A holiday is coming, one that breaks friendships, drives middle age women crazy with greed, and provides families across the world with head start to their holiday shopping. Yes, Black Friday is just around the corner! Something about a great deal gets everyone really excited… but also very selfish. We have somehow managed to cover up Thanksgiving, a holiday whose foundation is gratefulness, with a day full of buying new things just for fun– a little ironic? But, as a girl who loves her deals, I will be shopping all night long while thinking of everything I am grateful for. That has to count for something, right?
There are many things that can happen on a night like Black Friday. You may come home with a new pair of boots that you got half off, or you may come home bruised because you got in the way of a mom trying to get to the last “hatchimal” on the shelf. Black Friday can actually be pretty dangerous, more people die while shopping on Black Friday per year than in shark attacks. Wouldn’t that make a great horror film, instead of “Jaws”…“Bags”. I mean stores on Black Friday are basically a gathering place for overly tired, mentally exhausted, determined-to-find-a-deal moms who spent the day with their in-laws. They are on edge to say the least.
Reading more into Black Friday I found out that it is the biggest day of the year for a specific industry and surprisingly it’s not retail stores. In reality, retail stores get more customers in the days leading up to Christmas. They have renamed the Saturday before Christmas “Super Saturday” because it is so busy. So, Black Friday is not the the busiest day of the year for stores, but rather for plumbers. Apparently with the extra family and friends in town for Thanksgiving a lot of drains clog, keeping plumbers very busy. “Penny Hoarder” believes it is due to drains that had already started to clog but with extra use clogged fully.
Although Black Friday is not the biggest day of the year for retail stores, people still come to shop. According to US news Black Friday attracts more people than Disneyland does. This is all because of the sales! When I see a 50% off sign I cannot help but think it’s a good deal. Business purposefully put the word “sale” in red and as big as possible to attract customers. However, Amazon is almost eliminating the need for Black Friday because they already have great prices for close to everything. US News advises us to fact check the items on sale to make sure we are not spending more money in store than online. On the Contrary, Black Friday continues to work because the “sale” signs are like click bait for businesses. We cannot resist a deal, even if it isn’t really a deal, so we continue to shop each year.
Overall Black Friday is meant to be fun and if you are doing it right it’s a blast. No line is too long, no bag is too heavy, and no time of the night is too late. Black Friday marks the beginning of holiday shopping and it can be an exciting time if you ignore the irony of the holiday, avoid the fights, and get great deals. Stay safe and shop til’ you drop!