Once again it’s that time of the year. The holiday season that is so beloved by many. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanuka, Kwanzaa,and more. This also means that the infamous Black Friday looms near. It all started back in 1924 after the first Macy’s Day Parade, and the term ‘Black Friday’ began to be used officially in the 1960’s. This means that this nonsense, all out shopping day has been going on for just over 90 years!

Whoever came up with the idea to put items on such absurd sales, and not expect there to be some violence, must have not not graduated high school. I’ll admit it has toned down a little over the years, but you still regularly hear in the news that so in so got stabbed, shot, or worse trampled. All of this over getting some temporarily inexpensive items, so cheap people can buy a bunch a stuff they most likely don’t need.

Many fail to release that the majority of these items on these crazy markdowns, will end up going on a large sale later anyways due to most of the items being older models that are being cycled out. Black Friday is a large company’s solution to getting rid of their old stock, and still profiting heavily from it. I know they do this; I work for a company that already has Black Friday sale’s going on. I see this type of thing every day I come to work (all price changes throughout the year).

Not only is Black Friday dangerous, but it’s also very unfair to any employee unfortunate to have to deal with all of the abrasive consumers. I wouldn’t wish that hell on anyone! If you haven’t ever had to work on a that day, you’re lucky! I’ve worked in store in the past, during this shopping event; it was a nightmare! It’s just an ocean of angry, stupid, and confused people. Sure not everyone fits that category. But it seems that the sale clicks something in their brains to make them turn into a bunch of assholes.

I do understand it’s a great event for people with lower incomes to get some gifts for their loved ones. But they should also realize that they just get swindled into  buying more discounted items than one normally would. This often means less thought into the gifts too.  They could’ve just waited until after the sale when the items sometimes get marked down much further, but without the mob.

For items they aren’t purchasing as gifts, why not just wait until the holidays are over. The after Christmas sale’s are nearly as good as the Black Friday sale, but you don’t get killed or maimed in the process! The point of this article is, that if you’re a regular participant on this after Thanksgiving shop-fest, you should put some consideration on at least being a decent human being. Remember to stay safe this Holiday Season and shop smart!

~ J. A. Ross