Black Fridays are not for the faint of heart. For example, Thursday night, a Los Angeline woman pepper sprayed 20 people in a line outside of Wal Mart in order to get an XBox. The aftermath left ten people with minor injuries, because of the scuffle. At another Wal Mart (in Florida), a fight broke out at the jewelry counter. According to the Yahoo article, this was the first year that big retailers opened Thursday night instead of early Friday morning. Since the death of one of the Wal Mart employees in 2008, the retailer has made attempts to make the big shopping day safer.
You will never see me out shopping on a Black Friday. In my opinion, it’s simply not worth the “deals”. It’s a big marketing ploy, and there’s only a limited amount of heavily-marked down items. Shopping online is my go-to. I can shop in my underwear (..and other clothes). Plus, I won’t get pepper-sprayed.
Wal Mart’s push for making things safer this year comes from the fact that “crowds are getting bigger as stores open earlier and stay open later”. Despite the recession, crowds will increase by 10% this year. The weekend of Black Friday continues to be the biggest of the holiday season, with “152 million people expected to shop“.
I guess my only explanation to why people partake in the Black Friday insanity (besides the “deals”) is that it’s a ritual for people. Thursday night, we stuff ourselves silly, and Friday morning we’re off to engage in some good ol’ fashioned consumerism. Gotta love America.
I went black friday shopping this year as I have for the last few years. I enjoy the challenge, its kind of like a race, I also enjoy the time with my family, we go as a group. I don't go because of the deals I go for the fun of seeing people go crazy over $2 waffle makers.
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