Lots Of Mainers Are Planning To Boycott Black Friday This Year

Apparently this is a big thing on Reddit

As I was scanning the world wide web this morning, I happened upon a thread on the r/Maine Reddit page, where Mainers are considering joining part of a bigger national movement to boycott Black Friday this year out of financial protest. In the repost, a Mainer talked about working 60+ hours a week and still barely getting by.

The folks that are considering participating are saying that the only way to get through to retailers, who keep raising prices on everything in sight, is to hit them right back in the wallet. And what better time of year to send that message, than on the busiest shopping day of the year.

But, then it keeps going.

The second part of this idea is that folks would continue this protest for another ten days afterward. Obviously, no one is talking about canceling Christmas or anything. Kids need their toys and new socks, no question. But this idea is like a strike, of sorts. A ten-day ban on all the big box stores and chains.

Now to be fair, this naturally wouldn't apply to local businesses. If anything, quite the opposite. Supporting local businesses is where it's at. If you could get all your shopping done at local spots, all the better. That would truly send a message to the big chains. But the basic idea is still to hit the big boys in the bank account.

Will this work?

Hard to say. The concept is gaining a lot of ground nationally. But sadly, it'll still likely only be a small percentage of shoppers. But at the level of profit, these retailers work at, even a 1% dip would be huge.

Just remember though, save your rage for the spirit of the event. Don't go blaming people who work at these places, or vent your misplaced anger at them. Those folks are just like you... doing whatever they have to to make ends meet. And likely struggling as hard as you. Give them a smile and a thank you for Christmas. They'll appreciate it.