Black Friday

With the world Economy in fits and supposedly the capitalist system teetering on the edge of insolvency I find stories about the Day After Thaksgiving very interesting and informative. In this time of financial armegeddon we find people waiting in line all night for what? A loaf of bread? No!! They are waiting for laptops and Guitar Hero 3 to go on sale. Now forgive me if I somehow got some wires crossed but I feel a real pinch to get by right now. So the last thing I would ever think about is to go out and stand in a line just to get some frivolous electronic, time wasting video game. I was thinking that this malaise our country finds itself mired in could be a good thing to strip away our materialistic tendencies, and get back to the basics, like the true meaning of Christmas, families, and sober thinking. The media on one hand paints a picture of dire consequences and then on the other frets or bemoans the demonstration of real financial restraints. I know retailers have based their whole years success on how they do on this one weekend and the subsequent weeks until Christmas, but isnt that all the evidence we need to see that we have lost sight of the true meaning and gravity of what Christmas is really all about? All of the lessons we have set ourselves up to learn collectively and individually are not going to be easy. They will be even more difficult if we never get to the core of the problem and swallow the bitter pill.

I suppose retailers will be next in line to get bailed out, when we find we start trying to 'fix' everything we chase the problems round and round and get sucked into the whirlpool. Sooner or later, even if we do all we can to manage this crisis, the piper is still out there waiting to be paid. Maybe he is the last one who will need a bailout.