Black Friday is the grossest day of the year in America.
Often at the crack of dawn or the stroke of midnight, Americans lose their ever-loving minds in the name of … what?
Cheap DVD players?
Don’t get me wrong. I love a good deal, especially in this tight economy.
But thank goodness for the shred of sanity that is Buy Nothing Day.
It’s an occasion not just to protest mass over-consumption of goods, but a reminder that the greenest action in the world is often the inaction of not buying any new goods.
In Everett, you can celebrate the day and your local community from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Zippy’s Java Lounge in Everett, where nothing will be for sale. Customers instead are encouraged to bring their own food and beverages for a potluck, along with art and craft supplies.
If you really want to raise the flag of buying less crap, check out the Adbusters site, featuring cool PDF posters and tips for taking your message to the streets, including these three suggested pranks:
- Credit card cut up: Volunteers stand in a shopping mall with a pair of scissors and a sign offering a simple service: to put an end to extortionate interest rates and mounting debt with one considerate cut. Be careful though: In some first-world countries, carrying scissors in public can get you arrested as a “terrorist.”
- Zombie walk: Cheerful dead wander around malls, marveling at the blank, comatose expressions on the faces of shoppers. Zombies are happy to be among their own kind, but slightly contemptuous of those who have not yet begun to rot.
- Whirl–mart: This activity has the advantage of being most likely to piss off security personnel. You and nine of your closest friends silently drive your shopping carts around in a long, inexplicable conga line without ever actually buying anything.
That last one is my favorite. Can you imagine it? It would be hilarious, though the crowds might try to kill you before security even arrived.
What are you doing for Black Friday? What do you think of the Black Friday shopping that happens every year? Comment below. Do it!
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