse things could happen and may already have. Be grateful that you have an extra few hours of free time, which are precious at this season.
For the rest of you – ask around and see who has the best price on spinach dip.
There, now I’ve said it.
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