Black Friday

The Friday after Thanksgiving. I, of course, have to work today. In all my working years, I cannot ever remember having the Friday after Thanksgiving off of work. I always wonder what that would be like.

Honestly, though, aside from the fact that I wouldn't mind sleeping in after ingesting coma-inducing amounts of wine and tryptophan, I have no issues with going to work today. I hate shopping in malls and department stores, so I wouldn't be caught dead out on Black Friday, pummeling other customers so I can buy the latest electronic gadget before anyone else. No thank you, I do all my Christmas shopping online, with the exception of those few things throughout the year that I buy because I walk by them in the store and they remind me of someone. And why not? I can click away and browse at my own pace, by myself, ignoring the rest of humanity while I drink a nice hot chocolate with Christmas hymns playing in the background, instead of hearing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for the thousandth time while waiting for the woman five people in front of me to finish arguing with the cashier about her $2.00 coupon.

I'm a gift giver by nature, and nothing makes me happier than giving a great gift. This year, due to limited funds, the recipient numbers are low and the cost per person is very small. This is a strain on my love of gift-giving, but it is keeping things in perspective for me. The reason I love Thanksgiving is because it has all the good things about Christmas: food, family, and church, with none of the pressures of present-buying, wrapping and spending. This year, where my Christmas will look more like Thanksgiving and less like Santa vomited presents all over my parents' house, will be a good reminder for me about the true meaning of the holidays. And why retaining what little sanity I have left is much more important than getting $10 off a new PS3.