Black Friday 2019

I am very late to the party with this post, but indulge me, if you dare. Recently, it was Black Friday 2019, otherwise known as ‘the closest we will ever get to a real Hunger Games’.

In general, I don’t understand Black Friday, especially the way people go about it in the US. It’s strange because it’s right after Thanksgiving. This is basically what you’re doing:

My Black Friday

My plans for this year’s Black Friday were quite simple. I stayed at home and enjoyed the tranquil feeling of not being trampled by a bargain-seeking mob.

Let me indulge in my self-righteousness for just a moment.

I must admit, I do quite like watching the YouTube videos where people go crazy for the bargains. The best gift of Black Friday is for me to watch how middle-class white people assault strangers over TVs and printers. (I’m white, I can say that).

I don’t do Black Friday

I usually don’t do the whole Black Friday thing for three reasons. The first reason was stated above, I don’t want random strangers to feel me up ‘accidentally’ or squash me while I peruse the aisles of some overfull shop.

Secondly, I’m trying to save my money for the important stuff – like paying my medical aid and buying karate gear. Thirdly (and quite frankly the biggest reason), in South Africa we don’t have the ridiculous 50-70% off sales like in America. Here it’s more like 10-20% off. If it is 50% off, it’s some ludicrous thing like baby diapers, or other stuff I wouldn’t want for free.

Also, parking is a freaking nightmare in any shopping center on that day. I drive a chunky four-door saloon (that guzzles up petrol like it’s nothing) and it’s hard to maneuver it when everyone generally drives like an idiot.

What about the online deals, or Cyber Monday, you may ask? Yes, you could have probably gotten great deals there, and then when you get the package it’s always exciting – it’s like a present from you to you. My question is, did you only buy the stuff you really needed or did you indulge somewhat? I can only speak for myself, but at this stage, I literally cannot afford to indulge.

Unnecessary debt

Another thing I don’t like about Black Friday is that a lot of people are putting themselves in a lot of debt to buy silly things. Quite frankly, that’s the job of Christmas shopping. You can’t blow all your money in November! How will you get through the festive season of December and the three long months of January?

There you go, rant over. I hope you survived Thanksgiving with your nosy relatives, and then survived the Black Friday mob(s). Now we have to endure Boney M on replay in all the shops.

Meh.

Michelle

P.S. If you’d like to contact me, feel free to comment below, send an email to thatmichelleperson@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter @M_ClutterBox.