I loathe that media discovered and started using the phrase "black-Friday." It feeds a frenzy that makes shopping rather unpleasant.
Today marks the beginning of my annual self imposed exile from American retail. I don't do a lot of Christmas shopping, and most of that is done online (Jay's big box has been wrapped and ready to go for weeks.) I will go back to the stores after the dust settles in January.
Stay safe, stay sane.
Black Friday for us means a day terrible deaths in bushfires, so there is some pushback about it here. Nevertheless, Black Friday sales are happening here. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteProbably not the worst US export, take care,
DeleteI have not been to a mall in dog knows how long. I online or local mom-n-pop shop for what I need. and I wish the media would IGNORE today! crass consumerism is NOT an american value!
ReplyDeleteShop local and have fun
DeleteIm off. You won't catch me near a mall. Besides when i do shop, it will be local small businesses here in town.
ReplyDeleteShopping is an occupational hazard for some, dress well my friend
DeleteI stay out of malls in December too. But I'm a little behind in my Christmas shopping this year, so will have to do some early in the month. I'm hoping that it will still be okay on, say, a weekday morning when everyone else is at work?
ReplyDeleteI just placed a couple of Amazon orders, let Prime do the shipping.
DeleteI'm hiding and waiting for the upcoming days of much needed rain.
ReplyDeleteStay safe, hope it rains soon
DeleteWe saw a movie "Knives Out' at the local shopping mall. The parking lot was strangely vacant. Perhaps people are dropping BF to shop on line.
ReplyDeleteOne can hope, how was the flick?
DeleteI hated Black Friday in the States and it's made its way across the ocean. Here in Málaga we have "Black Friday Week"! The discounts aren't as crazy nor are the crowds; no one camps out overnight in front of the big stores. So, something to be grateful for.
ReplyDeleteI recently read that retailers reclaimed Black Friday from its true original origins which weren't nearly as positive. On September 24, 1869, "two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk, created a boom-and-bust in gold prices. A stock market crash followed as prices fell 20%. The disruption in gold prices sent commodity prices plummeting 50%. Corruption in Tammany Hall allowed Gould and Fisk to escape without punishment." Apparently, THAT was the first reference to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.
More stories: "The earliest known use of "Black Friday" to refer to the day after Thanksgiving occurred in the journal, Factory Management and Maintenance, for November 1951, and again in 1952. Here it referred to the practice of workers calling in sick on the day after Thanksgiving, in order to have a four-day weekend. However, this use does not appear to have caught on. Around the same time, the terms "Black Friday" and "Black Saturday" came to be used by the police in Philadelphia and Rochester to describe the crowds and traffic congestion accompanying the start of the Christmas shopping season. In 1961, the city and merchants of Philadelphia attempted to improve conditions, and a public relations expert recommended rebranding the days, "Big Friday" and "Big Saturday"; but these terms were quickly forgotten."
Sorry to go on so long. I thought you'd find it interesting. (I sure hope so!)