Today’s graphic is purely tongue-in-cheek. The fact is, I like Black Friday sales. I even went shopping last night when the Target store opened at 6:00pm on Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday retail season. I wasn’t the only one there, of course, there were likely more than a thousand people waiting in line to get a hot price on a TV, microwave, or giant 3-foot tall teddy bear ($10!).
A big part of the fun is watching the great multitude excitedly shopping. They want to be there. Even while they wait in line to get in, they are in high spirits, even singing Christmas songs. Ridiculous? Yes, but in the end, everyone goes happily goes home with a deal on something they wanted and probably find something else special they didn’t expect to find.
I didn’t go for anything in particular. My son and I look through the DVDs ($4 or $6) and I usually pick up something random. Last year was shoelaces. This year was a bottle of DayQuil. We also picked up a James Bond and a Star Trek movie. It’s been a few years since we bought a big electronic of any kind on Black Friday.
(Don’t worry, we went well after Thanksgiving dinner, spent time with our extended family, watched four quarters of football, and enjoyed a post-game nap)
Thankfully, no one seemed affected by the condescending talking heads on TV and radio that like to heap disdain on them for enjoying shopping on Thanksgiving or waking up early on Black Friday. The airwaves are full of self-righteous personalities that look down on the whole event. Last year I heard a smug radio host say that stores should stay closed on Thanksgiving “so that families can be home and heal together”. Really? I didn’t realize that cranberry relish and green bean casserole were quite so therapeutic.
Despite the positively fun and festive scene we witnessed (including cheerful employees in colorful sweaters with Christmas light necklaces), I’m sure the Black Friday scene will somehow still be painted as an ugly cultural food fight on the national news by Friday night. They will emphasize that online shopping is where it’s at nowadays. Completely lost will be the people like us who were thankful for the fun they were having in such a cheerfully riotous holiday scene.
It may not be your cup of tea, but best wishes for fun and merriment during the holiday season!
Image Credit: Pixabay
MrFireStation 
Sounds like a good experience. We typically skip black Friday shopping altogether, this year will be no different. I may go to the movie today.
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I bet the movie theater will be busy too. But at least once you have a ticket, you are in!
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I understand both sides of the issue and can sympathize with employees that are expected to work when they dont really want to. There are some deals to be had though. After likely spending all day with family, I dont think its a big deal to head out for some shopping in the evening if thats what you want to do. And like you did, many times the family goes out shopping together anyway. I went to Target on Wed. for their special deal and got some BOGO frozen pizzas! (2 Digiornos for $4.99) Apparently there wasn’t any big crowd fighting over those 😉
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Wow – quite the special on pizza! When I was at Target last night they had TV sets and microwave ovens stacked up in the frozen food section. You don’t see that everyday!
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We didn’t head to any stores today since we were traveling home from Florida. The airport was pretty quiet luckily! I agree with others that if the shopping is after the family time and you’re not “camping out all night” or fighting with others to get the “best deal” – there’s nothing wrong with it at all. My son and his girlfriend went out at 6 am today and they said it wasn’t that busy – they got a few gifts and enjoyed it.
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We drove by our airport today and I was surprised to see nine jets all parked in a row. I guess it’s not much of a travel day until Sunday when everyone is trying to get home.
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I’m more of an online shopper these days. Going on Slickdeals while sitting in my PJs in bed is my preferred method of shopping 🙂 Hope you had a great time!!!
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Slickdeals – I’ll check that out. I shop on Amazon, but don’t use other sites much.
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I have relatives that go shopping every Black Friday. It’s a family affair for them and they have a lot of fun. Interesting that we will accept Football on Thanksgiving, but shopping is somehow evil. It’s always seemed somewhat sexist to me.
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That’s a good point, Carol – How is shopping more a social faux pas than watching the Vikings lose (again)? I suppose it might be sexist to assume that only men like football and only women like shopping, but I get your point! 🙂
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