AMAZON

Friday, November 25, 2005

Black Friday

I don’t ever remember hearing the term Black Friday used as much or as consistently as I have heard it used today. It rather astounded me. To be certain that the talking heads were saying what and why I thought they were, I Googled Black Friday. Yes, it does refer to the day after Thanksgiving, which in the U.S., at least, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year.

That said, let it be known far and wide that I did not go shopping today! That’s not quite true: at 5:15 a.m. I went out into the fourteen degree cold to purchase cigarettes. I am unsure if that can be defined as “shopping" or simply feeding my addiction.

I suspect that, based upon the limited number of new blog entries I have come across this evening, the majority of my fellow bloggers did join the shopping sharks in today’s feeding frenzy. With a couple of prominent exceptions, most noteworthy being Bucky’s drawings and commentary on breast piercing (not suitable for anyone past the mental age of 12 years), no one is posting.

Of course, when I crawled through my blog links, I had not posted either—and since I have not been shopping, my logic may be a bit flawed. That is nothing new for me: I am much more intuitive than I am logical or deductive.

What I did do today was spend time—just him and me—with my #2 son, Rob, before he caught a return flight to his home in Albuquerque. We ate subs at Fat Jimmie’s Pizza around the corner from my house, explored the wine shop (Rob is a wine connoisseur) down the block, and then ate coconut cream pie at a not-be-named establishment. And during all of that we talked. We talked constantly.

We talked about that subject about which we had not had the chance to talk previously. We had a man-to-man—as opposed to a father-to-son—dialogue about women and how we will never be able to fully (or partially) understand them, no matter how much we try. Rob instructed me in the qualities of numerous wines as we walked through the wine shop. And we told each other jokes. We told each other lots of jokes.

So today was not Black Friday for me—no matter why it is named that. It was for me a day of joy and camaraderie with my beloved #2 son, who is at this moment on an airplane flying west toward New Mexico. I feel I have been blessed.

6 comments:

  1. I was one of shopping sharks in today’s feeding frenzy shopping sharks in Friday’s feeding frenzy. It wasn’t worth it! Too much traffic; too many people; too much of everything. I will NEVER do it again. (I said the same thing last year).

    It was great that you could spend time with you son before he went home.

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  2. I'd never even HEARD of the term black friday until this year.

    Sounds like a great visit with #2. Hope the communication line is now open so that things are not hidden anymore. MilkMan's family does that crap. The only purpose it serves is hurt when the other party eventually finds out.

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  3. Abby: I, too, have been in that Friday after Thanksgiving shopping mess. There is a point here in Louisville where an expressway runs between two of the largest malls that are on the same highway. Traffic becomes so snarled at the point on Black Friday that there are usually a dozen traffic officers trying to keep things moving. That is for me the symbol of yesterday and I remind myself each year to avoid it, even though it is one of the expressway entrance/exit points that I normally use.

    Thomas: This “Black Friday” terminology seems strange to me. With explanation, I understand it. Still, like Black Monday and Black Plague is seems a strange term for the nature of the day. I have found that Black Friday also refers to the September 24, 1869m financial panic in the United States. One would think that, because of the nature of the day, retailers would be better off in call the day after Thanksgiving “Green Friday” as in “green” for cash!

    Yes, yesterday was an excellent day for me. I enjoyed the time I spent with Rob more than I can express.

    Milkmaid: Thank you. Rob and I always have a great time together because we have so much in common. I am sorry that he and I now share being divorced in common.

    Rob has no computer—his ex-wife has their computer—so he hadn’t received my emails.
    I now have his new cell phone number and he has mine. I hope that opens up more contact between us.

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  4. Did you get to see some of the videos of Black Friday shoppers? Also the X-Box 360 shoppers. The one in Seattle was the best, looked like the charge of the light brigade. What a hoot. There just isn't anything in WalMart that would make me camp outside for 12 hours. Those videos should be used in high school self-esteems classes. At least I'm not one of those morons.

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  5. Anonymous: No, I didn’t see the videos, but I can imagine them.

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  6. Glad you had time with your son! If you ever head west to New Mexico to visit your son, let me know in advance and I’ll head east from Arizona. I would really like to meet you and discuss our mutual friend.

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