I’m an American, so I’m not a stranger Black Friday. I moved to the UK over a decade ago and remember when Brits would ask me, ‘so what’s the point of Black Friday?
Well, they no longer need to ask!
Black Friday has been a thing over here for a while now. It makes zero sense in the States, and it makes about the same amount of sense over here if not less. It’s a money grab. It tempts you into buying stuff you wouldn’t normally buy because it was a good deal.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good deal. I occasionally partake in Black Friday if it’s something I was going to buy anyway.
What I don’t love is Black Friday Week. It’s Black Friday on steroids and add into the fact that there will undoubtedly be Cyber Monday, which will probably last a week or two as well adds to the insanity. Though I really wish someone had named that something else. Cyber Monday just makes me think loads of people are sitting in front of their computers having a wank.
Let’s forget the idea of Black Friday Week – Friday isn’t a fucking week, even if it feels like it is sometimes. People are living through a financial crisis. They must choose whether they’re going to eat or heat their homes. They skip meals, so their children need to eat, and you want them to spend more money they don’t have?
There are people out there who genuinely believe if you don’t spend an inane amount of money, that you don’t care, and this is especially true if you have children. It’s a comment I’ve seen on an awful lot of parenting videos. The world is crumbling around us, and you think the one thing that’s going to make it better is others putting themselves (further) into debt for a single day with things that will be cast aside in a week at best?
No.
The magic of the holidays isn’t in the things we buy, but the time we spend with each other. So, if all you can do is draw a tree on a piece of paper and pass out cards you made each other before snuggling up to read or watch a film or getting bundled up to go for a walk - whatever it is you want to do - that’s wonderful.
You’re doing enough. You are enough. You do not need to go into debt to make Christmas magical.