By Jeff Orvis
Gray Thursday, Black Friday, Small
Business Saturday, Cyber Monday. Here it is a couple of days after
the initial madness of the holiday shopping frenzy. These are the
times when I am somewhat grateful for living on a limited budget.
Most of the members of my family who will be getting presents from me
already have more material possessions than I do. I'm not
complaining. I celebrate their good fortune and at the same time am
thankful for what I have.
I suspect that at least some of the
folks who waited all night on Thanksgiving Eve for the chance at a
good buy on a TV or computer were attempting to impress those who
would be receiving the gifts. But I've never attempted to buy a gift
for someone where I would risk being knifed, shot or tazered for the
item. Do these folks really believe that a $200 TV is worth a
possible hospital bill or a criminal record for disorderly conduct?
I'll admit I enjoy shopping for
bargains on those rare occasions when I go to a store. But if I'm in
a grocery store and there's one can of beans left on a shelf at a
sale price and somebody else grabs it just before I get there, I'll
gladly pay the extra dime for another brand of beans.
We live in an incredibly competitive
society. Some would even call it a desperate society. Many folks are
unfortunately living on the economic edge. But why do they think
their lives will be better if they pull out that credit card and
spend much more than they can actually afford? Will they remember
that warm feeling they had at gift giving time when, three months
down the road they are contemplating bankruptcy when the bills are
past due?
Corporate America lives on the
gullibility and impatience of the public. That's a pretty strong
statement and I realize that many corporations do a lot of good for
all of us. But when I see a credit card commercial where the consumer
is offered points or frequent flier miles for using a particular
card, no where do I see that the consumer can be charged up to 24
percent or more annual interest for using the card. When Menard's,
the home improvement giant, advertises a big rebate sale, only in the
fine print do you notice that the rebate is actually a Menard's card,
not cash.
I used to like to look at the
newspaper ad inserts from Walgreen's and CVS pharmacies. They are
both wonderful stores. But the advertised sale prices on virtually
everything in those fliers come with a small print that says, “with
card.” In order to receive that price, you have to present a card
that indicates that you have filled out an application, probably
including your address or e-mail address, professing your loyalty to
that store and enabling corporate to send you all sorts of junk mail.
Just sell me the item at the posted
price and don't make me flash a card.
I've told this story before. But when
my family decided to spend a big portion of our tax refund on our
first computer, we went to one of those big box stores and found a
nice computer at a reasonable price. But the fine print stated that
in order to get that price, we had to mail in a rebate form. So I
asked the unfortunate salesman who waited on us to show us a computer
that didn't come with a rebate. When he said that wasn't possible, we
said “Thanks” and walked out. We went across the street to
another store and bought a computer with no rebate attached.
Apparently, more folks did the same thing. I notice now that the big
box retailer has fewer rebate specials.
The only way all this will change is
if the consumer starts taking more care when he or she makes a
purchase. As long as you make purchases with those loyalty cards, buy
big ticket items at stores where the sale price is only obtained with
a rebate then maybe or maybe not remember to send in for the rebate
or keep buying those 11 ounce cans of coffee that were were once 16
ounces – for the same price – without protesting to the
corporations, nothing will change.
More importantly at this time of the
year, if you believe that those certain presents are available for a
“limited time only” and you spend your time and money trying to
make someone else happy, you will lose sight of the real “reason
for the season.” That babe in the manger in Bethlehem certainly
didn't need a big screen TV. Those treasures presented by the Wise
Men were nice, but I doubt they had to fight off crowds for them, or
mail in rebate forms to pay for them.
So while I'll do a little shopping
this holiday season, I'm vowing to spend more time in praise and
thanksgiving for the One for whom we should all be celebrating this
time of the year.
Although I hope to remember to post
another message later this month, for now, have a merry, blessed and
sane Christmas season!
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