Stephanie Cook
Black Friday is a holiday to many who consider themselves shopping addicts. The numerous sales and discounts lead to lines of people waiting to get the newest thing at the lowest price. However, the shopping day has become more of a shopping night. Recently, stores have begun opening as early as 6p.m. on Thursday night. This just happens to be Thanksgiving Day, a holiday spent with loved ones. This recent time change has led to sales ending sometimes at 6a.m; forcing shoppers to go out at night in order to receive the deals.
Store employees are forced to end their holiday early in order to prepare for Black Friday; or Thursday in this case. Aine Geraghty, an employee at FYE, worked two Black Fridays with the store. According to Geraghty, “Why do we have to extend it to a second day, nonetheless Thanksgiving?” Geraghty said when I asked how she felt about Black Friday. Her first year as a member of the FYE staff, she had to go into work for 10p.m. on Thanksgiving night. Geraghty described the experience as, “Rushing through dinner, and hurrying to change not into her pajamas; but into work clothes.” When she went into work at night, the store was packed with people. She could not even greet all of the shoppers as they came in.
This past Black Friday, Geraghty arrived at work at 6a.m. and described the store as “dead for a Black Friday.” She believes that because people are allowed in the stores earlier, they no longer come in on Friday but they rush to get sales on Thanksgiving instead. When I asked how Aine felt after having to work on a national holiday, she said she was upset and angry. “I’m not a huge Thanksgiving person, but I still appreciate that is a day meant to be spent with family.” Even though she did not work until Friday morning this past year, Geraghty’s holiday was cut short. She had to leave her family to go to bed earlier so that she would be well rested for her 11 hour shift. Aine, a seventeen year old high school student, worked 11 hours on Black Friday. Not only are sales enforced during this special day, but employer rules are broken as well.
Despite all of these issues with Black Friday, people still spend all night in the stores. Missy Vadney, a senior at Colonie High School, went out shopping with friends at midnight. She described the mall as dead because most shoppers would be waiting until Friday to shop. This boycott shows that people are not willing to sacrifice family time for bargains. Vadney stated “the sales weren’t even that good.” She felt that going out early wasn’t worth it despite beating the chaos. Although she felt that her holiday wasn’t cut short by shopping at midnight, Vadney agreed that it was not necessary in order to save money on items.
Allowing Black Friday to intermix with Thanksgiving has caused mixed feelings among both shoppers and employees. At the rate businesses are going, Thanksgiving could be known as Black Thursday sooner rather than later. Turkeys will be replaced with credit cards, and family will be replaced with material things.
