Godfrey's Gospel: Black Friday is here to stay, but not for me

THANKFULLY, the election campaign is coming to an end. By Friday, or should I say Back Friday, the talking will be over and it will be time to cast our votes.

For some politicians it will be a Black Day and may even spell the end of their political careers. This election is somewhat different from other years in that over 30 sitting TDs have opted to retire. History shows us that, on average, close to one-third of sitting TDs lose their seats, so it will be a nail-biting time for some.

But if we are to believe all we have been told over the last two weeks, the giveaways promised by the various political parties will be akin to the bargains we all expect to get at the weekend. Someone added up the cost of all the promises made by taoiseach Simon Harris and they amount to an incredible €50 billion-plus. Nice if you can find the money for everything!

Speaking of money and making the most of it, Cyber Monday has yet to happen, just in case we still have anything left in our wallets after all the super deals which will be sprung on us over the coming days.

I have said it a million times in the past – while we all love a good bargain and money is scarce, it is imperative we look for the best value possible when filling the Christmas stockings, so please do not forget to look locally when buying anything.

Shopping online saves an awful lot of hassle, but that also comes at a huge cost to local retailers. If the money you pay for your ‘bargain’ leaves the town or even the country, the benefit of that sale is extremely limited. The real beneficiary is the company – located God knows where – selling you the item. You, the buyer, might argue that you have also benefited, but that is dependent on you actually receiving what you ordered.

Then there is the whole question of after-sales service. It is nigh on impossible to get customer service if the item you bought came from the far side of the world.

On the question of customer service, I lament the disappearance of what we used to know as the corner shop. I agree it is fantastic to be able to go to a shopping centre with ample parking space and get all your needs under the one roof, but that has spoiled us.

Once upon a time we had no problem going from shop to shop to fill the shopping bag. I say bag, because there was no question of filling a trolley. Shopping was a daily task. But times have changed and it is no longer feasible to do that, hence the need for the ‘big shop’ once or twice a week, as well as the necessity for parking. Without the family car or a taxi, it would be impossible to carry the shopping home.

Even the filling station, which in the past sold petrol or diesel and nothing more – and even had the audacity to close at 6pm on a Saturday and remain closed all day on a Sunday – now offers a wide range of services. These include everything from breakfast, lunch and dinner – either drive-through or in-store – to ATMs, off licences, public toilets and showers, a newsagency, dairy products and so forth. Some even remain open 24 hours a day.

All that is grand, and if I’m being honest, very user friendly, even if the ‘next’ syndrome at the cash register drives me crazy, but I couldn’t help but think back to another time last week, when there was a corner shop on every street of every town in the country.

The arrival of the supermarket and a total upheaval in retailing has seen that tradition slowly disappear. Now there are towns where this type of shop no longer exists. I passed through numerous small towns and villages last week and was saddened to see such shops closed. The telltale sign for many was a net curtain covering what was once the shop window.

Thankfully, there are still two such shops in Bagenalstown but, funnily enough, neither is actually on a corner. However, both continue that great Irish tradition – Kavanagh’s on High Street and The Little Shop on Kilree Street. The Little Shop still adheres to the open early/close late tradition, while Kavanagh’s is a veritable Aladdin’s cave for some.

Go into either and you are sure to be greeted with a warm welcome and invariable you will find another shopper or two just standing there having a good old chat, either among themselves or the proprietor.

I welcome a good bargain as much as the next person, but in truth, I would gladly pay that little bit extra for the friendly greeting – knowing that I’m supporting something that has served us well in the past and will continue to do so into the future.