There’s a day on the calendar I’d just as soon forget.
No, not talking about 9/11, Pearl Harbor, various mass shootings and the like. Although we should remember those events because as we well know, if we forget, we’re condemned to repeat them.
Get me outta here!
No, what I’m referencing is TODAY. Yeah, today. Don’t they call it Black Friday or some such? And why would I just as soon forget it? Skip it? Beam me over to the other side of it?
Because I hate shopping!
Not just today, but any day and twice on Sundays. Does that disqualify me to be a girl? I’ve always hated it. (Cue Deb shrugging like she doesn’t care, because she doesn’t…) 🙂
So, tell us, TKZers.
Do you shop on the day after Thanksgiving? Or do you hide, like me?
It’s not just you. I do not like shopping. I have never fit the mold of wanting to go browse and shop and have not considered it fun, whether shopping for clothing or anything else.
The only exception was back in the day when I routinely went to real live physical bookstores. THAT was fun. Back in the late 70’s/80’s I’d go regularly to see what the latest Star Trek the original series novels had hit the shelves–back before online ordering and I had to make my assessment of the front cover and the back cover blurb to ensure there was enough Spock in the story to make the purchase worth my while. While I loved all the characters, it wasn’t as scintillating to me to read something primarily about McCoy, for example, if Spock didn’t figure strongly into the story (I’m biased!) 😎
I’d also browse and look at books about the west (since at the time I was still living in the flatlands of the east coast).
Those were shopping good times! 😎
Good Friday morning, Brenda!
Bookstores, of course–those ARE the places I do like to shop. We still have two or three in my town. Two of them have really cool names–Inklings Bookshop, and Churchill’s (I think that one is still open, not sure).
And I agree completely with to ensure there was enough Spock in the story. Wouldn’t be the same without the guy with the ears! 🙂
Have a great day.
I hate shopping, too, but the whole Black Friday thing makes me stay home until at least Sunday. It’s not just the shopping, it’s the way people seem to lose any sense they might have had. Slamming people out of the way in stores, and driving like traffic laws don’t apply, because it’s BLACK FRIDAY! In the small town where we lived for a while, a neighbor got up at 3:00 so she could get to Omaha by 5:00, and not get home until around midnight, her van stuffed with the bargain buys. The very thought made me sick to my stomach.
You’re not disqualified to be a girl. You’re qualified as being sane. 😀
Hi Becky!
I went one time (1, uno, once…) shopping with my sister on Black Friday over in the Seattle area. She was one of those dedicated shoppers who went early and stayed late. When we got back to her house, I very gently said, “I love you, Sis, but NEVER AGAIN!”
Have a great day…going back to my writing cave now. 🙂
Yup, I hate shopping, too, Deb. With one exception…bookstores.
Today, Instead of shopping, I’ll be at an international zoom book party with eight
other authors from around the US and the UK. We’ll read from our new releases and talk writing. Everyone from TKZ is invited!
Here’s the link to register (free): https://bit.ly/booklaunch2024autumnedition
It’s from 8-10 p.m. GMT. The link should convert to your time zone.
Ha–another kindred spirit, Debbie!
What a fun way to spend this day of all days! I’ll have to remember to check it out this evening.
Have a blast!
Hey Debbie! Just looked at the link, and it says in Pacific Time Zone, it’s at 12:00 noon today. Did you mean 8-10 AM?
Also, I won’t be able to attend, because that’s the time we’ll be visiting my Dad today. Hope you have fun!
(Just realized, GMT probably means Greenwich Mean Time?)
Yes, it’s Greenwich Mean Time since the event originates in England. I believe Zoom automatically converts to the time zone you’re located in.
🙂
I live in the boonies. I’ve never liked shopping. I do almost everything online. Since the pandemic, even groceries.
Hi Terry!
We live on the outskirts of our town, it’s about a 5-7 mile drive to get to the downtown area. Does that count as the boonies? Haven’t started buying groceries online yet, but we do order lots of other stuff. If people start getting any crazier, we might swear off going to town at all.
Have a great weekend!
We’re 7 miles from ’emergency supplies’ (mom and pop grocery store) but 13 from any ‘real’ stores.
Well, God love those who want to partake, like my wife and her sisters — though I wonder what Jane Austen, George Orwell, Kurt Vonnegut, or Margaret Atwood might make of it.
Hey Louis!
Good question. I’m sure there’s more folks out there than I think who share my shudder of shopping.
And not only shopping. Just driving over to my son’s house for the feast yesterday, about a 6 mile jaunt, we encountered some really erratic drivers that scared the bejeebers outta me.
Hope you have a peaceful day after!
Once upon a time, I did Black Friday sales, heading out before dawn. Not these days. Most of my shopping is online. I love bookstores, but our small house is packed with print books and there is literally no more room on the shelves, so the vast majority of our book purchases now is ebook or audio. The exception being some non-fiction, which is why our non-fiction book shelves have books stacked on top of rows of books.
Black Friday these days we mostly ignore, unless there’s a killer deal online for something we either need or want to give.
Hope today is restful for you, Deb!
Good morning, Dale.
What a great problem to have…and there is literally no more room on the shelves. 🙂
Hope your day is restful as well!
I have always hated shopping. Three exceptions: I can lose myself in hardware, office supply and book stores. But, not on Black Friday. Ever. The best take on this phenomena was watching Mr. Bean (UK TV) queue up for the post-Christmas sales. He encapsulated the mindset perfectly with hilarious twists. It reminded me of Downtown Boston when Filene’s had a sale and people risked life and limb in the stampede for that irresistible bargain. As someone remarked above- people just lose their minds! Someone else observed that Black Friday is a weird day where you were thankful for what you had and then the very next day, go out seeking more. I enjoyed reading this column and the comments with a smile from my comfy perch.
Hi Susan…another kindred spirit! And here I thought I was pretty much alone in this.
I remember going downtown (where I live now) with my mother when I was about 12. She didn’t usually go shopping The Day After, and I don’t know how bad it was way back then, but I do remember my usually proper madre swearing at someone who pushed past me in an aisle, nearly knocking me down. That shopper was indeed risking life and limb by tangling with her!
…you were thankful for what you had and then the very next day, go out seeking more.
What a comment on humanity–if only we could see ourselves. If we could, it’d be scary.
Have a good one!
I don’t like shopping, and I’ve never gone into a store on Black Friday. Have a nice weekend!
Hey Kay!
Short and sweet! With all of the I Hate Shopping folks popping up this morning, maybe we should get together and form a co-op and hire personal shoppers!
Nah–guess not! 🙂
Hope you have a good weekend as well, my friend…
I’m an online and catalogue shopper; I tend to avoid shopping malls like the plague.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
… I tend to avoid shopping malls like the plague. Indeed, Joanne.
We had a great Thanksgiving–at our son’s house with their 9+ kiddos in various larval stages–with a few friends, too. It was beautifully chaotic. Even had a dance party thrown in! My DIL is a genius at making fun.
Thanks for stopping by, and hope you have a plague-free weekend!
I don’t shop. I hunt. If I need underwear, I go in the store, find the underwear rack, pick a pack, pay, and get out. I don’t browse the shirts or pants or socks. The exception, as Dale says, is a bookstore. But I also am trying to cut down on the shelf space at home. I prefer print for nonfiction so I can mark it up, but also like the Kindle highlight feature, so I can get a print out of my highlights and notes that way.
I don’t shop. I hunt.
You crack me up, Mr. Bell! I can’t describe the mental picture I now have of you in the store…it’s totally politically incorrect… 🙂
Thanks for “hunting” with us today!
My parents owned a retail store. My siblings and I run screaming from shopping. The concept of shopping for fun makes no sense. Sadly, I must go to the drug store to get a prescription problem fixed and the grocery store for the items to make chili. Fortunately, neither is filled with crazed shoppers.
Hey Marilyn!
The concept of shopping for fun makes no sense. How true is that! 🙂
In my book, it’s one of those necessary evils I must put up with. I sweat just driving into the parking lot… 🙁
Have fun making your chili, and thanks for dropping in today.
If I shop I’ll have something specific in mind and a specific place. A pair of denim trousers that I like? Tractor Supply. Kitchenware? Target usually. For the most part it’s Amazon these days.
I once spent half a day trying to buy a freaking stainless steel ladle. You’d think that quality cookware would be a relatively simple find in a metropolitan midwest city like Des Moines. Not so.
I can’t imagine that I’d be one of those opening day mobs fighting over a television or a set of pots and pans, battering each other to get into some big box store. Not my thing. Likewise self check out. Not doing it.
I do like grocery shopping though. Since my spouse is mobility challenged and something of a hermit I do the grocery shopping but in my defense I have been shopping at the same neighborhood grocery for the last 25 years or so under two different owners.
It’s like my pantry. I know where everything is.
Good morning, Robert!
I’m with you on the self-check phenomena…I hate it. Give me a human face across the counter and a few “How are yous and thank yous” any day and twice on Sunday.
It’s like my pantry. I know where everything is. Beautiful!
Have a good one!
Okay…I’m going to be the odd one out. While I don’t love shopping, when I get together with my sister we usually go shopping at least one of the days, and I stock up on what I need. I’m in Chattanooga this week and it’s like being in a candy store–my hometown has a population of 15,000 and not many stores…
Being the “odd one out” is an underrated talent, Patricia! 🥳
If shopping coincides with fam fellowship, it’s a good thing…those opportunities need to be grasped.
Thanks for chiming in today, and best holiday wishes to you & yours.
I’ll add one of the few times I’ve “shopped” on Black Friday. The times it was just the 2 of us for Thanksgiving, we’d go out. The next day, I’d hit the supermarket to find turkeys on sale for a fraction of what they cost pre-Thanksgiving.
I’ve done that, too! Bought extras to stick in the freezer.
👍