Black Friday Weekend is here. Starting this weekend, we can officially shop till our credit scores drop.
We are at that time of the year when we acknowledge and even celebrate our lust for stuff. It is the time of year when many manufacturers and retailers tell us they will be back in the black for a while. It’s a riot of buying and selling. I say: two cheers for capitalism and the marketplace.
Understand, I am not bad-mouthing our free enterprise system. No one has yet persuaded me that there is a more efficient economic system to provide greater economic good for the greatest number of people.
Just as importantly, the market affords us the opportunity to freely choose which of the many particular goods and services each person may desire. Granted, these desires are often created with big nudges from advertisers, but I guess that is part of it. Yes, freedom to choose. That’s why I give our economic system two cheers out of three. And, come on, if this were baseball, .667 would be a heck of a batting average.
Anyway, I have been mentally constructing a list of family, friends, acquaintances and other giftees who for one reason or another I wish to acknowledge with a token present. Throughout the year, I quietly note to myself a passing comment someone makes about a particularly nice item or the idea of having an interesting experience. Alas, I almost never actually write these episodes down, so usually the whole idea goes the way of so very many of my thoughts. But, once in a while I actually remember and follow through. Those “Oh, yeah, she said something about that,” recalls are gift-shopping gifts for me.
For me, a fun part of gift-giving is the element of surprise. People will say, “Oh, don’t get me anything, I have all I need,” and I believe some of them actually mean it. So when I connect a possible gift that matches up with a particular individual’s interest and personality, it is a special happy-making event for the both of us.
That’s why Napoleon’s hat came to my recent attention.
Bob, my oldest — I mean, my longest — friend, has been a fan of Napoleon Bonaparte since we were kids. A teacher had recommended a biography to him when he was in junior high and he was hooked. He is the type of person who, when he gets into a subject or an author, learns everything he can about the obsession. I am like that myself, so maybe that is one reason we are still friends.
A news story reported that one of Napoleon’s two-cornered bicorne hats was going to be auctioned off. It is one of only five in private hands and is verifiable as once worn by him. Although most military officers of the time period wore theirs front to back, or “fore and aft,” Napoleon wore his side to side, reportedly because it was easier for his men to see him on the battlefield. That was back when military leaders would actually be on the battlefield with the soldiers who were the ones putting their lives on the line. Think about it: conceiving and instigating a war then actually appearing in the midst of the battles. How things have changed.
“What a great gift for Bob,” I thought. Then I found out the expected price was somewhere between $650,000-850,000. (eventual selling price: $1.6 million). “Whoa,” I thought. “It would be a perfect gift, but that is over my budget.” I was stopped in my tracks; I thought I had met my Waterloo.
But then I saw that Walmart sells a costume Napoleon hat for $16.73 (when purchased on-line). I’m sure Bob would like it, because, as they say, it is the thought that counts.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
