I'm afraid I don't get the whole Black Friday thing. In fact, the whole thing just disgusts me...

Just what we need is another event that perpetuates the overconsumption of goods and the materialism that exists these days...

And, above and beyond that, there are incredible amounts of Canadians flocking to stores south of the border to take advantage of both the exchange rate and the sale prices. There is no thought into the accumulative amount of fossil fuels that are burned for them to get to the US. It seems that neither the environmental OR the economic issues are even thought about by these people. Burning gas just creates more greenhouse gas emissions AND all those shop owners in Canada that they're helping to put out of business are really going to appreciate it as well.

I say that we let them all flock down to the shops in the US on Black Friday and then put the country into lockdown so they cannot get back into Canada. Just see how far the exchange rates and those discounts get you when you don't have a Green Card to work there.

It's this kind of thing that puts all the family-owned businesses out of business. How can they compete with the "one-stop shopping" mentality? Even though their goods are higher in quality, they are still avoided because people would rather pay less money for items lower in quality and standards.

I, for one, may have fewer bucks in my bank account having spent locally and trying to use smaller family-owned businesses but at least I can sleep better at night.

By the way, did anyone out there participate in Buy Nothing Day this year?