Thankfulness Day 23

Nov. 23
This day was started years ago, but just became an unofficial holiday not too many years ago. I'm referring to the day after Thanksgiving...Black Friday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/22/black-friday-vs-jesus_n_2172873.html

Years ago when businesses actually used ledgers to record money going out and money coming in, they used red ink for any amounts that were taking away from "the bottom line" and black for income. For the majority of the year, most businesses operated in the red (negative). However, come Thanksgiving and the shopping days prior to Christmas, shoppers upped their sales and boosted the businesses into the black (positive). The typical busiest shopping day is the day after Thanksgiving....hence the term Black Friday (the first day when businesses operated on the plus side).

I have a confession: I have never been out shopping on a Black Friday. I've heard some of the horror stories long before the shoppers that were killed by the stampeding flock a year or two back. I would wait until Saturday or even the following week to skip the crazy crowds. A few months back, however, I jumped onto the de-cluttering bandwagon. Our garage (the jumping off point) has never looked so messier and cluttered, but the house is slowly being de-cluttered. One of the positives in this is that the desire...the need...to shop for needless things isn't there. I don't want stuff that isn't useful adding to the clutter. Do I appreciate the folks that buy me things? Yes. Would I love them less if they didn't get me a gift? No.

My thankfulness for this day is this: I am thankful for the choice and the desire to stay home on Black Friday.