Black Friday, My Ass
As we do every year, Free Radicals will be closed on Black Friday. Why in the minor gods' names would a retail store support Buy Nothing Day? Are we anti-capitalists? Are anti-consumerists? The answer is a resounding...maybe, but that is another issue for another day.
The fact is, when we as consumers buy things, we are casting a vote. While statistics may vary on the subject, many sources1 agree that around half of working Americans are employed in the service industries. What does that mean for all of us? If you primarily spend your money at big-box or national chain stores, in time, those chain stores will be the only employers left! If we all shop at Wal-Mart, someday we will all have to work at Wal-Mart.
This year, try to think of Black Friday (and every day, for that matter) from your point of view as a worker... not a customer. If you think its insane to ask people to get up in the middle of the night after Thanksgiving, leave their home and their families just to ring up items that could be purchased the next day, then don't take part! What would happen if NO ONE showed up to the mall on Black Friday?
As for Free Radicals, we (and the zombies) vow not to spend a dollar anywhere on Black Friday. We hope that in time, less demand on Black Friday will mean less people have to work on Black Friday. We hope that people will try not to spend money with companies that they would be unwilling to work for (good thing there are no monopolies, right...) and that in time, we will send a message: That we are ALL workers.
HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY DAY! WE WILL RE-OPEN ON SATURDAY, NOV.27th
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