Black Friday, Good Friday

Old Rodan's happy Black Friday face

It takes a mindset I neither have nor comprehend to brave the zombie hordes at the shopping areas on Black Friday. I have about as much interest in sawing my own head off with a rusty bread knife as I do tolerating so many walking/ talking/ pushing/ shoving/ screaming heaps of compost masquerading as human beings to save some dollars on things I, or folks of my acquaintance, likely don't much need. Now bear in mind, I don't make a lot of money; I live fairly comfortably, but far from extravagantly, so, yes, I like to take advantage of bargains when I can get them. Groupons are my friends. But there's a limit to what I'll put up with from the herd out there, and Black Friday is on the far side of it. From things I've personally witnessed or had related to me (my ex-wife was a devoted Black Friday shopper) to the inevitable news stories of chaos among the masses, it is clear to me that the veneer of humanity we see when things are going swimmingly is thin beyond thin. Throw a complication or two in front of the herd, and the meltdown is inevitable and potentially horrendous. In fairness to those I loathe, I do not exclude myself from succumbing to a destructive group mentality under certain circumstances. Back in the 1980s, I spent a couple of Independence Days at Taste of Chicago downtown, and I once came perilously close to being pushed by a mass of humanity onto the tracks in front of an oncoming subway train; you'd best believe I clawed my way out of that situation just to get myself into a train car before I got killed, and damn anyone who was in my way at the time. I never inflicted that event upon myself again.

If you haven't seen Five Million Years to Earth, you really ought; it's a wonderful science-fiction depiction of Black Friday made years before the contemporary shopping day actually became a thing.

For my own mental health, and to prevent adding myself to the body count at these godless things, on Black Fridays, I always steer myself in exactly the opposite direction. Today, it was out to Fairystone Park, where a nice geocache in the woods awaited my attention. Happily, I was the only human being in evidence out in this general direction, and I made short work of the hide.

Though you might not infer any such thing from all of the above, I do love my peoples, those what aren't vermin anyway, and a happy few will be getting nice Christmas presents from me. Most will come by mail order.

Do be sweet.

Foundations from an ancient dwelling, viewed from the geocache site

The swimming area at Fairystone Park, where I have spent much pleasant leisure time in years past.
Today would have been a bad, bad swimming day. Brrrr.