As a current witness of some crazed Black Friday shoppers, I feel only obligated to blog about the Black Friday frenzies that only seem to keep escalated with each year. This website shows some very revealing videos about the crowds in Walmarts across America this year. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/28/walmart-fight-black-friday_n_4357939.html
The fact that Black Friday now starts at 6:00 pm Thanksgiving night shows how important materialistic items are to our culture. Our day of "thanks" is cut short to go out and buy more things. Ironic isn't it? I remember when Black Friday deals actually started on Friday, then slowly but surely the deals and shops started opening earlier and earlier. Most shops opened at 12:00 AM just last year, and now Walmart has opened its doors as early as 6pm and most other stores at 8:00pm. The most surprising part of this shopping days is the injuries that result. According to USA today, there has been several very serious reports of injuries. At what length will people go to get that cheaper flat screen, IPOD, etc? One example of violence includes a police officer who was injured trying to reduce tensions between two shoppers in a Walmart parking lot. At what lengths will people go to get a marked down item and why do people reach this length?
Michael Hurd offers and interesting approach to some behavior witnessed during Black Friday. He says it is a combination of both crowd psychology and entitlement. Crowd psychology refers to breaking of rules because one sees others doing it. Entitlement shows that people act the way they do because they feel entitled to a cheaper item for whatever reason that might be. It might be that they struggle finically and feel like they deserve this break in prices. Michael Hurd's explanation for Black Friday offers a different approach than the usual "America is very materialistic" argument. I personally think it is fun to go out on Black Friday, but there is a line I will not cross. I will not break rules, injure others, get to caught up on getting one item, or let Black Friday take away from my thanksgiving. Honestly, I just steer clear of Walmart.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2013/11/29/black-friday-police-violence/3783467/
http://www.drhurd.com/index.php/Daily-Dose-of-Reason/Society-Culture/What-Black-Friday-Violence-Means-and-Doesn-t-Mean.html
I think the whole black friday ordeal accurately sums up the current American attitude. Most americans are concerned with having the latest and newest things. I think black friday shopping is really taking away from the true meaning of Thanksgiving as stores and companies use this day as a way to make even more money.
ReplyDeleteI really wish the rage over Black Friday ended. The amount of people who die each year due to black friday and frankly the riots that basically occur is absurd for the christmas rush. I agree with Tim in saying Black Friday really has taken away from the true meaning of why we have thanksgiving.
ReplyDelete"Crowd psychology and entitlement": that pretty much sums it up. It seems like the backlash against Black Friday has little effect. I wonder why it persists despite so many people professing dislike for it. Is it perhaps the ultimate "guilty pleasure," and does this very guilt in some way feed the holiday?
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