Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmasshopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in many British Commonwealth countries. Black Friday is not actually a holiday, but most non-retail employers give their employees the day off, increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2000although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate,have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.
The day’s name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that “Black Friday” indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are “in the black”.
For many years, it was common for retailers to open at 6:00, but in the late 2000s, many had crept to 5:00 or even 4:00. This was taken to a new extreme in 2011, when several retailers (including Target, Kohls, Macy’s, Best Buy, and Bealls) will open at midnight for the first time, forcing employees to either go without enough sleep or miss all or part of Thanksgiving with family. A backlash has resulted, with an online petition gathering more than 184,000 virtual signatures urging Target to let their employees have Thanksgiving with their families instead of their employer. Walmart will open at 10:00 pm on Thanksgiving and Toys ‘R’ Us at 9:00 pm. In 2010, Sears was open on Thanksgiving day.
Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, the day after occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November.
… nici nu se putea altfel: Vinerea Neagra, despre care orice crestin cunoaste ca reprezinta ziua patimilor Mantuitorului in Postul Pastelui, zi pe care suntem sfatuiti de catre Maica Biserica sa o petrecem ajunand (adica nemancand, si abtinandu-ne total nu numai de la consumul de alimente ci in special meditand asupra pacatelor noastre din timpul anului) […], ei bine, promotorii consumismului capitalist au gasit de cuviinta sa o preia ca denumire, cu singura deosebire ca au mutat-o in timpul celui de-al doilea post mare al crestinilor: in Postul Craciunului!
Black Friday (Vinerea Neagra) – ziua “sarbatorita” de cumparatorii americani prin preturi mici oferite de marii retaileri, cheama armatele de consumatori la casele de marcat, pentru ca prin actul ritualist al schimbului bani-marfa sa lanseze oficial perioada “cumparaturilor de sezon” …
O rusine fara margini, aberatia a ajuns sa fie preluata si la noi, semn al neputintei de a schimba cat de cat regulile jocului, semn al lipsei totale de imaginatie dar si al lenei de a fi original!
Spre deosebire de ceea ce se intampla peste Ocean – unde scaderile de pret incep la 50%, amaratii nostri de retaileri se umfla in pene cu discount-uri modeste: dar asta, nici nu mai conteaza! Urmarim o reactie din partea Bisericii …
Black Friday in Romania: blasfemie si saracie (de idei si nu numai) ... n-avem nici cu cine si n-avem nici cu ce!
Calin Diaconu 