I should not be surprised, after all I see the same stories on the news every year: a new balloon in the Macy’s Day Parade, long lines at the airport, and, of course, people acting like cows at stores around the county.

Please tell me the logic of waking up at 5 in the morning, driving down to the mall, standing in line at the doors, and hoping above all other hopes you will find that one deal that made it all worth your while. I am sorry I just don’t see the benefit to dealing with herd to save $20 on some electronic item you don’t need anyway.

And that, perhaps, is the source of my confusion. Time and time again, when people were describing what was in their shopping carts they would say that they needed this or that item, pointing to GPS driving maps or a Nintendo Wii. Nomads, as best as I could tell, did not need turn by turn directions, my parents never used a wireless remote to play the latest Xbox 360 game, my grandparents still don’t know how to load music onto an iPod and frankly they have no desire to do so. Best as I can tell they have survived quite well with out fulfilling this need.
Christmas is the time of giving, and I am not telling people not to buy items that they desire, I just wonder what the mind-set is that turns wants into needs. Now I like my toys, I really do, but it is fairly easy for me to tell the difference; I have to wonder if the people standing in line for hours in the freezing cold, before the sun even rises, do have a concept of the difference.

Have we completely gone away from capitalism to consumerism? Do people honestly buy things because they have been told they NEED to buy them? Is it any wonder that credit problems plague our economy?

Now some people (my aunt for example) seem to simply enjoy the hunt. This concept I can at least fathom; after all it can be a game to see just how much you can save. For other people it may be the only time they can legitimately enjoy some of the luxuries the middle class take for granted. But I will grantee that this was the minority of shoppers who flooded stores today and turned balance sheets black for the first time this year for many companies. I would put good money down that people went simply to be part of the spectacle, spend money because they wanted too, and buy items they will hardly use come mid-January.