Black Friday

Dark morning skies - Olney

I know from my travels how things and happenings from other cultures creep into my life and sometimes I can’t even remember how they got there. There are some things that have more than crept into our British lives and because I have been away for so long, they have become established, and I have no idea how they took hold. 

Black Friday is a shopping opportunity. I think it sounds like something terrible that should be avoided as black usually signifies bad things. I know where it came from – America. It is the day after Thanksgiving which is the third Thursday in November. As a family we did Thanksgiving when we were living in the Bahamas. It was a good opportunity to have a special meal. Nothing wrong with celebrations of that kind. That celebration is no longer on my calendar. I don’t particularly want Black Friday to come around either, but my email has been full of ads with offers I just can’t help but turn down. Bah Humbug! 

I had a bit of a grump about Halloween too. For weeks this year, the shops had been decorated with orange and black. When I was young, I enjoyed making a “guy” out of my father’s old clothes so that it could be thrown on a bonfire. We bought our own fireworks too. November 5th was a big thing in back then and now it is just a municipal fireworks display – a damp squib compared to the fireworks in SG. Few people even remember that it was once a command to light bonfires on that night to celebrate the king not being blown up. 

The most memorable November 5th was actually in the Bahamas. We went to a beach party to celebrate. After the display, one of the dads threw the old shells of the spent fireworks on the bonfire built from driftwood. We were sieged by the leftover casings that had ignited in the fire. It was scary stuff. I threw myself on top of my girls. How could I forget that trauma? It was us that nearly got blown up.

Christmas stuff has now been advertised since the end of September. Retail has taken hold of every opportunity to encourage people to buy. I used to smile about the way Deepavali lights morphed into Christmas and then Santa Claus would morph into a fat Chinese Mandarin for CNY. Because there were no seasons, these events helped with the passing of time. Of course, these events and the beautiful decorations encouraged people to visit Serangoon Road and Orchard where there were shopping opportunities but looking back I romanticise. 

Of course I shall pop into Central MK and Stony to look at the lights. I also realise the joy that these celebrations bring to the young. They will not remember the bargains bought in a Black Friday deal. These times will be in their happy memories though. In my dotage I see my past through rose-tinted specs. After all, it is within us all to remember the happy times over the bad.

Making memories

At the park with Nana