Seen the Kohls’ new “after Thanksgiving Day sale” ad on TV? I couldn’t find a link to it or I’d post it, but no big loss.
Basically it’s a well made up woman prating about how wonderful the Kohls’ sale is going to be. But what got my dander up, which is quite a trick for me at 0630, is the phraseology of the ad:
“American women are defined by three small words ‘After Thanksgiving Shopping’!”

Okay, speaking as an American woman I would like to hereby state that I am not, in any way, shape, or form, defined by shopping at ANY time of the year to say nothing of the Black Friday lunacy that happens at malls and department stores across the country.
And Kohls? Just for the record I find it offensive in the extreme that you are willing to define each and every individual American of my gender as the stereotypical mid-50’s middle class June Cleaver type who is so slaveringly dedicated to getting the best bargains first that she’ll be at the doors of your store at 0300 (really) this Friday just to get her Christmas shopping done.

Sure, Black Friday lunacy isn’t anything new (riots over Cabbage Patch Kids anyone?), but it’s getting worse. Stores open at midnight, people trampled to death in the rush to get into stores, and the little gem that I read on Fark last week about this nutjob who has been camped out outside a Florida Best Buy for the last TEN DAYS just so she can hold her place (and places for some of her family) in line.

Craziness. There is NOTHING that I could imagine being that important to ANYONE that would make putting up with, to say nothing of actively participating in, this sort of mass hysteria worthwhile.

Friday November 26th is National Buy Nothing Day.
At the very least I’m going to be staying at home. In an attempt to minimize my purchases of natural gas and electricity I’m going to sleep late and go to bed early (or maybe I’ll just be taking advantage of a rare day off, you never know 😛 )
Eat leftovers. Read a book. Put up your holiday decorations, shovel snow.
But please help restore some sanity and don’t go shopping. Especially not at Kohls.