Black Friday

Even before I got up from bed, since last night, and much much before that, more than the talk of Thanksgiving was the talk of Black Friday. Not only amongst people, but in the media. The newspapers, television, and the Internet has been painted red and green and black with news about deals that are the lowest.

The talk of competition among retailers in slashing prices made the rounds for a few days. The Internet pulled all stops to talk about Cyber Monday too. One after the other, it is all about buying, shopping, acquiring things, materials, goods, filling up the house.

Last year, the whole day, both my Equal Half and I were out of the house, shop hopping. Thhe number of things we bought last year were so many, that this time I was still exhausted, even after one whole year, to go out and repeat the cycle once more.

I might be exhausted, but not him. Much of his Thanksgiving passed browsing the newspapers for the best deals. Especially the Best Buy pages, electronics - which is his weakest spot. Whether it is cell phones, computer/netbook/notebook, or plasma screen television, I think all men have this weakness. They don't generally go after cosmetics or handbags, like the women do. In clothing, men do not have as many visible choices to make, unlike women. And the market has been doing its best to lure the men into buying the things they covet most.

My Equal Half started cribbing in bed early on for not being out browing Black Friday deals. 'Not to buy, just to browse,' he kept repeating. 'Let's go out for Black Fridaying.'

If I've not been this firm about sticking to our budget, or not accumulating things that we don't need, we'd have been out the entire day, just the way we were last year. We'd have exhausted out wallets, credit cards, and bank balances, just to crowd our house some more and become a lot poorer for all of it.

Quietness on Thanksgiving Day

Last year I was in US during Thanksgiving, but the only things I remember about it was the turkey leftover I got to eat from a friend, and the Black Friday sale post Thanksgiving, when my Equal Half and I went shopping from one store to the other and we landed up spending much much more than we intended to.

This year has been so much different than what it was last year. Not only have I lived here more than a year by now, I've done enough shopping for the house and myself. Now I am in less need of more household appliances or new clothing for a new wardrobe.

So, this year my focus has shifted from the Black Friday deal flyers that came with the newspaper in the morning. In fact, too much shopping has started to get on my nerves, because I've done so much shopping all these months to arrange the house where I've started living newly.

Today was more about how to utilize the holiday. Should it be resting in bed and catching up with lost sleep, or watching a Netflix DVD, or cooking a Thanksgiving lunch. We'd cancelled a trip to Universal Studios with a family as we wanted to rest and catch up with personal things.

But, in the end, Thanksgiving is for food and we could not escape it. While we were out in the soft warm sun on State Street, we began looking for food for lunch. Only a few restaurants were open. Although I wanted something non-Indian, since we eat Indian food at home, we had to accept what was available. The Indian restaurant was full to capacity, as it wasn't closed like the others.

During daytime, when the restaurants here offer buffet, it is a hard time to choose something away from the buffet dishes laid out near the door. A buffet seems to good a deal, with all the array of food offered, compared to a la carte orders. Although we'd gone into the restaurant with a determination not to go for the buffet (so we would eat less and keep our weights under control), finally, after a prolonged perusal of the leather covered menu, we decided the easier way was to take the buffet and get over with the lunch time ordeal of making a choice from all those listed on the menu.

Hence for one more day, we overate. Buffets are designed for overeating, I have no doubt about it. and post-meal, it's time to regret what was eaten. Now I'm about to go to bed, my stomach still churning the luncheon meat and chicken, six hours after. But one thing was good about it. I got to eat someone else's food than eating mine from my kitchen, day after day. That gets somewhat boring. Another hand brings variety in taste. And variety is the spice of life, anyone would agree.