Money Obedience

vilkri-he has been complaining that vilkri-she is not blogging enough. Well, if you’ve been keeping up, you know that vilkri-he has lost his job. So he blogs about personal finance more than I do, and he also irons, cooks, cleans, and generally makes it look like I’m loafing through life (just like he did when he was working full time, I might add!).

So, I stopped EVERYTHING to write this blog, which I should do before you all forget that last Friday, Black Friday, that big shopping day after that big eating day, some poor Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death just trying to keep eager shoppers from pulling the doors off the hinges, which they did anyway!

I repeat, “Are you kidding me?” This is all very scary to me. See, I was thinking that if this was a different year, I’d probably be out there shopping. I cannot tell you how many internet coupons appeared in my email inbox last week, urging me to go out and spend. And I would have, if I wasn’t the only breadwinner in our house of five bread eaters. Then again, if hubby wasn’t unemployed, meaning that the economy wasn’t so bad, I’d probably not have received so many coupons.

Still, while I might’ve gotten in my car that day to peruse the stores, I just cannot get the sentiment behind the stampede. Did you read the story? Here’s a version of the original story, http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-limart1129,0,167903.story and here’s an update http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28034543/. Okay, someone tell me this; why???? Is it not the case that Wal-Mart had the same stuff on Friday that they had the day before, and the day after? Was it really necessary to rush in to get batteries or Cheetos or even a new electronic toy at a discount? The Newsday article (cited above) says that people were crying when they were asked to leave the store. Can someone please explain this to me?

I guess I’m even more confused because my orientation is completely different. I’m not saying I’m holier than anyone – I am perfectly happy if I find come cute boots or manage to make it over to Mac to get a lipstick that makes me look a little less tired but a lot more put together. But I also teach young adults about inequality when I’m not blogging away or trying to keep up with my resident Jack of all Trades and Perfect Housekeeper. So I can’t help but think that there are people starving or facing war and poverty all over the world, and the contrast between that and our consumer culture sometimes just blows me away. And that someone died? I’m flummoxed.

Perhaps, though, there’s a correlation between how bad the economy is doing and now desperate for bargains people become. I’m flummoxed about how things became so bad for us all so very quickly. Hopefully, we’ll all manage to live well, still, in our much tightened belts. As for me, I’m starting to look up how-to sites and magazine articles with directions for lovely homemade presents. (Hey, I’ve found several – maybe I’ll blog about that next.)