Black Friday – A Day to “Waste Money”

Black Friday is a name for the Friday during the Thanksgiving week in the United States. A lot of people only know that during Black Friday, there are a lot of incredible sales on the market. Originally, Black Friday was called because there were a lot of traffic jams and congestion of people in shopping areas after Thanksgiving which creates a lot of accidents and even crimes. Nowadays, Black Friday symbolizes one of the biggest sales on the market. Many clothes, jewelry, and toys will have a discount on that day. According to the website, “thebalance.com”, it states that in 2018, the average shopper spends 1007.24 dollars on Black Friday. In the United States, people spent astonishing 717.5 billion dollars on Black Friday in 2018. Not only consumers do some actions, but also stores do some actions too. According to the NRF, the store hired between 500,000 and 550,000 workers in 2017 during the Black Friday season. Black Friday actually becomes a “Festival” to us. Everyone wants to get a good deal on Black Friday. Boys want to get some good toys or video games, while girls want to get some nice clothes and jewelry.

However, under these benefits, there are some potential problems under Black Friday. One of the problems is violence because many people want to get the best deal in the store, and the good things are limited, so many people always fight about it. Since 2010, Black Friday has resulted in 12 deaths and 117 injuries. Therefore, it is a headache for the police. 

Actually, nowadays, Black Friday is not only for the United States but also for other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Romania, India, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Australia. So Black Friday is a really popular day in the world.

In the Cape Henry community, different students have different views on Black Friday, and they also want to buy different things on Black Friday too. Isabella Beggs (‘21) thinks that Black Friday is definitely a good thing because she likes to shop during that day. She likes to shop online because there are a lot of good deals online, which they usually have a 50 percent to 60 percent discount. She also thinks that the benefit of Black Friday is that people would get something they wouldn’t get because some of the items are overpriced at other times. One of the drawbacks is that people would buy something that is not really necessary for them. Bryce Jones (‘21) states that he likes to go to the actual store on Black Friday such as Lynnhaven Mall because he can try it in the store; he can see the actual items; he also doesn’t need to wait for shipping. He also finds some good deals in the store. For example, in Zumiez, he can buy one get the second one 50 percent off. He thinks one of the benefits of Black Friday is definitely the discount on that day. But one of the drawbacks of Black Friday is overwhelming crowded in the stores or malls. Moreover, Jasper Wu (‘21) expresses that Black Friday is a great chance to buy what he wants because there are good deals everywhere. He prefers to shop online as the actual store because the actual stores are always crowded, and it is much more convenient since he can stay at home to buy what he wants.   

6 out of 10 polled students like to go shopping online on Black Friday. 3 out of 10 polled students like to go to the actual store to shop on Black Friday. 1 out of 10 polled students likes to no shopping at all on Black Friday. 

In conclusion, Black Friday is absolutely a good day to shop. There are many good deals and huge discounts on many products. However, if we go to the actual store, don’t go crazy and be safe!