Black Friday
Posted on November 29, 2013
Black Friday is not my jam.Black Thanksgiving is not even in the realm of the possible in my mind.
But hey, if you want to shop with a million of your closest friends to get good deal, knock your socks off.
The term “Black Friday” apparently started in Philadelphia, and like most things that emanate from the City of Brotherly Love, it originally had negative connotations. The Philly Cops lamented the traffic jams that occurred outside the shopping districts in the city and they called it black Friday to lament the dark tempers that flared often as a result.
Some people complain that people have to work on Thanksgiving because of the shopping sprees, but let’s not kid ourselves, some people always work on Thanksgiving.
My cousin is a cop and he always has to work on Thanksgiving, and it is one of the busiest days of the year for him, and police officers around the country. The holidays can bring out the worst in some people.
If you like watching the NFL on Thanksgiving, guess what? Some people have to work to bring those games to you. I have a friend who used to work for an NFL team, and he had to work every major Holiday between Labor Day and New Year’s Day.
That’s just the way it is.
I have friends who work in television and they often draw the short straw. They have to work on either Thanksgiving or Christmas. They aren’t happy about it, but that’s the lot they have.
So, if people want to shop on Thanksgiving to get the best deals, some people will be forced to work (or will want to work) and that is not always a bad thing. Some of these folks get extra hours, which they need because they need the money to take care of their families.
That being said, I prefer not to shop on Black Friday, but I don’t hold it against anybody who wants to.
Our National Holiday Season now begins with Black Friday (or Thursday as the case may be), morphs into Small Business Saturday and then magically becomes Cyber Monday.
At some point and time, Cyber Monday is going to become Cyber Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving), and people are going to sit at home, sip their Hot Cocoa, and shop on their easy chairs.
And at that moment, all of this nonsense will stop and people can get back to their holiday.
My best memories of Black Friday was going to Butch McGuire’s in Chicago with my family for lunch and seeing the Christmas decorations and trains as we had a few cocktails.
That was very civilized.
We didn’t focus on the shopping. We focused on the decorations and the libations.
I miss those days.