Black Friday . . . 4
. . . is a term referring to the day after Thanksgiving in the USA, a term I did not hear until I moved to the Greater Philadelphis Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Somehow, I have never been able to wrap my tiny brain around the idea of compulsively doing Christmas shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Actually, I rather like shopping on Christmas Eve. There’s a certain desperation about last-minute shopping that appeals to me.
Karen Heller dissects Black Friday here.
(Aside–I don’t get lots of hits, but I know I do get hits from all over the place. How common is the term, “Black Friday” for the day after Thanksgiving in your part of the world?)
(Aside again–One of my neighbors has already decorated his yard for Christmas. He had his landscapers out to hang lights in his cedar tree. A little early, thinks I.)
November 22, 2007 at 8:02 am
I don’t do “Black Friday”, at all. My own thoughts & feelings on shopping are well known. I do Christmas Eve because of the person that I married. He’s worse than a kid about keeping secrets or surprises. If he thinks there’s something here, he’ll go on a search mission until it’s found. If it’s for someone else, he won’t be able to wait, it’ll come out as an “early” Christmas gift.
That look of desperation seen on Christmas Eve shoppers is generally found on the males wandering about. The ladies are looking for the first item on their list, then potential substitutions.
November 22, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I think it’s a recent term too. I, though, plan on participating tomorrow morning, and the first thing I did this morning was rush out to buy a newspaper and scan the ads, plotting my strategy.
November 23, 2007 at 8:58 am
The term “black Friday” has been around for a number of years. It was originally used by police and bus/taxi drivers who used it to describe the heavy traffic and associated problems created by the early holiday shopping.
The accounting reference for the shopping day is a fairly recent usage of the term and has been picked up by “the media.” Most retailers make a profit each quarter (they couldn’t survive otherwise). The theory that they only make a profit (or are “in the black”) one month out of the year is bogus but sounds good.
As for going out on black Friday, my first (and last) experience was last year. What a mess. The line at the local Best Buy wrapped around the store. Even Office Depot was mobbed. There is nothing I want that badly. I ended up spending most of my time in the local Sam’s Club. Sam’s doesn’t really have sales and didn’t have any “door busters” so the crowd was small. Sam’s had a nice continental breakfast and that was good enough to get my business.
November 23, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I am back from my Black Friday experience, and I can’t say it was all that hideous, but then I didn’t get half of the bargains I wanted either because being the lazy sort, I didn’t show up until almost 6:30 AM.
I think the most troubling part was that looking at the money I saved versus the 1 hour 45 minutes I spent in line, I may well have been better off just working an equivalent amount of overtime instead and using the extra earnings to buy the same toys at full price on a less hectic day.