According to my calculations, Black Friday SHOULD be on November 28 this year. But au contrair my friends. Leaks of the Black Friday's circulars from every major store have been abounding for the past three weeks. Not only that, but you can get Black Friday online specials as we speak.
Right after if not before the turkey has been devoured, stores will be opened at 6:00p.m. and remain so round the clock until the weekend is officiallly over. There are Thursday sales, Black Friday events, and of course, Cyber Monday phnomenal prices online.
Now if all of this hasn't caused your anxiety levels to go through the roof, try to compare prices on those items your family members MUST HAVE this holiday. Every store claims they have the lowest prices yet when you check them out, most are the same as their competitors, and in some cases even higher.
Free shipping is dangled in front of your weary eyes, but that too, comes with a hitch. You've got to spend a certain amount BEFORE free shipping can be attained. I think the only store to give free shipping no matter what your total happens to be is Target. Now I don't work for Target or own stock in the company, I'm just giving you the benefit of my long, frustration search at not cost!
So on and on it goes: searching, comparing, purchasing, exchanging only to find out a week before Christmas that your three year old grandson doesn't want Thomas the Train escape from the avalanche set any more! You throw your hands in the air and begin the process all over again. But most of the hot items no longer grace the shelves and are out of stock online. If in fact you do find his new obsession, you'll have to pay through the nose to purchase it.
When all is said and done and the presents are wrapping and piled under the glowing lights of the beautifully-decorated fir tree, you can finally breath a deserved sigh of relief.
As the family gathers, you distribute the gifts with a certain pride and feeling of accomplishment. Within minutes the wrappings are ripped off, the boxes are opened, a few words of appreciation are mumbled, and a number of disappointed statements are articulated very distinctly. The adults are a little more discreet in their comments, but the kids tell it like it is. "This isn't what I wanted," or "he got more than I did," or "This thing is stupid!" rings through your ears like the scratching of finger nails on a chalkboard.
After tossing their MUST HAVE gifts to the side, the kids don their winter gear and head out to sled ride without even so much as a backward glance at all your hard work and effort you've extented to make their dreams come true.
Need I go on? I don't think there's anything more to be said except, now everybody say it with me,
"CHRISTMAS, BAH, HUMBUG!"
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