Black Friday and other holiday madness

Is it just me, or do others feel as I do that events like Black Friday are stupidly insane? The mad rush at the door, the trampling of people and staff at some these stores as a mob of crazed shoppers bowl over anyone in the way, just to be first to grab up an item for sale. Do we really need this?

What is it that makes grown men and women turn into beasts on the mall floor? I believe the very companies and corporations that will profit from all of this spending also encourage this behavior. You have seen the ads on the TV, heard them blasting over the airwaves on the radio, seen the news stories of people camping out for days before an event like Black Friday kicks off. The stores and the malls love them. Their corporate owners rub their hands in greed and glee at the profits that will fill their deep pockets.

There have been injuries and at least one death this year as mobs crashed though the doors to these big box stores and malls. While I believe nobody intends such things to happen, this build up and the insanity is far from the spirit of the holiday season. Yet this is how they want you to act, because it means dollars for them. So how do we combat this beastly behavior?

Shop locally. Buy your gifts at the plethora of local independent stores around the Valley and beyond that are run by your friends and neighbors. It will make them even more special and help our local economy as the profits stay here and not go to some box store’s headquarters on the East Coast. It is more pleasant than taking part in an insane shopping mob, too.

Maybe go to those box stores on off sales days. You might find some of those so-called sales prices actually to be mark ups. Try to limit purchases to sundry things. Turn those corporate smiles into frowns. Why let them dictate how you shop?

There are plenty of locally owned and run stores around here that would welcome your hard-earned money. Not just that, it is more personal. It’s a chance to talk to and deal with another person in warm fashion, a real person who isn’t bored or overworked to the point of exhaustion.

The holiday season can either bring out the best or the worst in us all. Admittedly, it can be very stressful at times. Taking your time and keeping shopping at a local level could make it one of ease and leave some of the stress behind. But shopping sales days like Black Friday, Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and the day after New Year’s are moneymakers for chain stores and malls. And they seem to go overboard to make people nearly foam at the mouth for their sales.

They line up at the door for hours or days before the event. And when those doors swing wide open, it is total mayhem. It’s the absolute worst of what the holiday season should never be. I do not take part in such madness. I never wish to be lowered to the point of running over my fellow man with a mob of shoppers in a selfish attempt to get a fancy TV set just because I can get a bargain price for it. I’m not opposed to saving a buck by any stretch of the imagination, but that kind of insanity is just plain low.

So don’t give in to the enticements on the TV or radio. Don’t give in to what those big box stores and their owners want you to do. Don’t turn into shopping beasts. This yearly madness makes headlines every year. Frankly, I’m tired of it. Aren’t you?

Shop for you gifts locally from the small stores. I think you will find it a far more relaxing and enjoyable experience for the holidays and the upcoming New Year, filled with good people and cheer and leave the so-called “bargain basement specials” right there in the big box store cellar.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.