In the Spirit of the Season?

At 6 a.m. this morning in Times Square, a line of shoppers several hundred deep burst through the doors of Toys "R" Us and promptly formed a second, equally long line to buy the season's must-have product: T.M.X. Elmo.

The standard, morning-after-Thanksgiving retail behavior ensued -- pushing, shouting, grabbing -- until the dolls sold out and a frustrated crowd of Elmo-less consumers fanned out across the store in search of a substitute.

--Shoppers Mob Malls for Holiday Discounts

I suppose this is nothing new, but I'm always amazed (appalled?) at how the intended spirit of the season gets buried under an avalanche of greed.

As for me, I did get up at 6 a.m. to go to a store to shop. It was at Purlescence Yarns, which my friends opened October 14. It was called a Pajama Jammy-Jam sale. The staff did wore their jammies, as did a few of the customers. If you arrived between 6-7 a.m., everything was 30% off; 7-8 a.m. it was 25% off, 8-9 a.m. 20% off, etc. They weren't sure they'd get more than a handful of customers. When I pulled up at 6:20, the parking lot was nearly full and the store was positively jammed. (No pun intended!) They had coffee, tea, and spiced cider. Everyone was cheerful and courteous, discussing with complete strangers what they might make with a skein or two of a particular yarn, or exclaiming over the softness of the luxury yarns. I, um, didn't make it out of the store without dropping a bundle. (Shhhh, don't tell Husband.) But I did walk away having saved $73! I easily spent what I did on some clothing a few months ago, so why not yarn (and a book on Victorian lace knitting)? I've got yarn for five different projects: a hat, a lap blanket, a shawl, socks, and a scarf. All useful. Right?

I wavered quite a bit over what to buy, but fellow knitters are nothing if not addicts and enablers when it comes to fiber and anything related to it. I had plenty of encouragement. Resistance was futile.

It was an altogether lovely way to spend the morning.

[cross-posted at A Mindful Life]