Final Markdowns
January 3, 2008 by brianrodgers
One of the most enduring traditions of the New Year is the final markdown sales that follow the Thanksgiving to Christmas shopping frenzy. Most of us are familiar with their promises of unbelievable values, unprecedented low prices, and once-a-year opportunities to save. And most of us have been disappointed in what the sales actually delivered.
Some of us bereaved parents and siblings experience this same “is that all there is” disappointment when the New Year begins. We have endured the family holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas or Hanukkah, and we may feel that if we can just make it to New Year’s we’ll be all right. But New Year’s eve comes and we’re reminded again of the one who is missing. With the dawn of New Year’s Day, we realize we have not experienced any great relief, no great delivery from pain. We recognize the emptiness of our earlier delusions.
Maybe the best resolution this year is to stop believing that a particular milestone makes everything better, and start believing that only we can “mark down” the pain to a never-to-be-repeated size.
Happy New Year to you all, and best wishes for a great “final markdown.”
Sondra and Tom Wright, TCF Atlanta
