Shopping away recession

President George W. Bush was not the only person who uncharacteristically braved a combat zone over the Thanksgiving break. Though I never touched down in Baghdad, I did take on the frantic mobs at the stores in downtown Chicago during the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy.

Though I survived the weekend relatively unscathed, others were not so lucky. A Florida woman was knocked unconscious when a crowd of Wal-Mart customers trampled her on the way to a display of discounted DVD players.

The holiday spirit is apparently a rather mean one this winter.

According to news reports, however, all the pushing and shoving in checkout lines and at sales racks is a good thing. Increased spending means our nation has conquered the preparing-for-wartime, stumbling-economy, layoff-weary slump that slowed sales during previous years.

I do not want to give the impression I do not enjoy shopping. In fact, if mall browsing ever became an Olympic event, I would likely be the first-ever "athlete" to capture that gold medal. Nevertheless, I am skeptical and somewhat displeased when the vitality of our country is indicated by its citizens' ability to shop the sales.

Everything is all right, folks -- that war stuff is just a speed bump on the happy road to national recovery. After all, Americans are hungrily biting at the lure of deep discounts in a vast sea of commercialism.

During my experience, I was assaulted by blaring Christmas music, piped through the loudspeakers at every store. Each note served as a festive reminder that it was my duty to spend, both as a defending champion among sale shoppers and as a patriotic citizen. Those around me seemed to be heeding the call, with nobody "just looking," choosing instead to join the procession into the dressing rooms and then to the checkout lines.

There has got to be a better way to get our country back on its pre-Sept. 11 feet -- one that does not confuse the meaning of "Thanksgiving" with "thanks for buying."

Shopping should be fun, not an obligation. Nor should people feel compelled to get up pre-dawn to join the restless hordes in front of still-dim storefronts -- it's not a fishing trip.

I understand the idea: if we spend money, it will bolster the corporations that provide jobs, which provide us with money to spend. But it is a cycle that spins as perilously as a roulette wheel. Successful corporation poster-child Wal-Mart -- the behemoth discount retailer that set a single-day company sales record Friday -- is also a perfect example of why we should be wary of corporations. The company has been under fire for underpaying employees, some of whom were denied their entitled break times; in addition, its pathetic benefits packages compel workers to opt for state-subsidized health care.

As a response to the shopper stampede, Wal-Mart representatives offered to put a DVD player -- worth about .00000001 percent of its $245 billion annual sales -- on hold for its loyal, flattened customer. My recommendation: At least give the lady a goddamn DVD player for free.

Maybe we should step back and realize that a 5.4 percent increase in weekend sales compared to last year does not mean that the United States is better off than in 2002. We could simply be spending money we don't have, or be falling victim to this winter's colorful ad campaigns. We might just be greedier and more materialistic.

During the holidays, shopping should simply be the stuffing -- a side dish rather than the whole meal.