I am guessing I no longer have a handle on consumerism. I think I never had a handle on consumerism. I don’t get it. Really. It is an absolutely foreign cultural experience.

Black Friday – the biggest shopping day of the year.

I watched a news report of people who were camping out – complete with tents, folding tables, and their Thanksgiving Dinner, waiting for a store to open at 1 am.

I also saw a Target commercial that announced its opening at 4 am on “Black Friday.” People shop in the early morning hours of the night?

There is a serious disconnect going on in my brain, right now. Shopping in the dead of night suggests psychosis to me.

Shopping isn’t something I do, except when absolutely necessary. I avoid malls, chain stores, and crowds. If I want to shop and enjoy it, I go to small local shops. I cried when Thunderbird closed and I was consigned to Borders. If I can get it on the internet, I do. But this weekend, there is a shopping experience that is enjoyable, even for a non-shopper like me.

Big Sur has its annual Arts & Craft Fair at the Grange this weekend, to benefit our local non-profits. If you aren’t standing in line already, to make the 1 am or 4 am opening tomorrow morning, consider coming down here to the Grange (just south of Ripplewood – watch for the banner over the highway) at a decent hour to do your shopping. No lines. No camping required. And no psychosis.