Black Friday by another name: Buy Nothing Day

[Jeangenie]

Want to make a difference today? Buck the norm and buy nothing today, Black Friday. Don't be a victim of our very consumer-oriented society. Be a human and not a consumer.

Buy Nothing On Black Friday

Though rushing to the mall or local CrapMart the day after Thanksgiving has become trad for millions of Americans, many Americans spend Black Friday boycotting shopping altogether in protest. Buy Nothing Day -- promoted since the early 1990s by the zany culture jammers at Adbusters -- has become a holiday for anti-consumerist folk who enjoy taking a stand against all the shopping and spending that inevitably produces lots of debt, trash and disappointment (that American Apparel hoodie didn't really fix the interminable gnawing feeling in your soul, now did it?)

One can spend BND by safely staying at home and avoiding the crowds, or by participating in one of Adbusters' suggested celebratory activities: Cutting up people's credit cards (with their explicit permission!); walking around the mall like a zombie (can be difficult to stand out in the average suburban mall, where vacant TV Eyes are common, but you can try); or going to a store with some friends, grabbing shopping carts and then wheeling them around in silence without picking up any items for purchase. Actions planned in Chicago include a fur protest and a Zombie Walk down Michigan Ave.

If you just have to buy something on Black Friday, because you're anal like that, then you can avoid putting your cash money in the corpies' coffers by visiting your local thrift store. Buying second-hand doesn't mean you love someone less -- it just means that you also appreciate a good, eco-friendly deal, and your loved ones should either appreciate your common sense or just deal with it. This author has discovered brand-new items on the second-hand racks; look carefully and you might strike gold as well.

http://chicagoist.com/2008/11/26/dont_buy_it.php

[fairydustlady]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 12:02 PM I like your revolution! I agree. I haven't shopped on Black Friday in years. It saves me tons of money.

[goddessmonica]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 12:19 PM

I'm not leaving the house today. The last thing I want to do is shop.

[eleanorigby]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 12:22 PM

This was the first time I went out for Black Friday.  I was amazed by the entire thing, and definitely felt like a consumeranimal.  So many people were so pushy and unkind, but I just walked around and had fun.  Couldn't...resist....low...prices.

[racingirl]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 12:31 PM

no way, no how am i shopping today! never have and i dont think i ever will......

[MoonPenny]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 1:51 PM

Voted popular!

[aurorabunny]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 1:54 PM

Yay! Viva la revolucion!  I'm staying home and spending my usual pathetic amount of time on Craigslist....

[MythicMMM]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 4:15 PM

I'm bad like that too Aurorabunny.

Friday is my grocery day, but I don't like going out on black Friday. today is too inauspicious to go anywhere.

[vintagechicken]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 7:02 PM

I DIDN'T BUY A THING TODAY!

[itsmesteph11]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 7:50 PM

No problem there...... We are broke

[glittersteph]

Nov. 28, 2008 at 8:56 PM

I bought a mocha, but that was it. I stayed in and had a maid from a locally owned co. come and clean my house! I have been saving for this for a long time!