Wow, Black Friday really is black in at least some places in the U.S. I heard of two reports of pepper spray being used - one by a customer who wanted to get an x-box. There was at least one shooting. There were multiple fights. There were also reports of excessive violence by authorities trying to control unruly crowds.
It all seems so uncivilised. I'm not a huge fan of Boxing Day either - or crowds in general - but it doesn't seem to descend quite so low. For starters, at least in Quebec, the stores don't even open until 1 pm. That's so much more sensible. You get to sleep in and have a restful morning. More importantly, the poor clerks get to enjoy a bit more of a holiday too. They work hardest of all on these types of days, but seem so overlooked. In the U.S. some stores opened at midnight - and people lined up from mid afternoon. (The only good thing is that it's a lot warmer than December 26th.) So the shop workers laboured right through the night. Some holiday for them!
And all that for what? To save a few dollars? Frankly, at this point I'd rather spend an extra few dollars and save the hassles. Maybe the sales are even bigger than I realize, though; we don't do spectacular discounts here very much. And I guess it could be kind of exciting and fun if you're not fighting mega-crowds in too big a city (I must admit that I do love a good bargain). Still I think I'll take Boxing Day over Black Friday. Or maybe a nice compromise on Cyber Monday, coming up next. And maybe eventually the only fighting people will be doing is over who gets to the keyboard and checks out their shopping cart first. Computers can work and clerks can stay home and everybody can enjoy a real holiday.
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