Black Friday Gloom...
So thinking about Black Friday ... and the gloom that engulfs me, I wonder where it all came from? And yes, before you all shout AMERICA, that's not what I mean!
I mean when did we get so commercialised that we forgot about the small businesses, the local high street with independent stores, the crafts people and artisans? We insist we are going to shop small, buy from small businesses and support our friends and neighbours this year yet the actual day arrives and we are there queuing outside our favourite mega store ready to break someone's legs if they get to the TV reduced by £20 before we do!! A discount of £20 or even £50 and we all turn into rabid dogs ready to kill each other! But check out our social media accounts and we are there bestowing the virtues of shopping small and supporting our friends and local businesses ...OMG we do sound holier than thou ... but the reality stinks people. If you want to live in a world where there is choice and not every high street looks the same rammed with the big boys and charity shops then occasionally we are going to have to think about how and WHERE we spend our hard earned pennies. We've all seen the quote that when you buy from a small business someone does a 'happy dance' ... well, it is true even after all these years I still get excited by each and every order. I wonder what the customer is going to make with their yarn; who the cards are for; who the receipent of the hours and hours of knitting or crocheting is; which garment the buttons are for, and each and every order does help. I try to include a freebie in every parcel (who doesn't love a freebie?) and I wrap each item with care hoping it looks beautiful when it arrives on my customer's doorstep.
I include myself in this and I am a Black Friday Offender, anything for a bargain right but now my conscious decision is to support local and small and on the day itself I shall be hiding at home, wearing my hoodie back to front and not buying ANYTHING at all! Right, I’ll climb back down from my soapbox now.
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