Tag Cyber Monday

Give Till It Doesn’t Hurt

Michael 6 Comments

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. I would hope that enough people are mature enough to be able to donate time, talent, and/or money to worthy causes without a special day to remind us to donate to worthy causes. But if you aren’t and you do, then somebody can benefit from your generosity at least once a year. (That’s the generic you, not the you who is reading this.) (Surely.)

It’s odd they would stick such an altruistic day right after the excesses of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Then again, maybe it is the perfect day for it. Any change you have left isn’t enough to do you any good so you might as well give it away.

GTHeartIf you are a little strapped either from the holiday excess or just because you’re a little strapped, I have some giving ideas that aren’t economically painful.

Remember those homeless people you wanted to help by volunteering at the shelters with Thanksgiving dinner? They are still hungry and most of those shelters don’t have so many volunteers they can turn away an extra hand on a not so random Tuesday.

For almost every Christian sect in the world, Advent begins this weekend. Churches and chapels are decorating their spaces for Christmas this week. I never met a church with enough hands that they would turn away an extra pair not tied up at the homeless shelter serving lunch. Most of those churches can use help throughout the year also, so while you’re there ask about those needs also.

Are you still fighting leftovers? While you’re rummaging through your recipe files for yet another way to prepare a turkey casserole, pull one out for something you can make to bring to your local fire station, emergency medical service, police or sheriff department. They made a choice to give back to their communities for a lifetime. You can choose to give to them for a day. (Pick something fresh and leave the leftovers to the kids.)

Hospitals, nursing homes, health centers, schools, day cares, libraries, Meals on Wheels, senior agencies, and other assorted services want help over the entire year. Make Giving Tuesday your start date to apply to volunteer on a regular basis to a worthy cause.

And finally, if you still want to give back and really can’t spare more than about an hour, donate blood. You’ll even get a cookie when you’re done. You can give and get all at the same time!

 

 

The names change…

Michael Leave a comment

You all know that I am not fond of Black Friday. I don’t mind the crowds or the sales or the bustling hustle. I really don’t even care that stores open on Thanksgiving. For many families that is their together time. What I don’t like is that the marketers have turned the whole thing into a, a, a thing!

There is no Black Friday. It’s Black November. Those sales started 3 weeks ago. And they aren’t all that great anyway. And now we get to start Cyber Monday, which many stores are calling Cyber Week including a couple of stores that don’t have any on-line presence. Which is fine because all of the ones that do, including those who are exclusively on-line had Black Friday for all of last week and/or this month.

Last Saturday among the many e-mails that graced my in-box were more than one proclaiming that they were entering the “last days” of their Black Friday sales so be sure to order now, soon, and often because at 11:59 on Sunday night those deals will disappear. Then on Sunday I got the “sneak preview” e-mails of the Cyber Monday deals starting at 6pm that very Sunday and available only for the next five days. From the same retailers. For the same products. The same ad with a different header. I should have ordered something between 6pm and midnight to see if I would have gotten a double discount.

See, that’s why I don’t like Black Friday. It’s insulting. But I did get a good deal on some silk poinsettias.

Happy Thanksgetting.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

Welcome to Black Cyber Month

Michael 1 Comment

Here we are, a week past Thanksgiving and we’re still seeing Black Friday ads.  Forget Cyber Monday.  Since they’ve declared this to be Cyber Week we’ll see those ads until Dec. 23 when with overnight expedited far from free delivery you too can have that present under the tree on Christmas Eve.

We have nothing against Black Friday or sales in general.  We like sales.  Some of our best buys have been during sales.  Of course some of the better ones haven’t been but that’s a different post.  What we have against this shopping period is the barrage of ads that accompany the sales.  It seems everything is on sale and that’s probably why Americans are expected to spend $590 billion dollars between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But what’s wrong with the other 333 days of the year?

Maybe people aren’t shopping so much on those other days because the selection now is so diverse; nothing can compare to it during the rest of the year.  Just this morning, He of We got an e-mail ad for laser tattoo removal (Save Over 75%!).  He has no tattoos but is considering it for a gift. 

Maybe people aren’t shopping on those days because it’s now that we see the lowest prices we’ll get on some basic items.  On Cyber Monday morning on one of the national network news shows, a consumer analyst called Cyber Monday her “socks and underwear day” because the prices are so good and with free shipping she can buy a year’s worth of these staple items for what she’d normally pay for a couple of packages at full retail. 

We have to admit that if it weren’t for the Thanksgiving to Christmas shopping period we’d not receive some of our favorite mail of the year – the holiday gift catalog.  It’s a little too early to find the most outrageous potential gift item but keep reading and we’ll soon revisit our favorites for this year like we did last (see “Buy the Way,” December 1, 2011 from LIFE).  In the running are rechargeable illuminated wrenches with stand ($79.95) and the home cellulite smoother kit ($1,500 plus shipping).

But then, what better stocking stuffers are there than socks and underwear?

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?