Christmas Insanity

So the Christmas shopping season began in earnest yesterday with Black Friday-  the day many Americans lose their minds and line up outside retail stores across the country in search of the best bargains.  I’ve always thought that this was a symbol of why the rest of the world hates America and as I watched my local news late Thursday night I wasn’t disappointed.  There they were- lines of people standing out in the wind and freezing cold of the northeast ready to pounce when the stores opened at 5AM.  They even interviewed a girl and her father outside a Best Buy who said that standing outside a store at night equalled the quality time spent with family at Thanksgiving in that they spent time during Thanksgiving clipping coupons and planning on what they would buy together.  Now they got to be together in the cold of night.  Yep, sounds like family bonding to me!  The scary part is that both were serious when they made those comments.  I mean the whole thing is just a complete circus every year and retailers have taken advantage.  You’ll notice that this year the stores were opening an hour earlier at 4AM.  I’m sure next year it will be 3AM and so on.  But I don’t blame the retailers.  They are in business to make money, so if people are stupid enough to stand outside all night, more power to the stores.  As for what it says about us?  Well, it’s pretty obvious.  Some of us are willing to make complete asses of ourselves so we can save a buck or two while the rest of us look on with wonderment at how ridiculous the “bargain hunters” really are.  Again, we wonder why the world looks at America as full of itself.  Black Friday is example number one.