Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[klingon13524]

Wow, this is.. This is kinda crazy, no offense to you Americans! Wow, no deaths from trampling is unusual?!    

People are assholes, 'nuff said.

[Strange guy]

The original meaning of Black Friday was that it was the first Friday of the year when the books of certain companies were in the black, meaning that they had finally pulled a profit for the year.  It became a general day-after-Thanksgiving sale to entice people to shop for the winter holidays a month early.  I am not sure when this happened, but the why is fairly obvious.

Nope, sorry it isn't:

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.[4] 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".[5]

When you consider other 'Black' days, various natural or financial disasters, deaths or killings, it's pretty unsurprising that the naming wasn't originally due to it being considered a good thing.

[Nadaka]

I mentioned to my little sister that there were laptops for sale, so I got dragged to best buy at midnight only to find out all the sale items were ticketed to the first people through the door. I did stop by on my way out of town and low and behold, some of the sale laptops had not been claimed. Called her up and she got herself one. It was an OK laptop, 4gb ram, dual core processor, ati graphics for $299, or about $50 less than the same thing off of newegg.

It is indeed a very odd thing that no one was killed, I went to a store in New Orleans and we didn't even see a number assaults comparable to a normal shopping day.

[forsaken1111]

I looked out my window at the shopping center below my building and decided that it was a fantastic day to stay inside all day and play skyrim.

[slink]

The original meaning of Black Friday was that it was the first Friday of the year when the books of certain companies were in the black, meaning that they had finally pulled a profit for the year.  It became a general day-after-Thanksgiving sale to entice people to shop for the winter holidays a month early.  I am not sure when this happened, but the why is fairly obvious.

Nope, sorry it isn't:

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.[4] 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".[5]

When you consider other 'Black' days, various natural or financial disasters, deaths or killings, it's pretty unsurprising that the naming wasn't originally due to it being considered a good thing.

All I can say is that my husband lived and worked in and around Philadelphia roughly between 1965 and 1984, and I did the same between 1974 and 1984, and neither of us ever heard of the police department meaning.  I can well believe that a police force might put their own spin on a name for a busy shopping day, though, however it originated.

[slink]

Occupy Walmart?

I read in the news that the Occupy organizers were calling for their people to blockade large store chains on Friday, to promote sales at small, local businesses.  That is ironic in that WalMart is probably where many of the protesters shop.  I'm not putting that down; I shop there also for part of my needs.  It's just that I'd be willing to bet that at least some potential protesters were shopping at WalMart rather than prostesting anyplace.  *laugh*