Saying No to Black Friday
Black Friday - just the name conjures up visions of a bad day. I am baffled as to how anyone can find the chaos of this day enjoyable.
The name Black Friday originated before 1961 in Philadelphia and was used to describe the extremely heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic on the day after Thanksgiving, and became more widely used outside of Philadelphia around 1975. It was later used by retailers, who traditionally operated at a financial loss ("in the red") from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicated the point at which they began to turn a profit ("in the black").
Over the years Black Friday became extremely popular as the day to start your Christmas shopping. It remained that way for many years, but then things changed. All of a sudden it was not the Friday morning after Thanksgiving that the stores were open and started the "big" sales - they were now open at midnight on the day after Thanksgiving. And from there retailers decided that they could not wait for the day after Thanksgiving to start making the "big" money - they now wanted to start on Thanksgiving day.
I say shame on all of them for their greed and lack of respect for their employees. With people working so hard just to survive these days they are away from their families enough. To now tell them that they have to work and can no longer enjoy Thanksgiving dinner as a family is a disgrace. It should be a day of making memories and enjoying a great meal with family and friends. It is difficult for me to believe that if they do not open until Friday morning they will not make their profits. People will still need to do their shopping even if they cannot start until the day after Thanksgiving.
The news recently reported on a woman in New Hampshire that has a Sears franchise and has decided to remain closed for Thanksgiving. She did not feel she could ask employees to give up their holiday with family. I don't know how Sears will respond to this in the end as they do expect the stores to be open. I do know that I have a lot of respect and admiration for her decision to choose family first.
I am sure that there will be many people running out the door to get whatever "big bargain" is being advertised to lure them in. However, I will say no to Black Friday and will instead choose to spend my day enjoying great food and making memories. I wish the same for all of you.
The name Black Friday originated before 1961 in Philadelphia and was used to describe the extremely heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic on the day after Thanksgiving, and became more widely used outside of Philadelphia around 1975. It was later used by retailers, who traditionally operated at a financial loss ("in the red") from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicated the point at which they began to turn a profit ("in the black").
Over the years Black Friday became extremely popular as the day to start your Christmas shopping. It remained that way for many years, but then things changed. All of a sudden it was not the Friday morning after Thanksgiving that the stores were open and started the "big" sales - they were now open at midnight on the day after Thanksgiving. And from there retailers decided that they could not wait for the day after Thanksgiving to start making the "big" money - they now wanted to start on Thanksgiving day.
I say shame on all of them for their greed and lack of respect for their employees. With people working so hard just to survive these days they are away from their families enough. To now tell them that they have to work and can no longer enjoy Thanksgiving dinner as a family is a disgrace. It should be a day of making memories and enjoying a great meal with family and friends. It is difficult for me to believe that if they do not open until Friday morning they will not make their profits. People will still need to do their shopping even if they cannot start until the day after Thanksgiving.
The news recently reported on a woman in New Hampshire that has a Sears franchise and has decided to remain closed for Thanksgiving. She did not feel she could ask employees to give up their holiday with family. I don't know how Sears will respond to this in the end as they do expect the stores to be open. I do know that I have a lot of respect and admiration for her decision to choose family first.
I am sure that there will be many people running out the door to get whatever "big bargain" is being advertised to lure them in. However, I will say no to Black Friday and will instead choose to spend my day enjoying great food and making memories. I wish the same for all of you.
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