I'm not even going to venture a guess as to how many millions of dollars was spent today during the Black Friday shopping frenzy. It would probably scare us all. I will guess, though, that the majority of the money spent today was by parents for gifts for their children. That's why they started lining up last night shortly after they finished their Thanksgiving dinners, wanting to be first in line at the electronics stores and department stores this morning so they could get the latest greatest toys and gadgets that are on their children's Christmas lists. I have no Black Friday shopping experience to tell - the only shopping I did was a quick trip to the drugstore. But I did experience something on Black Friday that I won't soon forget: I was able to witness two little children playing and using their imaginations to have fun.
When our neighbors' grandkids Sam and Sophie visit their grandparents, they usually end up down at The Compound playing. For me, it's a case of history repeating itself. For you see, when I was their age, I would go up to visit the family that lived in the house where their grandparents now live, and I would stay up there for hours playing. Sam, the oldest grandchild, loves to come down and wear Dad's old beat up straw gardening hat and old leather holster. In the holster, is an old six shooter that is nothing more than an old pellet revolver with half of the pieces missing. But when Sam straps on his holster and puts in his hat, he's a cowboy. He's using his imagination and playing and interacting with people instead of sitting in front of a video game in a catatonic state.
Sam's little sister Sophie is the same way. She comes down to our house to play with some of my old dolls. She'll line them up on the couch or out on the bench on the back porch, and will talk to the dolls and play for hours. She's not the least bit concerned with having the latest Barbie doll or Barbie car or whatever it is that little girls want for Christmas these days. All she cares about is having me or Mom play baby dolls with her. She, too, is using her imagination and interacting with people.
It's just ironic to me that on a day when parents are fighting and shoving in the stores to get a toy that they think their kids just have to have, I was able to see once again what it really means to be a kid. I don't want this to sound like Sam and Sophie are poor little kids with no toys or games; that's far from the truth. They have just about everything that most little kids have. But I guess the really ironic part was how on a day when people are spending millions of dollars on toys, these two kids were playing with old hand-me-down things and were using their imaginations instead of $500 video games.
1 comment:
I think the "legacy" toys are a reasonable mainstay considering all the hype with PS3 and TMX Elmo. Since I am working in the credit card environment again, it astounds me that account holders immediately call up after making a payment at the store to see if their purchase line has been freed up so they can purchase the "must have" toy. I think it would be great if most kids opened their Christmas presents with the ebullience of the Nintendo 64 kid that has been featured on Jay Leno and network commercials but I surmise that most won't and will probably go for the box. I may be old fashioned but even a Monopoly board game or the old Ninendo Space Invaders game is delightful to kids especially when the parents play with them. From years of watching the marketing tactics of retailers, it seems we have become a society of purchasing toys that will babysit a child without putting much value on social interaction. The challenge may be there for some of today's more violent video games and I amazed at the clarity, challenge and interaction of the animation. However, when the game encompasses violence and malice, I'm wondering if we are desensitizing kids to the point where they may seek an unreasonable high and go on a rampage of injuring or harming others for the added element of reality.
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