It finally happened. I’ve reached bargain shopping overload! I can’t take it anymore. This Thanksgiving I had a blowout. I received so many Black Friday/Cyber Monday emails that I checked out mentally. I could no longer cope. Even for things I am eventually interested in getting, I could not face the onslaught of options and advertising. Everyone wanted me to look at their specials: Amazon, Staples, BestBuy, Ace Hardware, 10 different software and computer hardware companies, print companies, music companies, Apple and iTunes… It was an avalanche of images and offerings. I couldn’t cope! It all started with Black Friday previews on BestBuy a week before Thanksgiving Day. The ads came in non-stop all weekend. I shopped for nothing. I bought nothing. I got sick even of the idea of shopping or looking at ads.

Now you must realize, these are all ads from stores with which I normally do business either for my business or home purchases. I had actually looked for a piece of equipment, a projector, leading up to the “big day,” but when I clicked on the ads, there were so many offerings, I couldn’t find what I wanted. I had to wade through TV’s and phones and all sorts of clutter and I couldn’t get there from here. I felt so hammered by TMI (TOO MUCH INFORMATION!), that I just withdrew into my fortress of solitude and spent time with my family instead. I didn’t want to watch TV. I didn’t want to do email. I was on mental overload.

I wonder if this whole cyber/Black Friday thing has reached the saturation point and will lose its effectiveness. I gave up going to Black Friday, “door buster” sales 10 years ago when I waited outside a Circuit City in the wee hours of the morning to get our first flat screen TV; a TV which lasted only about a year and couldn’t be repaired because of non-standardized parts (Polaroid had several different Asian manufacturers for its components). I am not a fan of crowds anyway, so I’m done with that. Now the whole “gotta buy now” pressure, or “you’ll lose out,” is creating resentment and resistance in me. I want nothing to do with it. All of You! GO AWAY and leave me ALONE! And I am most disgusted with this Black Friday thing bleeding into Thanksgiving Day, and now all the stores feel compelled to do it because every other store is doing it. So none of the poor retail workers get the day to relax and spend with their families! This isn’t just commercialism, it is consumer addiction… and Mammon is his name.

So in my small, blogish way, I’m pushing back. I’m tuning out. If I ever need something, and I need a deal, may the Lord provide. This mess just ain’t worth the stress and pressure. Merry Christmas, ya’ll…