Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Living / Boxing Day: Our gift to The States

Boxing Day: Our gift to The States

12/26/2012 by backofthebook.ca Leave a Comment

Target Boxing Day flyerBy Rachelle Stein-Wotten

Boxing Day was traditionally the day servants took off to spend time with their families, and received gift boxes from their employers (or so one of the explanations goes). Nowadays, Boxing Day is better known as the Day to Buy Honking Big Electronics and Other Self-Indulgent Purchases, including, but not limited to, 62” LED-3D-HD-smart TVs (I hear they can do calculus now) and iwhatsits with retina display (for people without retinas).

Boxing Day sales have long been a Canadian tradition, but our biggest shopping day of the year has been catching on in the U.S.A., too. In recent years, stores like Target, Walmart and Best Buy have advertised Boxing Day sales and begun opening their doors almost as early as on Black Friday (which, conversely, has crept up north in the last two years).

In other words, Canadian consumerist culture is infiltrating America — the country we love to point the finger at for spreading its greedy, over-consuming values to Canada. While American retailers have always done after-Christmas sales, lately they’ve embraced the idea of yet another, dedicated day on which to whip consumers into a frenzy one last time before the year is through. At least they haven’t yet enacted Boxing Day as a statutory holiday; Canadians are basically granted a day off to go shopping for all the crap they didn’t get on Christmas.

So be proud, Canada: we’re spreading our love of shiny things, plastic things and/or things that go fast, all at 50-70 per cent off, to America the Debt-ridden. And isn’t that what this time of year is all about — love?

Filed Under: Living

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in