November 23, 2007

I'm Buying Nothing Today

I'm feeling so conflicted. Today is Black Friday, the day when retailers everywhere see their business go into the black, or finally start to make a profit.

On the other hand, it's also Buy Nothing Day, the day on which we are urged to protest our runaway consumer culture by refusing to participate in retail activity.

My tendency is toward non-participation, in the same way that I don't go out and drink on New Year's Eve. If everybody else is doing it, I'll pass, thank you very much.

Only once in the last ten years have I ventured near a mall on the day after Thanksgiving. My parents were visiting, and they like to shop. So, I thought we'd have a nice lunch and stroll around the oh-so-chic Stanford Shopping Center. We arrived around noon and joined the line of cars on El Camino waiting to enter the hallowed home of Neiman Marcus, Tiffany, and Bloomingdale's.

We made it on the fourth light. We circled the lot and didn't find a parking spot. We circled again. And again. We stalked shoppers who were heading to their cars only to have them shake their heads at us. No, they weren't leaving. They were just loading the bags in the Volvo before heading back for another round of consumer spending.

After 30 minutes, we gave up. It was Black Friday and our moods proved it.

In spite of my fear of crowds and my aversion to malls, I still feel the patriotic urge to buy stuff. If I don't shop, doesn't that mean the terrorists won? Oh, sorry. That was 2001.

There are a couple of things working against the Buy Stuff Today people and aiding and abetting the Don't Buy Stuff folks. First of all, there's the fear of toxic toys. When my kids were young they were exposed to tiny Legos and those round Fisher-Price people and managed not to choke on any of them. They didn't poke themselves with Mr. Potato Head's interchangeable eyes and ears. They didn't die in spite of occasionally drinking their bath water. It's amazing, really. They made it through the minefield that is childhood with all their limbs intact and only minor damage from projectiles which were launched without my supervision or knowledge.

Today, though, there are many more hazards than just choking and poking. For instance, there are toys painted with lead paint, a practice that has become a political issue and has produced a ton of bad press for China, where some of them are manufactured. The retailers tell us they import toys from China because Americans demand low prices. But, really, wouldn't you pay a little more for the unleaded version?

Speaking of unleaded, that's another thing supporting the Buy Nothing faction: the price of gas. That half-hour tour of the Stanford Shopping Center parking lot would cost me $17 today. I'm not doing it.

Between the consumer scares, the gas prices, and the anticipated crowds, I'm opting out of Black Friday shopping.

Oh, who am I kidding? I've got a turkey hangover and I don't want to get up off the couch.