Black Friday

Black Friday is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. It
may be as early as the 23rd and as late as the 29th of November.

Asking please and saying thank you is the most basic form of manners, and should
be used especially on days like Black Friday.Black Friday is not a day to step all
over one another. It does not mean to treat your fellow shoppers with disdain over
a silly sale.

Here, try to use good parking manners. This is really quite simple, but often broken.
Do not double park your car no matter how expensive it may be. Do not cut people off in
the parking lot. If you do, expect and be sure that they will be the person
behind you in line when you are buying your Black Friday merchandise. Talk about
uncomfortable!

Why? The Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees take the day off,
which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for
the Christmas season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open very early
(typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders
to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping
day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas
season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back.

The news media frequently refer to Black Friday as the busiest retail shopping
day of the year, but this is not always accurate. While it has been one of the
busiest days in terms of customer traffic,in terms of actual sales volume,
from 1993 through 2001 Black Friday was usually the fifth to tenth busiest day.
The busiest retail shopping day of the year in the United States (in terms of
both sales and customer traffic) usually has been the Saturday before Christmas.

In many cities it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up hours before stores
with big sales open. Once inside, the stores shoppers often rush and grab, as
many stores have only a few of the big draw items. Electronics and popular toys
are often the most sought-after items and may be sharply discounted. Because of
the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay home and avoid the hectic
shopping experience. The local media often will cover the event, mentioning how
early the shoppers began lining up at various stores and providing video of the
shoppers standing in line and later leaving with their purchased items.
Traditionally Black Friday sales were intended for those shopping for Christmas
gifts. For some particularly popular items, some people shop at these sales in
order to get deep discounts on items they can then resell, typically online.

With the approaching Black Friday sales, some shopping etiquette would be a good
thing to inject into the madness. People treat Black Friday like it is the only
sale that will be around before the Christmas holiday. Certainly, Black Friday
is a huge sale and should be taken advantage of, but it is not so important that
we lose our manners. Here are some etiquette ideas to make Black Friday a bit
more bearable for the upcoming holiday season.

Keep your greed in check. As you look at the shelf, and realize that there is only
two GI Joes with the Kung Fu Grip, think of the child that will not get one before
you scoop them both up just because they are on sale. Opportunity is not the only
consideration during a Black Friday Sale. What about holiday spirit?

Most of these rules are just common sense but someone needed to say them. Enjoy
black Friday but this year, try to think of your fellow shoppers and clerks.
It just might make Black Friday a wonderful experience after all!