What is "Black Friday" Anyway?

"The term Black Friday itself was originally used to describe something else entirely — the Sept. 24, 1864, stock-market panic set off by plunging gold prices. Newspapers in Philadelphia reappropriated the phrase in the late 1960s, using it to describe the rush of crowds at stores. The justification came later, tied to accounting balance sheets where black ink would represent a profit. Many see Black Friday as the day retailers go into the black or show a profit for the first time in a given year. The term stuck and spread, and by the 1990s Black Friday became an unofficial retail holiday nationwide. Since 2002, Black Friday has been the season's biggest shopping day each year except 2004, according to market-research firm ShopperTrak." (Source: www.time.com)

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1942935,00.html#ixzz1ejQEdIfZ

           So you camp out in front of a store for hours before it opens. Once inside there is a crowd of hundreds of people, some of whom are a little rude. If and when you get what you want, you stand in a checkout line that wraps around the store - twice. Sound familiar? That was me this morning, with the exception of the camping out part of course - gotta know where to draw the line.

           Black Friday has never really appealed to me. This year however, our youngest son and I decided to give it a whirl. We left our house at 11:30 p.m. and hit our first target where the deals started at midnight. UNBELIEVABLE! - is all I can say. We were there for about 15 minutes. Long enough to discover that they no longer had what I was looking for (which was NO surprise) and maneuver our way out the door. The chaos at our second stop was much more organized. I actually found something that we could use (notice I didn't say need) but the lines were way too long! Besides, the "deal" was only about 60 dollars less than on any given Friday. Not worth it! Our third stop was "un"impressionable but again hundreds of people and long, long lines. We stopped for a milkshake (now this was my idea of fun on this trip) at about 2:00 a.m. By the time we had arrived at our fourth stop the "rush" had subsided for the most part. There were even available parking spaces in the parking lot. It was at this location that I decided to make a purchase. I know right! The line that we stood in was long but moved quickly. We took turns wandering throughout the store to pass the time. I ran into a former student whom my son had played football with and they talked through the line while I wandered some more. By the time we got home it was about 4:00 a.m. We chatted for a while and eventually the alarm went off signaling the time to rise and shine.

           My idea of fun is quite different from what we experienced here. In the end, however, we created a lasting memory and will not ever have to wonder about Black Friday again. What are your thoughts about this popular event?