Black Friday!

The day after Thanksgiving, Americans turn into running, bloodthirsty zombies. Yeah, it’s because of Black Friday. It’s the once a year event when retailers have a very limited stock of items that are extremely reduced in price. It’s a wonder no riots have occured because of this strategy.

Huh, what? I just came to this fake realization that people have actually died because of these sales. Yet, it has become a yearly tradition to go crazy in stores. I admit that I have participated in the madness before and may try a quick attempt at the local Target once the clock hits midnight on Thanksgiving night/Friday morning. I really want a Nintendo 3DS and I can get one for $30 off. However, I won’t try it if the scene looks too dangerous.

Can you blame me when there’s this kind of preparation?

Black Friday is where retailers open stores longer to gain more sales. Many stores are “in the red” meaning they haven’t made a profit yet and going “in the black” is finally turning a profit for the year. There are no racial overtones like some people believe or anything like that. It was used in Philadelphia as a description of a day with heavy traffic from travelers headed back home. Eventually the use of the term changed to retailer sales.

I remember waking up early to get to a 5am sale at Gamestop to look for a Wii. This was when the console was rather new and in heavy demand. My wife and went for nothing because they were all out. I went to McDonalds for a breakfast and returned home to sleep, grumbling for most of the way on how much of a time waster that was.

However, retailers have stepped it up lately. This Friday, Target will open at midnight, which is kind of creeping into the Thanksgiving holiday. Can’t the retailers give shoppers a break? Toys R Us is even worse. They’re opening their stores at 10pm on Thanksgiving night. Forget hanging out with the family or things like that, we have some shopping to take care of.

Charge!

Now this is where I think it’s starting to get crazy. How about the poor people who work in these stores? Imagine if you’re an employee at Toys R Us and you have to work on Thanksgiving. I hope they don’t, but if that is the case, the employees go home, enjoy a few hours with family and food, and then have to go back to the store for the Black Friday insanity for several more hours. Christ almighty! I really hope they get hazard pay for the sacrifice they’re making.

Poor employees have to deal with this crowd.

I have to admit though, they do have good sales, which is why it gets so crowded. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get my 3DS on Black Friday, but I’ll give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll give Cyber Monday a try. Cyber Monday is the following Monday where a shopper can find good deals online. If you decide to try for some stores on Black Friday, I wish you luck.

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• TheBlackFriday.com – The Official Black Friday 2011 Website for Black Friday Ads, Black Friday Deals Black Friday Sales, Thanksgiving Sale, Thanksgiving Deals (ladyvluv1908.wordpress.com)
• TheBlackFriday.com – The Official Black Friday 2011 Website for Black Friday Ads, Black Friday Deals Black Friday Sales, Thanksgiving Sale, Thanksgiving Deals (ladyvluv1908.wordpress.com)

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Tags: Black Friday, Gamestop, McDonalds, Nintendo 3DS, Thanksgiving, Toys R Us