By Kinsley Rapier
When I was little, Black Friday scared me. It wasn’t the ominous name but the insane stories that I heard the days following. People fighting over a flat screen TV that was 80% off. Old ladies were punched in the face, children were pepper sprayed, and store employees left crying. It was your one chance to get the expensive gift that your family member had been begging for all year. I knew countless families who had made it a tradition to wake up at four in the morning to stand in line for Black Friday deals. Hauling chairs and blankets to the front of department stores to freeze all morning in the name of a good deal.
But this year, Black Friday lost it’s spark. Not one single fight was featured on the news. I completely forgot it was happening until someone mentioned it late Friday night. For those who waited in early morning lines, there was nothing but disappointment for them inside the store. On a day known for its extreme sales of 50% off or more, the only discounts that could be found were 20–30% off. To add insult to injury, many people online noted that the sales that were running were the everyday clearance sales that the store had already put up.
The questions that remain: what does this mean for future Black Fridays? Will the Holiday be phased out? Are we being played by big retailers? What will this do to the American family tradition? Maybe the answer lies in Cyber Monday, which has been extended to a full week this year. Or maybe we will look back in 50 years and tell our children the fables of Black Friday shopping. Let me know what you think the future of Black Friday looks like.
Black Friday is a Joke was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
