I'm liking this idea a lot:

http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

I'll be quite not busy with not shopping - with a vengeance - on Friday. I know I will be not exhausted, but a girl's gotta not do what a girl's gotta not do.

Even so, I submitted to the local mall yesterday to accommodate a friend -- he has cerebral palsy, and likes to meet at the Starbucks inside the mall because it's easy on his transportation requirements and he likes the mall.

So I walk in the doors and am immediately assaulted by strains of "Sleigh Ride". As I make my way toward the Starbucks, my sniffer is approaching olfactory overload from the noxious fumes of cinnamon, vanilla, yet more cinnamon, with a hint of freshly grated nutmeg. I'm careful to dodge the cell-phone wielding, shopping bag-laden, busy-busy bee people. Many of them are dressed stylishly but I'm incognito in shorts, t-shirt, and a beat up pair of sandals, hoping that the Brighton store won't recognize me from our last humiliating encounter. I am in luck: as I duck my head and pass its portals it's far more focused on devouring a petite brunette and her elderly mother.

So I make it to the Starbucks and grab a cup of joe with my friend. We sit and visit for an hour (my outer limits of tolerance for willingly staying within any mall), and I enjoy hearing about what he's been up to for the past week.

Clutching my outdated purse and muttering "courage", I quickly make my escape. I decide at the last minute to take the Nordstrom pass in order to avoid the perils that could overtake me on another Brighton crossing, especially if it has digested its recent meal. Halfway to reaching freedom, I remember with no small degree of horror that while Nordstrom has many more trailheads than Brighton, my compass has a habit of mysteriously malfunctioning within its vast shoe forests.

But I made it this time, and as I broke outside it was a perfect late November afternoon in SE Florida: slightly below 80 degrees, breezy and blue skies.

Despite my hour confined in the mall, I'd had a great Saturday overall: a few hours with other friends at a nearby park: picnic in the woods, relaxing in camp chairs, and some canoeing on a lazy little river. Morning: took my dog to the beach for the simple pleasures of watching her joyfully retrieve sticks, getting thoroughly soaked and sandy.

I will joyfully savor the obligatory footage of stampedes at Walmart and fistfights at Toys R Us on the evening news

I really wish a big chain store (Target, Walmart, K-mart, etcc) would change and announce this:

"We will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday and the Fri after. We will open back up on Sat 10am and have these door-buster deals (then they list whatever here)"

I think alot of people would patronize a store that did this

11/23 is the same as 12/31 - they're both AMATEUR HOUR, when all the fools rush in.

And I avoid both of them like the plague.

I have never gone Black Friday shopping and never will. I live right by a mall and can shop anytime. I hate crowds, so I always do my shopping in the middle of weekdays when everyone else is at school or work. I almost never go to any store after 5 pm or at all on Saturday or Sunday.

The way they treat their workers is awful and I despise the crass consumerism of the day. Plus, crowds give me anxiety attacks.

I'll be shopping at the local, small businesses in my hometown, if anything.

I will not be shopping or buying anything on black Friday. I am already done with 98% of my shopping, just have to pick up a couple of things for a small niece and nephew.

that doesn't come up for sale for at least the same price or less before Christmas. I think some people just thrive on the insanity of it. My niece does. I've probably been to black Friday once or twice in my entire life.

Thank goodness that not only was my holiday shopping done in mid-September, but that I did it at other than the big places (for those out here, I got artisan-made items; for the three kids in Scotland to whom I send stuff, I got it all at the outlet mall during tax-free weekend).

The one time I shopped on Black Friday, I was pleasantly surprised how nice everyone was, both other shoppers and retail staff. However, the only big-name store I bought anything at was the Gap--very crowded, but I didn't witness any obnoxious behavior. I don't think I'd ever do it again, though. For one thing, I was and still am a bit embarrassed that I went to a store on Black Friday at all, and I've also been trying to patronize local small shops and craft fairs, etc. for the holidays.

There's nothing I want so badly that i'm willing to put myself through that kind of misery.

It's the worst day of the year to leave the house. An agoraphobe's nightmare. I went to Kmart once on that awful date and got stuck in a long line at the cashier. Waves of fear and nausea rolled through me, but I had promised a purchase for my son, so I couldn't just bolt to the car. Never again.

Not shopping on a special Friday and instead doing the shopping on another day is not a more ethical option and does not defeat capitalism. There is no inherent morality behind boycotting the day nor does it do any good to stay home.

That being said, I can't imagine anybody who likes to stand in those kinds of lines and deal with those kinds of people. I certainly can not.