Thanks to you who answered the survey: "What should courses do on family oriented Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas?" One opinion was to close the facility completely, while one was to offer programs to grow the game - interesting paradox! I may revisit this issue later as we approach Christmas. I'll also see if I can keep that survey up a bit longer. I'd like to see more responses since it's a more complicated question than we think.
As a disclaimer, don't yank my PGA membership because I suggested that you NOT play two days out of the entire year. I love golf and I even earn my living through golf. I want people to play! I also hear rumors that the divorce rate for PGA professionals approaches 80% (may not be true, of course) and I know I worked nearly every holiday for years - both as a part time employee and a PGA Professional. When I consider what I gave up with my family to try to please my employer and our guests, I'm not sure that it was worth it. Therefore, I feel some responsibility to make this issue just a bit more visible. I know there is no easy answer, but it really is something to think about.
BLACK FRIDAY
Today was "Black Friday, " the day that retailers traditionally hope to get their finances into "the black" as the Christmas season approaches. I've worked on Black Friday in both the green grass and retail environments, and I have a few observations that I'd like to share:
- Many of the staff and customers have arranged for a pre-4:00am wakeup call for the first time in the last 364 days. No wonder we're all short on patience!
- Black Friday may be more perception than reality for most consumers. In most cases with most items, we're probably not looking at a better price than we could get at any other time. I understand a few incredible deals may make heading out worth the effort, but I generally think we let the circulars glowing under the moonlight cloud our judgment.
- For most people, the Holiday season is about giving thanks and showing generosity. With that in mind, does it really make sense to wake up on a cold, dark morning to go argue, shove, and grow our debts just to get some new gadgets with minimal savings?
- Perhaps we're talking about the rush of the hunt itself. We could scroll over right now, click on WalMart or Amazon, and purchase almost any item with convenience and a good price. (Of course, we don't have anybody to answer our questions or make suggestions when we do that.) BUT we'd rather go out and conquer the retailers, knowing we got the best of them on a given purchase. We boast to our friends about our conquest, while the retailers boast to their shareholders about how you took the bait. So maybe its a lose-lose. Maybe its a win-win.
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