People were everywhere, scrambling and clawing through baskets of beaten and torn boxes.  Scanners were flying, doing price-checks as the employees attempted to create some sense of order out of the chaos.  You might think humans and sharks have little in common, but you have not experienced the event that is Black Friday.  Normal women and men turn into ravenous beasts, discounts on big-ticket items as the scent of blood coursing through their being.

In years past my wife and I ventured out early on this most sacred of consumer holidays to claim some holiday item, or sale need.  This year we are visiting family in Quincy, Illinois and as we only took one car with three adults and two kids there is little room to haul back a 50 inch plasma screen, even if we had the desire to do it.  We did venture out around 10 o'clock and wandered briefly around Walmart where found a few small toys for the kids, not enough to require the dreaded strapping of items to the roof.

As we were leaving a man and wife exited the building with a new 47 inch Sony Bravia HD television and a 32 inch (also Sony Bravia).  I am making no judgments, for all I know they could have been saving for a while and couldn't pass up the chance to spend their money wisely, or they could have payed for it all on their 26% APR credit card.  I have been on both ends of the spectrum there.  But I do comment on the mentality of a culture in which we need not just one television of gratuitous size, but an even smaller version of the same in order to fulfill our 'needs'.

Sure, the fact that someone buys a TV means that Walmart employees a few people and it means Sony employees some people.  There are taxes generated that employ a few more people.  By the end of the day many people are given a job for producing items that serve no ultimate value other than simply providing the owner with a gateway to view whatever content they want.

So, if the production of the TV creates jobs, and people feel they have made a good purchase and are entertained, then what is the harm?  This is a powerful argument, and not one I feel I really need or want to confront.  I want to simply ask a question.  Is it really needed?  Why do we feel the need to entertain ourselves with ever bigger and more expensive items?  What is at the core human level that creates and cultivates those wants?  What problems are we trying to solve with our consumption?  Are we purchasing 50 inch plasma TV's because we know it keeps others employed and able to support themselves and their families; or are our motives much more selfish?

I tend to get a one-track mind; my wife chides me (rightly) to quit stomping my feet.  While I tend to look at things objectively, when I want something it is often hard for me to look objectively at the purchase.  Just some of my thoughts on this Black Friday.

Consume wisely my friends.