Ah, yes Black Friday is just around the corner. On this day thousands of people will kick off their Christmas shopping. While Black Friday is not an official holiday many businesses give their employees the day off. I have had the misfortune of working for companies where I had to report back to work on Black Friday, and let me tell you it is no fun.
It is said, by Wikipedia, that the term Black Friday originated in Philadelphia when the police officers coined it Black Friday because of the heavy traffic that day. Now store and business owners are referring to Black Friday as the start of retailers turning a profit or being in the black. This unofficial holiday goes back as far as the 1960's, but the tradition of starting the unofficial Christmas season on the day after Thanksgiving dates back to the 1920's.
I have never been one to rush out the day after Thanksgiving and go Christmas shopping. I refuse to fight with all those people, drive around the mall parking lot looking for a parking spot, and battling those gigantic crowds. If you are wondering where I will be on Black Friday it will be right here in front of my laptop squeezing out the last few thousand words of my NaNo novel, because at 5 AM when those retailers open their doors to the masses I will not be standing there bright eyed and bushy tailed. No sir. I will be in my nice warm bed with the covers pulled up high waiting for the sun to gently wake me up.
For those of you who will be braving the mad rush on Black Friday, may someone pull out of the coveted parking space the moment you get to your destination, may nothing you really want to buy be out of stock, and may there always be a Starbucks where ever you are to keep you going, 'cause 5 o'clock in the morning comes fast! Here is a link to the Official Black Friday site to get you ready for the big day.
Since I will be with my family tomorrow I want to wish all of my readers, visitors, and passersby a Happy Thanksgiving!
May all of us eat until we cannot eat anymore, and then have dessert until we bust.