Mercantile Madness

Were you out there at dawn waiting in line in who knows what kind of weather for the door buster bargains at the mall or the discount store or wherever goods are sold? Did you patiently go through the foot high stack of ads that came with your newspaper yesterday? Have you waited all year for this Shopping Day to end all shopping days? Are you just so anxious to give someone else your money that you can’t stand it? Did you get your X-box? Your digital camera? Your new car?

It continues to amaze me the lengths to which some people will go to further the fortunes of Sam Walton’s family or other kings of commerce. The hype that surrounds this day is overwhelming and, according to news reports, will result in economic recovery for the poor merchants affected by Nine Eleven when spending plummeted as people re-adjusted their values. Not to worry. It seems folks are back in Acquisition Mode and joyfully spending money they don’t have for things they don’t need or to give to other people so those people can return them and exchange them for something they don’t need.

Forgive me…I don’t get it. My own savings beat anything any merchant can advertise. More than 10%, or 50% or any other. My savings are 100% because I stay out of the stores in the safety of my own home and give thanks (a day late) for all the STUFF I already have and which I need to start getting rid of.

There are a few things I want, but nothing I need. And therein lies the distinction. Thanks to affluenza and advertising, it appears a large number of the populice cannot make that differentiation.

Why do people shop till they drop?

Perhaps the answer is the same as the one to the question “Why do dogs lick their balls?” "Because they can. "

Have a happy day and keep your money in your pocket and your pocket in your pants.