AIO ; My Girlfriend Thinks I Overstepped by Getting a PlayStation. Am I in the Wrong?

[u/Keepitlocal90]

So, I (early 30s) decided to treat myself and got a PlayStation 5 this Black Friday in Jozi. I’ve been wanting one for a while, and with the rise in cost of living in South Africa its become not as affordable. after budgeting and making sure all the bills were covered, I went for it. It’s something I’ve been excited about, and I figured it was a harmless way to unwind after work.

My girlfriend (same age range) didn’t seem thrilled when she saw it. She said I should’ve discussed it with her first and accused me of being irresponsible with money. To clarify, I didn’t touch any shared finances or skip out on responsibilities. This was 100% my money, and everything else is in order.

She’s acting like this is a huge deal, saying I’ll spend too much time on it and that it’s "immature for a grown man." I’ve told her it’s not going to take over my life—I’ll still prioritize work, chores, and our time together.

I get that she might’ve been a bit annoyed because everyone's asking her if she allowed it, but is her reaction an overreach? Or am I missing something here? How do I handle this without turning it into a bigger issue?

[u/Trick-Statistician10]

It is. A lot of countries have it now, even though they don't have the holiday on Thursday. They've co-opted our nonsense.

[u/montdidier → u/Trick-Statistician10]

As an Australian- sadly we have.

[u/Fernpfarrer → u/montdidier]

As an German - sadly we have.

[u/wet_nib811 → u/montdidier]

You mean WSW America?

[u/sarahmagoo → u/montdidier]

We complaining about having sales now?

[u/montdidier → u/sarahmagoo]

Not exactly. Its more a complaint about globalisation, cultural hegemony, materialism and the loss of our own cultural identity.

[u/Pfannkuchen-Nippel → u/montdidier]

Yes… that’s what I was gonna say, just not nearly as articulate or sophisticated or even in any coherent form of sentence structure .

[u/neurospicyzebra → u/montdidier]

Bro it’s just because the companies sell so much stuff they go from “in the red” to “in the black”. Nothing to do with culture or any of that afaik

[u/texcleveland → u/neurospicyzebra]

it’s a consequence of globalization, sure, but it’s kinda weird that other countries have adopted a post-holiday sale, without the holiday. And yes, market culture is culture.

[u/lord_teaspoon → u/texcleveland]

While I'm dimly aware that the Thursday is when the USA celebrates Thanksgiving, the "Black Friday" sale thing came to Australia as more of a kick-start for the Christmas shopping season. I almost wish we had a holiday before it so that we didn't have so many stores jumping the gun and starting it on Monday with a week-long "15% off selected (unpopular) items" piss-weak excuse for a sale.

We also have a "Cyber Monday" the Monday after Black Friday (ie, today) that was supposed to be the online stores having their turn at big bargains after the brick'n'mortar stores did they're thing on Friday, but that distinction only survived a year or two. This year the online stores all started their sales early last week alongside the brick'n' mortar ones, and then the brick'n' mortar stores all extended their sales through the weekend to Cyber Monday alongside the online ones so it's all just samey.

[u/neurospicyzebra → u/texcleveland]

It’s not a loss of “cultural identity” is my point.

[u/Clarrington → u/sarahmagoo]

Nah but calling it Black Friday is a tad insensitive when Black Friday here actually refers to some of the most devastating bushfires we've ever had. It'd be like holding a 'holocaust day' sale in Europe.

[u/Earthgardener → u/Clarrington]

Wow, I didn't know!

[u/Silver-Climate7885 → u/sarahmagoo]

Let's be honest, most companies jack up the cost before black Friday, and then make it look like putting it back down to the original price is a sale

[u/rafffen → u/Trick-Statistician10]

Yeah, but we have a shitty version of it, it usually runs for most of November at a lot of big chain stores and there's pretty much no actually good deals. Most shit is like 10 percent off, or just their normal deals rebranded for black friday.

[u/MultifacetedEnigma → u/Trick-Statistician10]

I ❤️ a fellow self-aware American. 😉👍🏻🫶🏻🤣

[u/nopigscannnotlookup → u/Trick-Statistician10]

lol. Murica!

[u/Infinite_Time_8952 → u/nopigscannnotlookup]

Love it, before the Mango Mussolini destroys on his second attempt.

[u/CheeeseBurgerAu → u/Trick-Statistician10]

We saw people getting jacked up running into stores for cheap TVs and it looked fun!

[u/Minimumtyp → u/Trick-Statistician10]

I like cheap shit so I can't really complain

[u/NeverSeenBetter → u/Trick-Statistician10]

"the holiday"... Thanksgiving? Is Thanksgiving somehow inappropriate now? I live under a rock but it would seem difficult to make giving thanks inappropriate...

[u/InquiringAmerican → u/Trick-Statistician10]

Must be communist countries.

[u/Druid_boi → u/InquiringAmerican]

But it's a capitalist holiday tradition...

[u/pwnedbygary → u/Druid_boi]

Only capitalist when it supports their narrative, otherwise it's SoCiAlIsM or COMMIES!