I didn’t really come to a true appreciation for Dr. Suess until I reached adulthood, when I realized that the silly words actually had a moral or encouragement point.
Take for example, Green Eggs and Ham. It has nothing to do with making children like green eggs and ham, it’s about trying something new because you might like it.
Not only did I start reading Suess more, but I have now officially tried green eggs and ham…delicious.
I tried this theory last year when I participated in Black Friday for the first time as a consumer. I had always been given the impression that Black Friday shoppers are crazy, competitive people who are a little out of their minds.
Then a few years ago, I volunteered to cover the Black Friday sales for the newspaper where I was employed at the time. It wasn’t because I was in to the sales, it was because I knew it would get me home by noon! What was initially started as a desire to get done quicker on my part became a tradition and I volunteered to cover every Black Friday that I was in town.
But I didn’t have time to shop (and it wouldn’t have been very ethical) while I was working, so I never really got to participate. That is, until last year. I had just been laid off and needed some more professional looking clothes than what I had. Given that I had no job, I decided braving Black Friday for the clothing sales would be the best move.
I loved it. I didn’t go desperately early, in fact I did Black Friday in what I call reverse. Instead of rushing to be there first, I rushed around to get all I needed to the check-out line before the sales ended in the early afternoon. You know, so I can add my own flavor of crazy! *smile*
But back to my point…Black Friday is fun. Sure, there’s the crazy people who trample others or get way too in to the idea of winning over others. But to me, Black Friday sales just give those people the opportunity to demonstrate behavior problems that they already have! Most people participate so they can be frugal and to have fun. Even some who camp out are doing it largely because it’s a fun tradition to do something they even admit is a little nutty.
So what does green eggs and ham have in common with Black Friday? It’s about being open to not only trying new things, but being open to admitting you were wrong.
Now of course there are some situations that I don’t have to try to know they are wrong. Drugs are always stupid and wrong. For me, because of my chronically dislocated hip, bungee jumping will always be a bad idea.
But this makes me wonder what other concepts or activities I’ve discarded because of someone else’s opinion or some other preconceived notion I had received. I think this is necessary for us all to examine, be it about our faith (or lack thereof) in God or anything in life.