by EMMA TEPE '15
The beginning was in 1975; the day after Thanksgiving was characterized by overwhelming crowds, poorly behaved shoppers, and bumper-to-bumper traffic; earning it the name “Black Friday”. At one time, the existence of Black Friday was not in the light of controversy, but today, it is the matter of many debates, especially regarding its recent expansion to Thanksgiving Day. This is known as “the Black Friday Creep”. If the name does not turn you off, the truth will. The Black Friday Creep not only affects families and consumers, but also the company staff and businesses in other fields.
The most obvious party affected is the employees. This year, they are being coerced into working Thanksgiving Day shifts with promises of a higher paycheck, increases in employee store discounts, relaxed uniforms, and even a turkey dinner during break. For them, the Black Friday Creep means spending even less time with family and more time with customers.
The consumer is also largely affected by the Black Friday Creep. Customers are put in highly competitive situations and are tempted to resort to greed, dishonesty, and violence in order to walk away with what he or she wants. To lure customers in, companies advertise “door busters”, which unreasonably low priced items are offered at first come first serve. The catch is the quantity. Most stores actually have a smaller quantity than advertized and most of these items “sell out” within seconds of the doors opening. These false advertisements brainwash consumers and cause them to push and shove while entering stores as well as in the stores. There have also been reports of injury and even death because of trampling. All of this is ironic due to the fact that, this year, the immoral behavior will begin on Thanksgiving, a day set aside to give thanks for what we already have.
With the early, Friday morning shopping trip is rapidly overtaking the precious time and values of the previous day’s Thanksgiving celebration, the morals associated with Thanksgiving are ignored. People are encouraged to participate in a self-indulging activity on the one day of the year that is meant for giving.