The day after Thanksgiving in the USA is popularly called "Black Friday", and is often granted off work as an extension to the Thanksgiving holiday. Today, the term "Black Friday" refers to the day during which people shop the most out of the whole year. Busy shoppers take advantage of the Thanksgiving long weekend to get some Christmas shopping done, as it is the last long weekend before the big day.
What Is Black Friday
Because it is right after Thanksgiving and soon before Christmas, people have often come out on this day with their families, en masse, to shop and prepare for their next holiday together. Since people were already spending time with their families due to the holidays, a substantial number of people would visit shopping areas together, causing excessive traffic and general pandemonium. Stores began to capitalize on this by opening earlier and by having sales. The term “Black Friday” has at least two possible origins. In the past, the police had referred to this hectic day of shopping as Black Friday, in addition to the following day (Black Saturday), because of the chaos which generally ensued. Another reason it is thought that this name was given is because it had been common to keep accounting records in two colors of pen: red and black. Records in red indicated financial losses and records in black indicated financial gains. For many stores this day of shopping meant the first gains of the year. These gains would be then recorded in black ink, giving further meaning to the name “Black Friday”.
Online or In-Store
In part because of online shopping, Black Friday spending has nearly doubled since 2006. Not only has online shopping expanded the phenomenon of "Black Friday" to those unable to conveniently get to brick-and-mortar stores, it has also allowed it to expand across the globe. Large corporations who have embraced Black Friday have extended their sales to those places with no such consumerist traditions. Increased online shopping also means reduced waiting time one of the biggest downfalls of Black Friday. Many stores open at midnight, or even the previous day in order to remain competitive. This has led to phenomenal line-ups nation-wide, in consumers’ attempts to get the best deals. The advantage of extending such sales to cyberspace is that people can now sidestep the chaos of waiting all night for deals, as well as shopping in a herd of crazed consumers.
Watch Your Back
The somewhat dismal name “Black Friday”, which may also be a reference to the Great Depression, is unfortunately still appropriate when one considers the many occurrences of violence and tragedy each year, on this day. What has been traditionally a consumer’s holiday can now be seen as a consumer’s nightmare. There have been many occurrences of trampling of people in stores on this day. Although, many stores began opening earlier to accommodate shoppers, generally stores have tended to shorten the length of their sales (to a day-long event), in order to attract the most people possible during the shortest amount of time. This has clearly become an increasingly dangerous environment, evident from the instances of trampling and use in-store. The worst instance of tragedy, to date, resulted in the trampling to death of an employee overseeing the opening of a Wal-Mart, early on this day, in 2008. Staying away from the busiest shopping centres is the best way to avoid sustaining injuries from aggressive and unruly shoppers. Hopefully, online shopping will help curtail this trend.