Un Buen Fin :)?

It is a bit strange and at the same time, enlightening, to bounce between two such different cultures, Boston and Oaxaca.  After spending so much time in Mexico, I have a much better appreciation of how different it can be just from village to village, from town to town, region to region, state to state.  One thing I definitely notice is that El Norte is a consumer nation.  We like our stuff and we are constantly bombarded by ads and campaigns to get out there and spend even if we don't need the stuff or don't have the money to buy it.

I see it in the TV shows I get trapped into watching.... and liking.  Shows like "Antiques Roadshow," "American Pickers," Storage Wars," and "Pawn Stars," all are about stuff, our stuff.  We've got so much stuff, we don't have room for it and we don't even know what we have some of the time.
 
Now, here I am as Black Friday approaches, make that Black Friday month.  Sorry, I am all shopped out... well, maybe just a couple more things.  And I don't want to say that Oaxaca is not consumer driven as well, but nowhere near as much.  It was disconcerting to see Christmas stuff up in the stores before I left a week or so ago.  But let's face the US is in a different league when it comes to stuff.  It is that whole American Exceptionalism" in a different form.

So it is a little troubling to see Mexico making such a big push to catch up.
This story from the LAHT

For Mexico’s big retail chains, this is the beginning of “The Good End,” four days of offers and discounts on products and services that aim to boost domestic consumption.

Self-service and department-store chains are set to kick off this shopping binge from Friday to Monday, a holiday in Mexico, for a long weekend considered the bargain of the year for the countless discounts being offered.

Added to the event on its second time around are numerous tourism agencies, restaurant chains, car distributors, all kinds of service companies like hotels, and many independent firms.

Even official institutions like the National Culture and Arts Council, or Conaculta, are plugging offers on cultural goods like excursions, book discounts, theater tickets and more.

“The Good End” was first launched in 2011 and caused such a powerful hike in demand for goods and services nationwide that it scored a 40-percent sales increase over the same days in 2010.

The government has announced that state employees will get their Christmas bonuses significantly earlier this year, and discounts on goods and services bought on credit will be raised for workers in more than half a million establishments.

Retail chains and other business with something to sell have blanketed the country with ad campaigns in recent weeks to publicize their products with discounts from 20 percent to 70 percent, while allowing as long as 48 months to pay.

 Now where is that UPS truck with my new ipad???