Black Friday Mania!
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Where To Get The Best Deals?
Being from New Zealand, Black Friday to me means that the 13th day of any month has fallen on a Friday….not so in America! Apparently Back Friday is the craziest day of the year where retail stores have unbelievable deals on things and if you are really lucky you can be one of the many that line up in the wee hours of the morning to get in first but be careful, watch who you are going up against and leave your common decency and manners at the door because if you don’t get in and take immediate control then you might just get what it is you want taken right out from under your nose or worse, get your nose busted!! That’s what I have heard anyway…..
Black Friday is actually the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally is the beginning of Christmas shopping. Many stores open as early as 4am with promotional sales kicking the day off. The term ‘Black Friday’ kind of stuck from the early 1960s because of the major headaches the day causes with traffic congestion and just general craziness in the retail sector. Bus drivers, law enforcement officers and taxi drivers hate the day even though it is one of the most profitable days for some of them, store isles get jammed, escalators are top to bottom people, jaywalkers are prolific, traffic is horrendous.
According to my very good friend Kristy, who is actually a native of this great U.S of A and an expert sales goer, Black Friday is the greatest day of the year but then she is biased as any bargain junkie would be but interestingly, because she is that way she also knows all the hints and tips and places that usually have the best deals. A lot of people actually save for this day and wait to get things they need for winter, like clothes and shoes, things they need for the house or garden or garage or kitchen, and of course, it is a great time to get your Christmas shopping done!
But boy have I heard some horror stories about this day! On Black Friday 2011 a woman at a Walmart in California used pepper spray on fellow shoppers causing minor injuries to at least 10 people. A Toys For Tots employee in Georgia was stabbed by a shoplifter. In 2008, 2000 shoppers waited outside a Walmart in New York and when the doors opened at 5am they stormed in breaking the doors and trampling to death a 34 year old employee. At another store in Wisconsin a woman brandished a gun as she cut ahead of shoppers who had been waiting and daring them to stop her. There are also numerous stories of tramplings and shovings and pregnant and elderly women being taken to the hospital and we can’t leave out the out and out punches in the face!
Steps have been taken this year to try and reduce these crazy happenings by a lot of stores opening for the shopping extravaganza on Thanksgiving evening and carrying on through the night instead of waiting till the wee hours of the morning after. Also people are realising that many great deals can be had online now and retailers believe this may cut down the number of shoppers braving the crowded stores.
Typically, store like Walmart, Target, Big Lots, Toys R Us, Sears, Kmart, Macys, Best Buy and Mall stores have the best bargains but this year if you take the time to look around you may find what you are looking for online in the comfort and warmth of your own home and with out the hassle of maniacal shoppers, most places have free shipping as well ) Happy Thanksgiving!
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