The holiday gift-giving season is upon us, and with the advent of Black Friday, lines will be forming in the wee hours at the big box stores with groggy shoppers eager to trample their neighbors for a chance at a discount on any number of gift items. And as much as I loathe the press that each Black Friday gets, it’s an alluring offer—I’ll admit that just last year we succumbed to deep price cuts and took advantage of the opportunity to upgrade our small, dying television. That said, we popped into Best Buy at eight in the evening and it was a relatively painless process (and they had enough inventory left for us to make an informed decision).
Home electronics aside, there’s more to holiday shopping than flash sales and long lines. In fact, I think the federal initiative for Small Business Saturday gets the shaft if they’re still encouraging massive spending the day prior. But while the politicians and economists in Washington are ruminating over the looming “fiscal cliff” and trying to come to an agreement on how best to create and re-establish jobs, I firmly believe that focusing our individual efforts right here at home gives us a chance to make a real difference in real lives.
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The holiday gift-giving season is upon us, and with the advent of Black Friday, lines will be forming in the wee hours at the big box stores with groggy shoppers...
