Is Black Friday Worth the Hype? By Jasmin Garcia
Is Black Friday Worth the Hype? By Jasmin Garcia
Black Friday, the consumerist extravaganza! Perhaps even more enjoyed by Americans than Thanksgiving. It’s typically when many people start doing Christmas shopping, as it traditionally marks the start of the Christmas season. There are a variety of deals and discounts, what’s not to love? We can save money! However, there have been many cases where violence has struck while shopping along with many other discomforts and dangers.
On this day, people take advantage of the great sales because they’re a great opportunity to purchase items for cheaper. Many families, often those with a lot of members in them, choose to go Black Friday shopping as many say it's a convenience or even a bang for your buck! For example, children and teenagers these days expect the newest technology which are typically really expensive to buy–especially when it’s for multiple kids.
Black Friday brings plenty of business to big corporations like Walmart, Target, Big 5, Macy’s, and many other stores as they usually have blowout sales during this time of year. This day is the mark of the biggest sales of the year where hundreds of people purchase bigger and more expensive merchandise, swapping last year's stuff for this year's new and shiny objects–usually spending over $500 which is a large benefit to the company’s annual revenue.
Although this sounds like a day to look forward to, it can become a big mess. Many people camp out outside the stores a day before Black Friday in order to snatch and grab all the goods first. During this time it’s freezing outside and people spend hours outdoors with their children beside them, by the time the stores open people are angry, hungry, and just want to go home to rest. It also becomes extremely crowded inside the stores, and the competition to grab things first can result in many people fighting for the items, making it easier for these people to steal since there’ll be so much commotion that security won't even see the theft being made!
Frankly, Black Friday isn’t worth it. It can be dangerous especially in this cruel world we live in. Why go through the violence and struggle to buy during Black Friday when there is Cyber Monday? Cyber Monday on the other hand is similar to Black Friday but it’s online shopping with the same range of lower prices. I personally prefer cyber Monday because it’s safer since I'm not surrounded by people who can physically hurt me and others.