Friday Five - Shopping? Christmas??
So this is a "Black Friday" Five (aka Buy Nothing Day) in honor of the busiest shopping day of the year:
1. Would you ever/have you ever stood in line for something--tickets, good deals on electronics, Tickle Me Elmo?
I stood in line to get in to the Vatican one very rainy January day. Got run over by elderly Italian ladies with large purses and larger umbrellas. Worth it, though.
2. Do you enjoy shopping as a recreational activity?
Shopping has its moments. I prefer to think of it as occasional retail therapy, rather than a recreational activity. But for shopping to be therapeutic, one needs to distinguish between "shopping" and "buying." Shopping is an exercise in imagination and a displacement of anger, irritation and angst upon an inanimate object. Buying exercises the credit cards - in my case, they're already buff.
3. Your favorite place to browse without necessarily buying anything.
I love Pier 1, Williams-Sonoma, Trader Joe's.
4. Gift cards: handy gifts for the loved one who has everything, or cold impersonal symbol of all that is wrong in our culture?
Neither (please - do gift cards have to be symbolic of laziness or lack of caring?) How about this - gift cards are a supplement so that teenagers can get what they want from the store where you want them to buy.
5. Discuss the spiritual and theological issues inherent in people coming to blows over a
Playstation 3.
No clue. The closest I ever came was a five day crawl through the malls of Los Angeles looking for the right Cabbage Patch doll (that dates me :)) In the end, we settled for a different doll and years of therapy.
1. Would you ever/have you ever stood in line for something--tickets, good deals on electronics, Tickle Me Elmo?
I stood in line to get in to the Vatican one very rainy January day. Got run over by elderly Italian ladies with large purses and larger umbrellas. Worth it, though.
2. Do you enjoy shopping as a recreational activity?
Shopping has its moments. I prefer to think of it as occasional retail therapy, rather than a recreational activity. But for shopping to be therapeutic, one needs to distinguish between "shopping" and "buying." Shopping is an exercise in imagination and a displacement of anger, irritation and angst upon an inanimate object. Buying exercises the credit cards - in my case, they're already buff.
3. Your favorite place to browse without necessarily buying anything.
I love Pier 1, Williams-Sonoma, Trader Joe's.
4. Gift cards: handy gifts for the loved one who has everything, or cold impersonal symbol of all that is wrong in our culture?
Neither (please - do gift cards have to be symbolic of laziness or lack of caring?) How about this - gift cards are a supplement so that teenagers can get what they want from the store where you want them to buy.
5. Discuss the spiritual and theological issues inherent in people coming to blows over a
Playstation 3.
No clue. The closest I ever came was a five day crawl through the malls of Los Angeles looking for the right Cabbage Patch doll (that dates me :)) In the end, we settled for a different doll and years of therapy.
posted by Nina Reeder at 6:56 AM
4 Comments:
Oh, we just got a Trader Joe's in Madison, WI. I am eager to check it out but decided to wait a few weeks so the grand opening crowds will be over. Not that I'd expect to see the crush of people of Black Friday or people coming to blows over a jar of veganaise. LOL!
I might come to blows over a jar of Spectrum eggless mayonnaise, though...hard stuff to find here in Outer Podunk.;-)
Happy Delurking Week!
How was your Thanksgiving?
Miss you, Pastor Nines! I hope you are having a blessed Advent.
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