Say this about about Black Friday — the celebration of cheap shopping that we mark today — it isn’t a fraud. It’s not a consumer festival dressed as religious festival, as Christmas is for most of us. It’s a consumer fest dressed as a consumer fest.
But it’s still disgusting, an American import we can certainly do without. It brings out the worst in us. Already this morning, fights have broken out between mad British bargain hunters. A few years ago, a shopping mall security guard in America was trampled to death by hordes of desperate consumers. Cyber Monday, in three days time, when we all buy stuff online, may be slightly safer, but it if anything even more depressing.
The good news is that lots of us seem to abhor the whole Black Friday/Cyber Monday concept. Why don’t we all resist it then? Fight the madness! I propose Gray Friday (Gray spelt the American way so that our friends across the Atlantic can join in).
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