Black Friday OR Buy Nothing Day?
Fifteen years ago I celebrated Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa’s house with Aunt BK, Mom, Dad, Alicia, Marissa, Nick, Tony, Angie, Uncle Denny, Karen, Mike, Aunt Fay, John Michael, Shane, Richard, Linda, Katie, David, Laure, Jeff, and often many others. The Schirripa family is a loud talking, game playing, song singing, laughing, and loving group. Family gathering were always full of good cheer and good times.
I would sleep in the attic of Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and after a long lie in bed I would wander downstairs, sit down in the living room, and enjoy the baton twirlers, Radio City Rockettes, and marching bands of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. One by one, people would arrive bringing desserts and yummy food. The cheesy potatoes were always a favorite, and each year it seemed as though more and more people brought cheesy potatoes. At dinner time, a prayer was read and the adults squeezed themselves around the table in the dining room, while the kids sat in the basement. I was still eating in the basement, even in my 20s. Nick always wondered when he would be promoted to the adult table, as he was the oldest, but we preferred him to eat with us anyway. After dinner the men would enjoy the football game in the basement, the women would stay in the living room, and the kids would play a game of Ollie Ollie Over in the backyard.
The following day, me, my sisters, mom, and Grandma all went shopping.
“…consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption…. ”
-E.F. Schumacher from “Small is Beautiful”
Now, more than a decade later, things have changed. Grandkids have their own kids, sisters have moved far away, cousins are married and have two families, and Grandma, the light of the party, has passed. Its been years since we had a Thanksgiving like this, yet I still look forward to it, expecting it to always be the same.
And other traditions change too. Today, the day after Thanksgiving, the stores are mobbed with customers, aggressive buyers pepper spray each other, and people have even been trampled to death by enthusiastic shoppers. Today is called Black Friday, but it is also called Buy Nothing Day.
Buy Nothing Day is an international day of protest against over-consumption.
Today I walked through Emily Dickinson’s home and learned about her poetry. Now I’m spending the afternoon painting ornaments with Ben’s niece. Later we will watch “The Neverending Story” while finishing off the pumpkin pie.
How are you celebrating Black Friday?
How are you celebrating Buy Nothing Day?
Leave a comment below to share your ideas of creative ways we can celebrate the holidays without over-consuming. Thanks for sharing!
Sailing, Simplicity, and the Pursuit of Happiness, began in 2008 when Teresa gave up a whole lot of stability for the unstable plan to chase her dreams by living aboard a boat and taking on odd jobs to support her lifestyle, and selling handcrafted items through her online
We spent Buy Nothing Day covering our boat on a beautiful sunny day day up here on Lake Ontario. The lake had a nice light blue tint to the water, and even the ducks and geese seemed to be just sitting around enjoying the view. Noticeably absent were people. Days like these up in this part of the country are rare for November, but not too many people were around to enjoy it. We assumed people were all out shopping, and looking for bargains. Either that, or they were too stuffed to move
We took a quiet route home along the lake to avoid all the plazas and malls, while maintaining the view of the blue water. Was a good day.
Today my husband went to the Occupy Charleston march. I manned the boat and kept a watch over our neighbors’ boats. The shadows are spreading now and I plan on making some jambalaya with sausage.
We are prepping the boat for sailing south.
I’m glad you had a wonderful “buy nothing” day.
Regards,
Katie Roberts
Spent the day inventing allergy-free recipes for my newly gluten-intolerant grandson. What a challenge! By the way, we’ve decided not to exchange gifts as a family this year. Only stockings and only for the kids.
Deb
S/V Kintala
http://www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com
We enjoyed being together with the family that was able to make it. Tessa, the youngest at 4, kept us all playing and laughing..GARBAGE is a great card game….Football was still on TV, some shopping, for the kids, was still done…and cheesy potatoes was still one of the hits of the day. Some things change, but having family and being close with them still remains the same…..while all tired from all the playing (4 nights and days), it is still sad for it all to come to an end…..already looking forward to all being together for Christmas. Old traditions may change, but making new ones is a blessing and joy. We are blessed and we stop to realize all our blessings.
I too remember those days T, and miss them very much!!!!! Times may change but our hearts will always stay the same when it comes to family. I will never forget those times in our lives and will always hold them close in my heart. I did do some shopping on Black Friday. Unfortunately, that is the best day to save on Christmas gifts for my girls, and when you don’t have much money to begin with you have to do what you can. Aside from the little bit of shopping I did, I enjoyed a full day with Mom, Dad, Gramps, Uncle Denny, Aunt Angie, Jason and my baby girl Tessa; playing games, watching football, and of course, lots of laughs. We are really looking forward to all of that with you when you are home for Christmas. Love and miss you so much!
Being in Germany, not much to do. I went to a different military base and the store was packed… there was NO parking anywhere. I came back to the one near where I’m staying at and there were fewer people. I walked around and ended up buy 2 pairs of socks. No sales. No other reason than a need for socks for work. I’m not big on the holiday’s. Never have been. Around the time I got to high school, I looked as the end of the year holiday season as a way for big companies to exploit the materialistic nature of people and to make money rather than celebrate the holiday for what it was supposed to be.
i spent my day “working” on Sunset Island. Building decks, greeting volunteers, welcoming home friends, cleaning up the yard, painting sail boats, and being Thankful.
Friday was full belly, friends surrounding me, and the water out to the west. I was consuming a lot…. a lot of joy and gratitude.
Black Friday was spent on our sailboat. No shopping for me. I just cannot get into it anymore. Here’s my Black Friday post:http://littlecunningplan.com/2011/11/black-friday/
The Never Ending Story was a favorite when our Claire was younger.