The Day After.

What do you do on the day after Thanksgiving? I'll tell what I do not do: go shopping.

In the first place, that's just nuts. Does anybody really think, in this poor economy, that there won't be any great sales later in the season? Especially as so many ads with so many great prices also end with, 'extremely limited quantities', why bother? You'll get one great deal at best, and only if you're far enough towards the front of the line. That's nothing more than dumb luck, unless you want to be at a store at 1 AM. Skip that.

Then there's the crowds. No way Jose. Wait until later when the shopping ghouls aren't cramming the aisles.

And I never get enough mileage out of this reason: I am not obliged to prop up the American economy on the pretext of a co-opted holiday. Christmas is about Christmas, by golly, and not about buying things. I'm not averse to giving gifts; that should be encouraged. But do it year round, friends, not on someone else's schedule or say so. If you see something someone would like in May, buy it then and give it to them then. That's real charity. That's real concern for them in doing them a good turn and making their day.

I'll tell you what I will do today: put up the Christmas tree. That says more about getting into the spirit of the season: putting up Christmas decorations with your family. Even though I'm sure the lights will be knotted up and half won't work and they'll be frustration at and on several levels, at the end of the day we'll have something far more special than baubles and trinkets. We'll have the best Christmas tree ever.

For that, Sears can wait.