SEAL ROCK, Ore. – During these troubled times, why “put yourself through the abuse of shopping on Black Friday,” say seniors here at the coastal community of Seal Rock who, instead, recommend a “little of peace of mind.”
Why “do that to yourself,” when you can have some peace of mind and really enjoy the things you’re thankful for by just staying home with family on Thanksgiving, say members of a Seal Rock sewing circle that consists of seniors: Sally, Jean, Lynda and Polly. While this group would not be viewed as typical Loggins & Messina fans, Lynda recently caught Kenny Loggins sing the 1976 hit “Peace of Mind,” at a local Native American casino and was humming the tune recently while sharing Thanksgiving stories with her friends. “I don’t recall when the Black Friday sales started,” questioned Sally; while Polly said she hit “Black Friday sales” with her daughter, and “boy, did we regret it.” The four friends agreed that “it’s just not worth it to go out and get abused on that day,” while Lynda offered the Loggins & Messina tune: “Everybody wants peace of mind. Give me some peace, yeah, peace of mind. Everybody needs peace, peace of mind; all we need is some peace of mind.”
Peace of mind vs. buying more stuff
What would the famed writer Norman Vincent Peale – who said “our goal for good health is creating the life of inner peace, and thus being harmonious and without stress” – think about “Black Friday” shopping, questioned Sally. In turn, Jean quipped: “He’d probably throw up.”
In turn, the four women -- who collectively have lived nearly 380 years, with their average age being 68 – think the act of “shopping on Thanksgiving day for sales,” or “leaving the house early in the morning on ‘Black Friday’ -- to just stand in line for a few bucks off another pair of gloves for dad -- is “simply nuts.”
“Yes, I understand family budgets being tight, but I will tell you this, I don’t recall any of the gifts I got for sale back when my kids were at home and my husband was still alive. All I remember are those warm feelings from our Thanksgiving’s together,” explains Lynda with a wonderful sense of going home.
Polly concurs, while a feeling of glorious happiness sprang up in her heart when thanking Lynda for “that memory, and saying “I too am wrapped in those warm feelings of Thanksgiving past as not a time to run out and spend money, but to cherish each and every moment with my family.”
At the same time, each of these seniors maintained the true meaning of the season is “to be thankful,” and not to join what they call “madness” out on the roads during what consumer experts are telling the media as “the biggest shopping day of the year.”
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“The American day of giving thanks has been high-jacked to trigger the annual orgy of mass consumer spending for the holidays. Stores are opening at midnight or even staying open on Thanksgiving. It's bad enough that most of them don't give their workers decent pay, let alone holiday pay - but they want them there to deal with a horde of bargain-crazed plastic-wielders desperate to save money when they could be spending time with family,” said one citizen commenting on a blog recently,
Meanwhile a local Target store in Eugene, Oregon, shared its national philosophy on why Americans need Black Friday:
"Black Friday is one of the busiest and most competitive shopping days of the year. We have heard from our guests that they want to shop Target following their Thanksgiving celebrations rather than only having the option of getting up in the middle of the night. By opening at midnight, we are making it easier than ever to deliver on our guests' wants and needs. Target will offer holiday pay to all hourly team members who work on Thanksgiving Day."
"Black Friday is going to be the darkest post-Thanksgiving sale event yet,” reported forbes.com Nov. 21. “Rather than starting in the pre-dawn hours, many stores and malls will open at midnight. Others, including industry leaders Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Macy’s, will push the battle into Thanksgiving Day. Research conducted for the National Retail Federation estimates that 77 million US consumers—almost a third of the total—are ‘definitely’ planning to shop that day. The study also estimated that another 74 million consumers will consider going shopping as well, depending on the strength of retailers’ offerings.”
Black Friday shopping is not healthy
On the strength of such estimates -- about massive amounts of weary and hung-over Thanksgiving family members heading out in the dark on wet, cold and dangerous roads just to save a few bucks on gifts that nobody really needs or cares about, -- this Seal Rock sewing group seniors add, it’s “amazing anyone would risk so much for so little.”
“I know my daughter gets home after those sales, and feels exhausted and sick. You don’t need a doctor to tell you this is wrong. It’s mental, and not healthy for more socks, more things that you know your kids would much rather have your time,” explains Polly who then wonders out loud “why won’t parents give their kids more face time? Why would they rather go out shopping than sharing time as a family? Why don’t they get the best gift a family member can ever have is time spent together?”
In turn, Polly says "my plan for the day after Thanksgiving is to spend as much time with my two granddaughters as possible. How could I tell them that Nana needs to go shopping over taking them down the beach for a nice walk."
Meanwhile, Lynda shares her view that: “I will unilaterally decline to participate in Black Friday because, ladies, I would much rather be with you and our families; and share our love over Thanksgiving.”
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