UK shoppers aren’t strangers to Shop Rush – consider most recently the Versace for H&M Sale, which apparently sold out within 24 hours. (Oxford Street’s flagship H&M was a dangerous place to be on that day, and there are rumours of further collaborations.) Boxing Day sales, similarly, bring the crowds. For the purposes of these dispatches, though, let’s close our eyes and imagine…
It’s the lull before the storm: Thanksgiving Day. Depending on how large and raucous your family’s celebration has been, you might be snoozing in front of the telly whilst a game of American football plays on, or busily returning the house to some state of normalcy, or embarking on a journey home from the house where you’ve had dinner with friends & family.
Hopefully, if you are planning to stop ’til you drop tomorrow, you have ticked off all the important items on your to-do-the-day-before page:
[ ] Categorised list of shops to visit (highlighters & maps are helpful here)
[ ] Escape routes in case of stampede (only half-joking!)
[ ] Pens for making lists & checking them twice
[ ] Pit stops – this is a day to indulge in one of those delicious seasonal espresso drinks that you feel ridiculous drinking any other time of the year
[ ] A good team for moral support when you are just too late to the get the last ____ (fill in the blank)
[ ] A good, strong, comfortable FLAT pair of shoes (your feet will thank you)
All tongue-in-cheek-ness aside: Black Friday is a serious occasion for some US shoppers, a multi-generational event with all sorts of particular traditions. I know one family - mum, three sisters, and their daughters – who get up at 4AM, make it to the shops by 6, aim to be finished by 2PM and always have lunch at the same restaurant (which has required a reservation in the past because everyone had the same idea).
Perhaps these traditions don’t have the same sense of wholesome nostalgia as those associated with Thanksgiving – a shared meal with recipes passed down many times, a football game in snow-gear (a fave of my family’s), watching the Detroit Lions put up a valiant effort, getting up early to make stuffing, preparing the flat for Christmas as evening draws on. But they’re traditions nonetheless, aren’t they?
…stay tuned for more dispatches…over and out.
