Spring Break
Black Friday brings out the crazies
Candace Daiker
Issue date: 11/25/09 Section: Opinion
Waking up somewhere between midnight and 4 a.m., standing outside in the cold for hours shoulder-to-shoulder with grouchy strangers that would probably chew your arm off for the last wholly-discounted coffee pot-when they probably don't even drink the stuff-isn't the most traditional way to start a typical morning.
On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, however, it is the typical morning for many.
"It's my very favorite day of the year. Ask any of my relatives; they won't go with me anymore because I go from morning to night," said Campus Café supervisor Connie Ferguson, "I have fun and talk to everyone in the lines."
An opposing view came from Lee Simpson, second-year student, who said, "I've never cared enough to shop on Black Friday. Plus, real men don't shop."
There are multiple claims as to where the unofficial holiday's name really originated.
One claim, considered the earliest, traces back to 1965's day after Thanksgiving in Philadelphia. The article, "Philadelphia's 'Black Friday'" by Martin Apfelbaum, in the "American Philatelist" from January 1966 states, "'Black Friday' is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. 'Black Friday' officially opens the Christmas shopping season…it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing." In other claims, the term refers to Christmas lists being checked off, college football nearing its end, more traffic, busy crowds, retailers turning a profit, and the headaches involved with the day.
Sale ads are jammed in newspapers and dedicated shoppers are making their itineraries weeks in advance. "I go for the sales and the clothes. Once I was after a pair of Jordans," said student Ayanna Prince. The hysteria of the day sometimes has the tendency to bring people's claws out. Beth Christianson said, "I've had something I was going to buy and a lady had taken it right out of my hand. I went up to her and took it out of her cart when she wasn't looking."
On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, however, it is the typical morning for many.
"It's my very favorite day of the year. Ask any of my relatives; they won't go with me anymore because I go from morning to night," said Campus Café supervisor Connie Ferguson, "I have fun and talk to everyone in the lines."
An opposing view came from Lee Simpson, second-year student, who said, "I've never cared enough to shop on Black Friday. Plus, real men don't shop."
There are multiple claims as to where the unofficial holiday's name really originated.
One claim, considered the earliest, traces back to 1965's day after Thanksgiving in Philadelphia. The article, "Philadelphia's 'Black Friday'" by Martin Apfelbaum, in the "American Philatelist" from January 1966 states, "'Black Friday' is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. 'Black Friday' officially opens the Christmas shopping season…it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing." In other claims, the term refers to Christmas lists being checked off, college football nearing its end, more traffic, busy crowds, retailers turning a profit, and the headaches involved with the day.
Sale ads are jammed in newspapers and dedicated shoppers are making their itineraries weeks in advance. "I go for the sales and the clothes. Once I was after a pair of Jordans," said student Ayanna Prince. The hysteria of the day sometimes has the tendency to bring people's claws out. Beth Christianson said, "I've had something I was going to buy and a lady had taken it right out of my hand. I went up to her and took it out of her cart when she wasn't looking."
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