Black Friday Madness

So, I never go out shopping for Black Friday. I am content to eat my leftover turkey on a sandwich and wash it down with another piece of pie. But I am fascinated with the phenomenon that occurs with the day after Thanksgiving. Leading up to the big turkey day, we focus on what we have and how grateful we are. We are content. We're satisfied and happy with what we have. But then something begins to happen. Something almost sinister in nature. And it happens quickly. Black Friday.

When I was little, stores would open at - gasp - 5 am for early bird sales and what not. I thought people were crazy then to wake up and fight for their purchases. But then...as time marched on...the opening time was pushed back. Now even 3 am is too late. We gotta start shopping at midnight people!! Let's get this show on the road!!! Enough with the being thankful crap, I've got to get more STUFF!!!!!! Now, I hope you all know that I'm writing this as more of a satire than anything. I'm sickened more by the actions of a select few people than the whole. I opened my Drudge Report app this afternoon and the headlines talked about a woman using pepper spray to have an upper hand at shopping....An elderly man being trampled by the crowd...teenage girls punching each other over yoga pants...I mean, really people? 24 hours ago we were thankful for what we had...what happened?

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need." (Philippians 4:11, 12 NASB)