Sitting here wondering what to write about and my mind keeps going back to "Black Friday" that is being hosted here in Ottawa.  I definitely won't be attending most of them, however, I am intrigued by the sale that will be held at Bayshore.  For a large part this is only because I have to drive my hubby to work for 6am!  I figure that if I'm there anyway I might as well see if I can get a couple of good deals!  So far there is only one that I am interested in but I am sure that there will be more added as the week goes on.

This however, brings me to a question that has been driving me crazy...why are we so driven, as a society, to cave to retail pressure?!?!  Yes fine, I'm caving but fact is this year I need all of the budgetary help I can get so I will brave the world of insanity and try to land a couple of great bargains!  But, what is it that drives us to do this other than to find the almighty bargain?  Also, why is this crazy Black Friday such a draw and why do we as Canadians feel the need to get in on it and participate up here to?  It's not like it's a holiday here in Canada and we don't have any crazy deals after our Thanksgiving?  Do retailers in the States think that people won't start their Christmas shopping if there aren't crazy deals available?  Are they under the impression that people won't know that Christmas is only a month away?  That no one can read a calendar or do the math?

I grew up in a border town and I don't ever remember hearing about "Black Friday" back in the day!  Did people cross-border shop?  Sure!  In our family it was only to go to stores that we didn't have, like Payless (yep, I'm that old!).  Others would go to buy products that were less expensive than in Canada such as dairy products and various baking products.

I still can't help but wonder what the draw is?  I would not be attending if I wasn't driving my hubby in because quite frankly, there are very few things that are important enough to get me out of bed that early, even on a weekday!

Anyone else planning some serious shopping this weekend?