The fact that the nation hangs on the edge of a financial cliff doesn’t seem to dissuade Americans’ willingness to spend during the holidays.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $59 billion Thanksgiving weekend, and the average holiday shopper spent a whopping $423 over the weekend, $25 more than in 2011.
Where are we getting all this money?
I keep hearing how bad our economy is, yet Starbucks decides to opportunistically forge ahead by charging $7 for a cup of coffee. The fact that people are willing to pay almost $5 for a cup of burnt-flavored joe is still an enigma to me.
Although people’s ability to capitalize on another’s economic misfortune is even more of an enigma.
Twinkies are no longer on grocery store shelves because Hostess filed for bankruptcy and decided to liquidate, leaving more than 18,000 people without jobs.
There is actually a person trying to sell a box of Hostess Twinkies on eBay for $9,998.
I guess because $10,000 would just be greedy.
Thus far, the seller has turned down 74 offers for the box that has a best-if-used-by-date of Dec. 7. He/she is being “generous” by not charging for shipping, unlike the scrooge in Pittsburgh who currently has a $35 bid on the box he/she is charging $10 to ship.
Yes, in this economy, someone is willing to pay $45 for a box of Twinkies that might be stale when they arrive in the mail.
Could it be that Americans are in a state of denial about our economy? Or has the nation’s economic turmoil driven many to a go-for-broke attitude because they have nothing else to lose?
Conversely, this time of year tends to bring out the generosity in many.
The Giving USA Foundation projects charitable donations to pass last year’s $217 billion level and says 81 percent of money donated to charity in the U.S. comes from individuals.
I don’t know if Capitol Hill is going get the economy on track anytime soon, but as long as individual Americans have it in their hearts to give as much, if not more, than they are willing to spend this holiday season, then I can’t complain.
