Black Friday

Okay, I admit it. I'm a Black Friday novice. I usually work on the Friday after Thanksgiving (also known as "Black Friday"), so I've never really had the opportunity to experience this unique shopping event. This year, since I had Friday off, I was "convinced" to go to our local mall (Stonewood Center) at midnight Thanksgiving night to look for Christmas bargains.

To give you a little background, according to timeanddate.com, Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.

The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

Regardless of which explanation you accept, Black Friday has become the official first day of shopping for the Christmas holiday. As the first official day, retailers offer all sorts of special offers and bargains to entice customers. While I didn't spend a lot, I found some gifts at good prices. Overall, it was an interesting experience. The mall was crowded—there was a sense of excitement. While I later heard crazy stories of people getting really aggressive about shopping (stories of pepper spray, knives and shootings), everyone I saw was wandering around, having fun and spending the money retailers were hoping for.