Buy Nothing Day

[TexasTowelie]

By Carol Morgan

In all fairness, if the retailers can start their buying frenzy season early, then I should be allowed to practice my usual holiday humbuggery early too.

Today is Thanksgiving, yet there are many Americans who will miss reconnecting with family and telling stories, or even counting their blessings. Why? They're working today.

The corporate machine begins the mantra of “shop til you drop” a little bit earlier each year. For many years, Black Friday traditionally began the day after Thanksgiving, but by the middle 90’s, retailers began opening at 6:00 a.m., then it was 5:00 a.m. and then 4:00 a.m. Two years ago, it was midnight; then last year, mega-retailers, like Walmart, announced they would open at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

This year, stores have dared to open even earlier, skipping Thanksgiving altogether and leaping right into the gaudy excesses of Christmas. Walmart began its online Black Friday even before Halloween.

More at http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-11-28/buy-nothing-day .

[rationalcalgarian]

1. I managed to do it this time!

Didn't spend a dime today!

[underthematrix]

2. I didn't leave my house and I didn't spend a dime online either

[prairierose]

3. I have celebrated Buy Nothing Day for about 15 years...

every year as the frenzy begins and grows, I am happier to celebrate this day. In fact, this year, I am celebrating a mostly non-corporate Christmas. Most of the gifts I give will be home made gifts with only a few small gifts that I need to buy. I am tired beyond bearing of the materialistic nonsense that the holidays have become. I am moving as far away from that as I can. I want to concentrate on spending time with family and friends.

[bemildred]

4. Every day is buy nothing day. More soon-to-be-obsolete crap is not what I need.

To go with all the already obsolete crap I have now.

[SheilaT]

5. Well, I did go to the grocery store today

because I needed to get something for my lunch and dinner. Got a couple of rolls and some roast beef, sliced.

I was working all day yesterday so I didn't have a regular Thanksgiving dinner nor any leftovers. Sniff, sniff.

Actually, I was perfectly okay with working, and I just hadn't planned ahead quite well enough for today's meals. There weren't that many people at the grocery store, but traffice in the 2 miles between it and my place was quite heavy, because there were lots of retail establishments nearby that would have been quite busy.