Black Friday

Black Friday has become the biggest shopping day of the year. As we all gathered around on Thanksgiving Day at my husband's aunt's house, it wasn't sounds of laughter and praise, but of hollering and fighting. "You took my coupon!" "No, I didn't! You gave this one to me!" "We're leaving early, you better be ready!" Ok, so maybe everything said was out of fun and excitement for the big day, but needless to say, his family gets serious about their after Thanksgiving Day shopping.



Waking up at 3 a.m. to hit the stores at 4 a.m. is not really my forte, but we had a great time. I asked many people why, after being stuffed with turkey from the day before, do they get up at such an early hour to shop. I was curious as to how great the deals really were. Most of them replied that it is just a fun holiday tradition that brings their family closer together. I had a hard time believing that it actually brings the family closer after listening to my new family hoot and holler at one another over the sales catalog. One story in the LA Times back in 2008 tells the story of two men who shot each other dead after a fight erupted between their women at a Southern California Toys R Us store. Thankfully, this is very rare however. Most people just argue over who had the item in their hand first, or who got the best deals.



People shopping on Black Friday generally have only a couple specific things in mind in which they want to buy. The rest of the shopping is done for worthless pieces of junk that nobody needs, yet it is all about the deal that they received on that particular item.



As for the PR for Black Friday - who could resist the fun catalogs or the anticipation for the actual event itself? Store advertisements do a great job pulling people into this nationwide event by letting people in on their deals and pricebreakers. Some stores are known to give away gift cards or other merchandise to entice people to come to their place first. Overall, I believe that Black Friday is a fun-filled family event that will be around for many years to come!