Since the mid 1960’s, people have declared the Friday after Thanksgiving to be the start to the Christmas shopping season. It was not until around 1980 that stores started to mark down prices on merchandise. In the early 2000’s stores started to open up earlier than usual, typically around 6:00am. In some instances stores opened up as early as 4:00am Friday. “Black Friday” has been the busiest shopping day every year since 2005. Starting in 2011, bigger corporations (Walmart,Target, Best Buy, etc.) have been opening up at 8:00pm Thursday night, turning Thanksgiving day into “Grey Thursday.”
This year I had the chance to head out to the local Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Cabelas on Thursday night around 4:00pm. Driving up to the parking lot at Wal-Mart, I could tell there were no spots left open. Because of this, I had to park along a curb at the side of the parking lot. As I went in, there were no carts left and a few baskets. I headed over to the most popular Black Friday deals at the Wal-Mart in Platteville: the movies and video games. I asked an employee from the Platteville Walmart if he could describe Black Friday for me, he responded with few words. “I can’t really describe it other than hectic or chaotic.”
Even though I was almost two hours early, people were camped in front of the boxes full of movies and video games priced from $2 to $10. As drew closer to 6:00 when the boxes would be opened, there were people standing shoulder to shoulder, ready to dive in and grab the movie or game they wished to have. The time came to open the boxes, the people dove right in and starting throwing movies up, down, left, right, and behind them. Luckily no one was hurt at the Platteville Wal-Mart, no fights broke out, and it looked as if people had just won the Hunger Games when they departed the store. I also had the experience to do a little online shopping too. The item I wanted was 50% off, but only for 12 hours. Luckily I was able to get what I wanted within an hour, because after I ordered it wasn’t long before the item was sold out from the company.
Some were not as fortunate to get home safely from Black Friday shopping. One instance in Tustin, CA caused three individuals to start brawling in the middle of a Kohl’s. Another shopper was hit by a car departing a Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania. The man who hit the walking shopper was 72 years of age and he told the police,”The accelerator had stuck.” The shopper was taken to the hospital with broken bones and internal injuries, though the police reported that the injuries were not life threatening.
Although we give thanks for a very American reason the day before, America isn't the only country that has Black Friday deals. A women in the UK was injured when fights broke out and a falling TV hit her, making her fall down. She suffered from only a broken wrist and minor cuts and bruises.
Even though I didn’t see any stunning action while Black Friday shopping, I’ll leave you with this: first, if you have never been a part of the insanity that is Black Friday shopping, try it next year. And second, if you do go shopping for a “hot” item, may the odds ever be in your favor.
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