What's wrong with this picture?

I had been looking forward to this thing that was being advertised called Small Business Saturday. Yourself?

On Friday, I bought tickets at the local Playhouse and then on Saturday I spent money in six different local businesses. I would have done it anyway, but this advertising campaign got me thinking of getting the job done and doing it all on (mostly) one day.

Small Business Saturday has a Facebook page and so I went to look at the comments of thousands of people who participated in this campaign.

Some businesses decried it saying they didn't have any extra business or that business was really slow. One of those businesses was a repair shop, which I'm not thinking would necessarily have extra business on a Saturday in November unless everyone's lawn mower/snow blower/automobile happened to break down on Small Business Saturday.

Remember in Andy Griffith, Bewitched and shows of that age when there were repair shops for radios and televisions? How quaint that seems now. I have a little wind up alarm clock from high school that I just love and for two decades now I can't find one person willing to fix it. They all say it will cost more to fix than repair.

They're not getting my point about loving the alarm clock. But obviously I've gotten off track.

Apparently SBS, as Imma call it now because Small Business Saturday is too long to keep typing, was designated by the U.S. Senate for November 26. That's just this year, so I don't know what the Senate is doing getting involved, but last year AMEX offered a $25 credit to a limited number of participants who spent at least $25 at a qualified small business. That's nice of them. That's putting their money where their mouth is.

There are, as in most nice stories, a few villains. Who you think the villains are may depend on your political or social leanings.

The media references I've seen have said that AMEX was offered the $25 credit to their cardholders. According to the ungrateful grousing on Facebook, it was to a limited number of registered participants. I think that's fair. AMEX isn't a charity. They want something for their money. They already know who you are, but now they've gotten some extra information about you or whatever they wanted. But they wanted you to register. They're not stupid, either. If they limited the number of participants, that was wise on their part. Shut up and follow the rules is what I'm saying. But then you've probably figured out my political leanings, so this attitude shouldn't surprise you.

Then there are the folks who got the wrong end of the stick, in my humble but accurate opinion. There were people on Facebook who said they went to ONE STORE and spent $25.50 just to claim their $25 credit from AMEX. I'm just disappointed in the Americans who did it only for their own gain.

Now if you really couldn't afford to spend more than $25.50, I think it's nice that you went out and spent the limit and you got something for free. I totally get that and good on you for shopping local to do it. But naturally not the majority in this case and forgive my old-school perspective, but if you have an AMEX card, why can't you shop at more than one store or drop more than 25 bucks during the biggest shopping season of the year?

There were a few folks who complained because the lousy small business they decided to shop at didn't take AMEX. Um...this may be another reason why AMEX is getting behind this project.

Anyone remember when you couldn't use a DISCOVER card anywhere but Sears? Anyone?

Do your homework. Call first. Or how about you go to another store? Sheeple! I declare some people need others to do their thinking.

Then there was the rant from someone who thought the whole thing was about corporate greed.

At any rate, we've all survived the big kickoff to consumerism. Did you shop? Do you have any Black Friday or SBS stories? Is your shopping done?