Tomorrow, the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping day of the year in America known as Black Friday. The name comes from the heavy traffic on that day, although most modern uses of the term refer to it as the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black at the bank.

As always every major department store is having a sale now Thanksgiving is over and it’s time to prepare for the next holidays in the calendar – Christmas and Hanukkah.


I find it gross on several levels – it’s message is one of pure consuming – buy more stuff that you don’t need.

We should be using our buying power wisely as we can – questioning how the products we buy impact developing countries, what are the affects it has to our environment? If everyone just stopped buying for a moment and used their spending power with caution we could really make a difference. And what about socially? It shocks me how many malls here are built like social centres. A good day out for the family is not at the mall – it’s in a museum, by the beach, at a park, sat at the dining room table playing a game, watching a movie. And lastly what’s really gross about it is the shops open at 4am!!! 4AM!!!

At 4am, I shall be supporting the American Buy Nothing Day by being asleep in bed with my wallet firmly shut.

Not in the USA? – BND UK etc

Not Goth, 34, Redondo Beach, USA