Black Friday

To those who survived it - more power to you...for those who didn't even bother - great decision.

I've never understood why people get so crazy over sales; truly emphasizing the materialistic aspect of our lives. The "desire" for things that may define status, or fulfill voids engulf us on days like Black Friday. Unfortunately, people fail to realize that there is much more to life than 52" LED Samsung TV's or the latest Blu-Ray players. There are people around the world that would crave a sale on bread, milk - even potable water. They desire a life where they can actually have a place to sit down and eat, yet we go crazy over 50% discounts - go figure. This is what we have become. Our capitalistic and materialistic views have caused us to forget what truly is valuable in life. There aren't any sales on life, yet many spend their time finding them.

The hypocritical portion of this blog is brought to you by yours truly. I grew up (and still live) with a materialistic, capitalistic mentality. Everything from the latest Blackberry, TV's, Xbox games, and clothes define us. They create a "status" that we strive for. Growing up in NYC, you "need" these things to create a sense of happiness. They are also needed to be included in the "in" crowd. I, for one, placed emphasis on attaining these things because it gives me a sense of ownership. We strive to be the 5%'ers in our society. We want to attain that same status. We want the cars, the houses, the clothes and most importantly the lifestyle. Growing up as an urban youth, all of this is glorified. It's all we see. Ads, magazines, commercials, TV shows. All of these outlets tease us, showing us the life we "should" attain. Now you have 14 yr olds caring more about their outfits and how they look, instead of caring about the way their report cards look. They fail to care about the way their SAT scores look. And most importantly, they forget to care about the way their future looks. So please, as great as it feels to purchase that newest Louis Vuitton bag, or the newest HDTV, let's not forget that it isn't the only thing that defines our lives.