RETAIL SUPPORT BRIGADE SITREP: So the InstaDaughter and a cousin braved Black Friday at 5 am this morning. They reported lots of people at the mall, but said that not many were buying anything. They also reported that this may have been because the stores weren’t offering much in the way of good deals. They decamped for breakfast at IHOP having not bought much of anything themselves.

Has the Retail Support Brigade become a “hollow army?” We’ll see. Perhaps too much has been asked of the troops, for too long.