November 27, 2010- Black Friday?

     So, today was our “Black Friday” on the atoll.  Our 2 department type stores did have some sale items, but it was limited, and I just kept wondering, why is it called Black Friday? It sounds like I’m going to a funeral when I’m really just going shopping. I don’t get it. So, in the true nature of a teacher, I looked it up.  According to ezinearticles.com, there are two reasons why we refer to the day after Thanksgiving by such an ominous sounding name.  First, because consumers were so anxious to get to the stores and take advantage of those great deals, there tended to be lots of traffic accidents on this day. In fact, the term was coined back in 1966 by the Philadelphia Police department due to this fact. Interestingly enough, this infamous shopping day actually began back in 1924 along with the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and it was simply called “After

Thanksgiving Sales,” and the term “Black Friday” was not regularly used until the late 1970’s, so it is a young term based on the history of the day.

     The second reason why it is sometimes called “Black Friday” comes from the accounting term for profits. Operating “in the red” means losses and operating “in the black” means making a profit, which has certainly become the case for most retailers on this day.  Another interesting fact I read in the ezine article is that President Roosevelt changed the date of Thanksgiving to a week earlier during the Great Depression to give retailers more shopping days in the season to sell their goods.  We are such a consumer based society, aren’t we?  A holiday created to remind us of the things we should be thankful for in life quickly becomes a day for pushing, shoving, and shopping for the best deals to “show” our families how much we love them with formally “expensive” material goods.  Sometimes, I think we’ve moved too far away from the true meaning of the holidays due to our own prosperity as a country.

     I usually don’t go shopping the day after Thanksgiving simply because it is too crowded and crazy for me, but I did shop a bit yesterday, both online and in the stores here.  We have less than 2,000 people on the island among 2 department stores, so it really doesn’t get that bad. No lines, no waiting, just the same old stuff being sold from last year that didn’t sell. I like to window shop more than anything anyway, and the day after Thanksgiving at the mall is NOT the day to leisurely stroll around looking in the floor to ceiling windows and browsing through the stores.  What I do miss is spending the day with my mom or my girlfriends shopping for specifics that I need.  Since I only have the opportunity to go to the mall for one month each year, we usually make a day of it.  Driving to the outlet mall together chit chatting, stopping for lunch at a favorite restaurant or a new one I haven’t yet been to, then finishing up the day with a few more stops and heading home is a good way to catch up on life with those you love.  Believe it or not, shopping for women can also be good bonding time.  Maybe that’s why most women enjoy it.  It’s the quality time with each other that matters more than the deals, at least for me it is.  I hope I always feel that way because today, on Black Friday, I miss my family more than shopping.  Summer come quickly so I can catch up with everyone again and make those new life enriching memories!