Black Friday. We all obviously know what it is.
As a kid, I'd see horror stories of people getting trampled to death in the doors of shopping centers. I didn't even understand what Black Friday was at the time or why everyone went so crazy about it. I didn't grow up with cable TV, so I really didn't have an insane amount of access to news or anything. The little I did see on the matter was enough to terrify me. My tiny child eyes sincerely thought these people were criminals robbing stores... and it was allowed. If the Purge was real and had already come out in the early 90's of my childhood, I would have thought Black Friday was the day it took place.
I was terrified of that day, even up into my adult years.
My older sister started going to sales and telling me I was wrong about my idea of what they were. In my early 20's she convinced me that I should go and try to get baby stuff for my first daughter that was on the way because I was struggling with money and this would help. So, I convinced my husband to take me to Target so we could get some baby stuff.
When I say I was almost trampled, enormous pregnant belly and all, I'm not even close to lying. People had their kids there and an older boy, probably around 17 years old, pushed me hard because I was standing in front of a display of PlayStations. I hit a cardboard cutout for some video game and fell. Not one person in that store helped, aside from my husband, of course. He picked me up and got us out of there. He dragged me through the parking lot, where we watched a woman pick up a shopping cart and actually throw it at another person, and shoved me into the car.
That was the first and last time I ever went to any Black Friday event.
Every year since, I have tried to get all my regular grocery shopping done before I see all of the nonsense displays start popping up. I have never snagged any items from a Black Friday sale. Never even thought to go looking what was on sale after that experience. But I do notice the dramatic change from those years ago to now.
I haven't seen a story where anyone was trampled in many years. I also don't see many good deals when I do walk through the stores as that time is closing in. In fact, it seems the exact opposite. The deals are no longer deals. In some cases, I've read people think that the prices are highly marked up beforehand so that they can cut them down to just above regular price and make you think you're getting some great deal.
Like this one, for example:
I also believe it's a scam. I have never noticed any great deals during any of the Black Friday propaganda. Of course, I've seemed to miss out on what people swear were the glory days, so what do I actually know?
I won't pretend I'm some expert on the matter, but I will say this...
If your able to flock to stores and throw a grocery cart at someone's face to get $1 off of a flat screen TV directly after a holiday where you're meant to be thankful for all that you have, you're a terrible person.
I mean the concept alone is unsettling. Look at our news. Every single day, we are bombarded with stories of how people can't afford to buy homes or even food... but massive corporations are rolling out black Friday sales left and right. We don't need Labubus, we need affordable housing and food. Thanks.
Every day, we are bombarded with propaganda about how some politician wants to help us and make our lives better. In my lifetime, I've only known the government to make everything they touch worse. I don't care for politics much because I think it's insanely divisive and causes anger towards the wrong people. I don't think We, the people, should be mad at things that aren't in our control. I think no matter what side you're on- or if you're in the middle like me- we are being lied to.
Everyone is out here saying stupid shit like, "Trump is playing 5D chess and everyone else is playing checkers." No, he is getting a ballroom/bunker privately funded while actively cutting off SNAP benefits for American people. "Well, Sara... he isn't using American tax dollars." Isn't he though? Everyone who is funding it gets insane tax write offs while they nickel and dime you for your garage sell profits.
Meanwhile, why are we all paying taxes anyways? I mean... with the roads being complete shit, all of our programs being defunded (SNAP, Medicaid, PBS, etc) where are the tax dollars going? I am terrible at math and even I can tell you the numbers are fucked off.
I want to make it very clear that I am not a Trump hater. I could say the same for the Clintons, or any other democrat OR republican. I could say it for any corporation. Pick one. My opinion will remain the same. They all preach some bullshit about how they are here to help and they want to make our quality of life better... meanwhile, they get rich and fat while we all starve and lose our houses and livelihood. Are y'all living better? I'm not.
These places pay minimum wage while demanding maximum effort.
Let 👏that👏 sink👏 in.
Multibillion dollar companies are paying people the lowest amount they can legally pay you while they rake in billions of dollars in profit... and it's being questioned why so many people are on SNAP etc. Whaaaat??
Anyways... sorry for that side quest. Sometimes, I get carried away when I'm annoyed...
Where was I?
Oh yeah.
Black Friday.
The articles I have been waiting to see are these:
Black Friday spending at an all time high. Every year, these articles circulate like it's some congratulatory accomplishment that Americans went and spent billions of dollars on bullshit.
Then the articles about how great the economy is will begin to circulate. Americans must be doing great, look at how much they spent!
No.
Let's dissect that spending.
They don't have more money. They are mostly accumulating more debt. How many of these purchases were made using credit cards? After Pay? Affirm? How many people took out a loan to fund Christmas? Also... are we completely ignoring the fact that the prices are higher than they've ever been? OF COURSE Americans spent more. That's because everything COSTS more. They're not getting more. They're PAYING more to get LESS.
So, is this a massive success? (It sure tf is not in my book.)
Is America healing? (With the purchase of 65 Kraft macaroni and cheese boxes...)
Or is this just more sugar-coated bullshit propaganda gifted to us by a government and corporations that truly do not care about us as anything other than their own personal piggy bank?
About the Creator
Sara Wilson
I love Ugly Things.
I try and be active AND interactive.
I write... whatever I feel.
Sometimes it's happy.. sometimes it isn't. But it's real. And it's me.
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
Keep reading
More stories from Sara Wilson and writers in The Swamp and other communities.
Second Round of Stimulus Checks
I KNOW for a solid FACT that I am not the only one who is sick and tired to death of hearing about this "second round of stimulus checks". I'm sick of hearing the same stupid updates every 22 minutes. I'm sick of news outlets being biased and placing the blame on everyone else. I'm tired of it all.
By Sara Wilson5 years ago in The Swamp
NATO Chief Warns Europe Against Illusions of Strategic Independence Without the US
The debate over Europe’s ability to defend itself without the United States has resurfaced sharply after NATO’s chief delivered a blunt warning: Europe should “keep on dreaming” if it believes it can ensure its own security without American backing. The remark, striking in its candour, underscores a long-standing reality at the heart of the transatlantic alliance — despite decades of integration, ambition, and investment, European defence remains deeply intertwined with US military power.
By Salaar Jamali6 days ago in The Swamp
Nigerian Military Officers to Face Trial Over Alleged Coup Plot
Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters has formally announced that a group of military officers will be tried over allegations that they conspired to overthrow the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The decision marks the first official acknowledgment by the country’s military that an internal investigation identified credible evidence of an alleged coup plot — a development that has drawn both domestic and international attention amid regional concerns about political stability in West Africa. �
By Ayesha Lashari6 days ago in The Swamp
Living in a hemp house
Hemp, a multi-purpose crop that delivers fibres, shivs, seeds, and pharmaceuticals is currently used in insulation materials and bio-composites for a more sustainable construction industry. Russ Martin and his wife Karon Korp tell their story as owners of the first hemp house in the U.S.
By Susan Fourtané 7 days ago in Interview
Comments (17)
It isn't so crazy in Canada, but I refuse to take part in the financial initiation into the Christmas season. Thank you for this piece, and I should confess that I wrote a poem about it as well: https://todaysurvey.shop/poets/blank-friday%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cstyle data-emotion-css="w4qknv-Replies">.css-w4qknv-Replies{display:grid;gap:1.5rem;}
Great article! Sadly, Black Friday is fueled by American greediness, materialism, and innate desire to one-up. We are also prisoners to credit cards for the same reasons. I don't like crowds so I was "out" and have always lived simply without that barbarism. So glad you got a Top Story for this!
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Black Friday doesn't have as many deals as it used to and some stores stopped doing one all together. It's definitely gone down in time. Still kinda chaotic but nothing like the crazy tv grabs of old times
Outstanding! As I was reading it, I kept making a mental note to mention that there really aren't deals anymore, but you already did. Not only are stores increasing prices before Black Friday (or many "sales") so that the "sale price" is actually just the regular price, but it's also being reported that sometimes, the merchandise you might get on Black Friday is actually lower quality shit made to sell that day. Subtle things like fewer ports on a computer, etc. My mother in law and wife dragged me to a few Black Fridays years ago. I saw no sense in it. They did all the research in advance, determining what the real bargains were, and I remember when I drew the line and said NO MORE. We got up before dawn so we could be at the mall before 6, when the doors opened. My job was to find the $1 Rachel Ray spoon. It was a nice spoon. It has held up well and I use it often. But all that time and effort to get a spoon. They each had a few things, and I don't remember what they were, but I remember thinking they were things we probably wouldn't otherwise get, and they weren't very useful. So really, three of us went out and spent like 2 1/2 hours with a net gain of a fucking spoon on a day when I had to be at work, to work the day-long Black Friday Sale at the bookstore I worked at. And I can tell you, that also was a nightmare from hell. Like most nightmares, it was due entirely to people, people, people. The store I worked at was a used bookstore, where you could get bargains from the Clearance section any day of the week. Big name authors, in like-new condition, in hardcover, for $3. It hardly made sense to have a Black Friday sale, but we did, offering 10% off coupons to the first 100 people in the door, and 3 randomly distributed $50 gift cards to those same 100 people. Well, the 10% off thing meant people would load up a cart of stuff. That was fine. The gift cards were a pain in the ass. I was happy for the people who had them, but the reality of the situation was, our regulars line up before we opened, same as every other store. Within a half hour, we had those first 100 people and the gift cards were all gone. The rest of the day, we had people drifting in who had been to the other, bigger sales, asking us if the gift cards had already been given away. It was really, really difficult to not be sarcastic with these people. What kind of moron would think that on Black Friday we wouldn't have had 100 people already after being open for 7 hours? Eventually, the sale was changed because we realized we gained nothing. No foot traffic, no community goodwill, no buzz. It was just extra effort, and a day that made the workers hate the customers a little bit more.
What a fantastic piece of writing Sara, and a very deserved Top Story. Your rant is so relatable, and you made a really powerful argument against the Black Friday frenzy. I myself, would never go black Friday shopping.
American Black Friday was the kind of thing we told ghost stories about when I was growing up. We couldn’t believe that people were literally willing to kill each other over a “discounted” microwave. It’s insane.
Ugh, I hate that holiday. I only ever do the online deals IF it's worth the hassle.
Your storytelling pulls the reader right into the chaos of Black Friday. Powerful and unsettling.
Such a powerful piece.
I’ve never participated in Wack Friday, and I agree 100% with everything you said here. I play this video in my Humanities class, and it has an element of this in it: https://youtu.be/e9dZQelULDk?si=Y8nx03tLtOgbnmsn
Such a powerful piece. Here in Australia, Black Friday has never reached the stampede level you describe, no one gets trampled for a flatscreen, but the corporate manipulation and fake “sales” are definitely creeping in.
Oh they're definitely hugeeeee scams and bullshit propaganda! Also, that boy pushed you?! Like how can someone do something like that too a person? And you were heavily pregnant too! I'm just so glad you and your baby were okay. Gosh, people can be such animals!
This is so true, I've never shopped black Friday but I saw the "deals" a whopping 10% off, WOW. Well, it's not as big of a thing in Canada, but still, that's just a regular sale, nothing special. To go off the loans thing. When I live in Kelowna (BC) the person at the (car dealership? or bank?) said that there are people who will get loans to buy very expensive cars "for their kids" for Christmas, to show off to other family members, just so they can return the vehicles and pay the loans off, because obviously you don't get full money back after driving a car off lot. Insane.
I’m not going to lie, I’ve always hated Black Friday. It brings out the worst in people, and now, like you said, those people are spending more without even realizing it (or they are and are just going for it anyway because they feel as though they have no other choice at this time of year). As a kid, I always wondered why necessities like food weren’t on sale on Black Friday, and now I know it’s because it’s not for us the consumer—it’s to give the corporations one last big push for the end of the year. That’s one of the reasons why it’s called “Black Friday”, because it’s putting them “in the black”. But it’s putting the rest of us in debt.
Amen Sara! Speak on it! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
✍️🔥 Spot on! This is the kind of sentiment that feels so common sense I’m perpetually shocked that it’s not universally agreed upon. Glad you said all this :) And glad you said it well! Perhaps your words will help readers to really think about their participation in the system and ways in which they could draw back! Especially the critique of the media celebrating record sales when after inflation all this means is the working class is paying more for less. You worded that section so powerfully! I feel dissent is a powerful social tool, and if enough creatives use their skill to critique the system, it can inspire positive change. Also, aside from political party stuff, some (not all) of what you’re saying here strikes me not as “moderate” but as left leaning! In terms of economic stuff. Political compass stuff gets ridiculously convoluted and doesn’t really mean much anyway, people can be left on one thing, right on another, and moderate on a third. But in general, “Left” doesn’t even mean buddy buddy with the Democratic Party. I Love to see anyone criticizing or pointing out the injustices of capitalism and most of the government — liberal or conservative will NEVER voice these criticisms. I’m anti capitalist, and I think socialism would be the ideal system, but it’s so demonized in the states that most of what I can hope for is changes to our current system a little lot equitable .Which is way farther left than most status-quo democrats, but anticapitalist sentiments do seem to be rapidly growing especially among middle millennials and younger. As you pointed out, both our main political parties are corrupt to the core. Republicans and Dems are both working for corporations and billionaires rather than the people. And I think most of the working class (left, right, and middle) feels abandoned— even sabotaged— by our leaders. The part of me that still fees hope wonders if we might even be on the cusp of real class consciousness and solidarity.