black friday five

From Reverend Mother:

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 think I stood in line for concert tickets at one point in my life. Can't remember what concert, but I am sure it was good. It is completely against my nature to stand in line for a material item.

2. Do you enjoy shopping as a recreational activity?

I have a dear friend who lives in D.C. I love to shop with her and have made several trips to New York to do just that. They are fun trips that always involve more shopping than spending, theatre, nice hotel and good food. Shopping is an excuse to take a vacation from my family and is sometimes just what the doctor ordered.

Otherwise, I don't enjoy shopping and detest grocery shopping.


3. Your favorite place to browse without necessarily buying anything.

The fabric store. I love to peruse the pattern books, walk up and down the fabric isles, and imagine a time when I will have the time to sew as much as I want. The same for knitting stores.


4. Gift cards: handy gifts for the loved one who has everything, or cold impersonal symbol of all that is wrong in our culture?

I don't like to give gift cards, but I also don't buy many gifts. For several years the only Christmas presents I have bought have been for the kids and husband. I buy a *cow* through Heiffer Project International and tell everyone else that they have been given part of a cow for Christmas. That way no one gets someting they don't need and someone does.

5. Discuss the spiritual and theological issues inherent in people coming to blows over a Playstation 3.

I am so out of touch that I didn't even know about Playstation 3 or Amazon Prime. NPR did have an article about the playstation. I am sure there is a stewardship sermon in the whole thing, but thankfully I am a pediatrician not a priest and don't have to come up with that sermon. If I did it would probably turn into a fire and brimstone rant that would be completely unacceptable at my "proper" Episcopalian church.