At least, that is what this time of year really is anymore. Sure we still hear the same stories, sermons, and watch the same Christmas specials on TV... But when we are out and actually living life and setting examples, what do we look like?
I have some confessions to make. I want you to read my story. I want you to ask yourself honestly, what do I look like at this time of Year? What message do I send?
My Confession...
I used to love Christmas time. Then I grew up. It has only gotten worse since I became an adult.
My story...
When I first entered the workforce, I went into retail, just weeks before the Holiday season. Back then, most stores had the common courtesy to let Halloween and Thanksgiving have a month of commercial time.
I started a week before Halloween, and got to see the mad dash for last minute costume shoppers, and I thought that was insane. There was nothing that could prepare me for Black Friday. As it stood, none of us were prepared, there was only a couple of seasoned Black Friday veterans in the store at the time, because "Black Friday-Door-Buster" sales had only popular within the previous year or so. We thought it was crazy that we were opening at 5am... Now the same store opens at midnight on the accursed day.
Yet, like I said... There was nothing that could prepare me for it then. We went into the store at 3am to help finish setting the Christmas decorations that the visual department had sacrificed their Thanksgiving to start. We filled baskets of goodies to hand out to customers as they came through the door. We actually had a pretty good time, coming into the store in those wee hours of the morning, talking and getting excited for the holidays fast approaching us.
We started to get concerned when we saw the parking lot was full at 4:30, and there was a line at all of our entrances. People were actually knocking on the glass like they wanted to get in!
At 5, there was a stampede, people got knocked down, racks turned over. We ran out hand-outs in half an hour resulting in people throwing fits because they didn't get chocolate, a sample of hand-lotion, and a coupon. The rest of the morning would progress into actual fist fights, and cursing matches, and tug-of-wars over merchandise. The same people that wore pins proclaiming "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" were accusing each other of stealing items from them, none of those items yet being purchased to belong to anyone but the store.
I went home with a new understanding of the season that day.
The next 2 years were only worse. I saw children and elderly get knocked down and trampled, some broken bones were results of a few of those.
A woman left her lost child to cry in fright for 2 hours as we paged her to come to customer service to collect her child. After an hour we were obligated to call police, but we still paged for her. Eventually she came to customer service with 2 full shopping carts in tow. Her excuse to the police was that as long as we were paging her, she knew her child was alright, and it was easier to go Christmas shopping without curious eyes there to watch.
By my third year of Black Fridays, I didn't want to work retail anymore. I liked the retail environment any other time of the year, but the end of the year brings out the very worst in otherwise good people.
More confessions...
I, myself, boycott Black Fridays. Mostly because of my retail experiences, to be honest, but also because I see how the focus of the season has really and severely veered towards materialistic competition.
It might be judgmental of me, but it really galls me when I listen to the people around me talk about how they 'scored' on Black Friday. It angers me when I listen to some people brag about how they told other shoppers off, or how they swiped the last of something out from another shoppers nose, or how they didn't let someone get away with something, etc.
Then, to make matters worse, they show off the Christmas cards with a picturesque scene of the Nativity, or talk about the wonderful Love of God and how He sent the most perfect gift of all to us, or even just handing a gift to someone with the statement, "I went through a lot to get this for you." Like that obligates you to be more appreciative for their hard work.
It seems to me that the world goes into an even more exaggerated state of contradiction during this time of year....
Now you can start asking...
I don't necessarily mean that everyone should boycott Black Friday like I do. I wouldn't complain, but I know it won't happen, so eh, whatever. Besides, It is a little late to do so this year anyways... I actually posted after Black Friday, because I wanted you to be able to look back and see what example you might have set last week. Are you proud of yourself? Did you set an example of Love for those who were shopping around you? Did you sacrifice someone elses wants to satisfy your own selfish ego?
It isn't wrong that you do participate.If you do participate in shopping events during this time of year, you are in a wonderful position to really demonstrate what the season is truly about.
If you don't get that perfect present that you kids are wanting, and it is going to destroy their hopes and dreams in humanity, then maybe you need to reevaluate how you have presented the season to your children.
... And if you have asked yourself the presented questions, and you don't like what you see in yourself, let me offer some solutions that might help you next year...
The Saturday after Black Friday, is Small Business Saturday... Small, locally owned businesses usually participate in SBS. There are so many reasons to support your locally owned non-franchise stores. You help actual families, instead of Corporations, you support the actual town it is located, and the atmosphere is much more Seasonal. Plus, you find more unique items, usually better quality items, and more personalized items many times when you shop your local down-town shops, and mom-and-pops.
Cyber Monday starts the Monday following Thanksgiving. The awesomeness of Cyber Monday is that most deals last all week. You can shop in your pajamas with a cup of cocoa (or wine), and you don't have to wait in lines behind coupon cutters, and wailing children, and people with tagless items. The items are still the same quality as the ones you get in June (this is not the case with Black Friday Door Buster items you get at Wal-mart... I know).
The items come to you, so you don't have to make countless trips from you car trunk to your bedroom with bags overflowing... Plus, many online stores offer to wrap the gifts before they ship them, so you don't have to worry about waiting for the kids to be scarce to do your wrapping, or worry they might find them before they are wrapped.
...But...
...If you MUST...
...Shop on Black Friday...
I urge you to be one who presents the Season in a way that shows an example of the Reason.
