Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017:  It’s just been announced that the biggest Black Friday deals will appear today, Thanksgiving Day!  I don’t know why we talk about Black Friday as it is really, “Black Thursday extending into Black Friday and the Black weekend.”  Wears you out just trying to say that.  I marvel at people who get up at an ungodly hour to get the privilege of standing in line, regardless of how good or bad the weather is, to get really “unbelievable” merchandise.

When I was a little girl, my mom and I went downtown because Marshall Fields was having a ” bargain-basement” sale. I’m not sure how it happened, but we became separated.  There were all these gigantic people around me.  Some were fighting over merchandise, and most were stepping on me.  I was frightened because mommy had disappeared and these mammoth creatures pushed me one way, then another.  With no mom in sight, I started screaming through tears, “MOMMY, MOMMY!”  We were finally reunited, but the memory of that event lives on.  Perhaps it’s a form of PTSD, but at the mention of a “sale,” I’m reduced to panic and dread.  I would rather go through a root canal without anesthetic than participate in a Black Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday Sale.  Each year we hear about fights breaking out and people being injured (sometimes severely) at stores.  Mind you, all this occurs at a time of the year in which we commemorate a harvest festival by the Pilgrims — way back in 1621 — a time of thankfulness.

My experience, of course, was “pre-mall.”  We are now entering a “post-mall” era, and the good news is rather than fight the crowds we can surf the web!  But Thursday, I’ll be preparing a turkey with yummy sides while my home becomes filled with the aromas of Thanksgiving.  Rather than searching for gifts, I’ll be arming myself with gratitude.  After all, it is Thanksgiving.