I’m one of those weirdoes that in spite of whatever I may say, occasionally indulge in the insanity known as Black Friday. Throughout the year, the closer it gets to November and Thanksgiving, I assess things that I either need, want, or both. Over the last few years, in participating in Black Friday deal-seeking, I have come out with a variety of items, such as an Xbox, a Shop-Vac for my garage, and the stereo system in my bedroom, among various other things.
Whenever I succeed at getting the rare items and the things that I want, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, victory and smugness. In the instances that I have failed to get the things that I want, I am upset, disappointed, and swear to never participate in Black Fridays ever again. But typically, I do.
This year is kind of different, though. I don’t have a very extensive list of things that I think I want or need; sure there are a few things, but nothing extravagant really, and nothing that seems to be an insanity doorbuster by any means. I have my televisions, I have an Xbox, I have my gadgets; among the things that usually cause people to trample each other or shoot each other in parking lots, I’ve already got.
Regardless, I am still interested in going out on Black Friday, even if it doesn’t mean waking up at 3:30 a.m. and driving to wait in a line outside of Sears or Target. But this year, the structure of Black Friday has been mutated into something so convoluted, confusing and ill-explained, that it may as well not even be called “Black Friday” anymore.
For what it’s worth, I’m going to be keeping my eyes peeled on a new point-and-shoot camera, and a second monitor. With that in mind, I begin perusing the internets looking for deals on either or both, and I’m finding myself thoroughly turned off to just about everything after the first two minutes. Who’s going to be offering what on which day? Which places are going to start their deals on Thanksgiving Day? 6 p.m.? 10 p.m.? Midnight? By starting on Thursday, some retailers are completely missing the point of a holiday celebrated by togetherness and unity, by trying to get them to go outside and be miserable for high-risk/low-reward spoils.
Is it going to be available online, or is it going to be in-store only? More questions that no readily available answers. Do we dare wait at our computers until midnight, and see if they’re available online, or do we risk punting by going to sleep, and getting up at 4 a.m. where it’s going to be just as difficult to get one in-store? All sorts of questions, options, and possibilities, are leading to a sense of ambivalence, and overall turn-off altogether.
I sort of understand that some retailers’ rationale is that they don’t want to be the company named on the news where people are getting trampled to death or becoming spontaneous crime scenes. Staggering their opening times, or opening on Thanksgiving Day itself can kind of alleviate the insanity to a degree, but it is coming at the expense of a national holiday where typically people want to relax and enjoy the company of friends and family, and not complete strangers who are thinking of knocking people over to succeed in their own goals.
I’m still hopeful that I’ll get the things I’m looking for this weekend, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel that the tradition of Black Friday has more or less been ruined by a combination of capitalism, sense of prevention, and the compromise of holiday traditions.
