The holidays, the time of year to spend time with family and enjoy many joyous traditions. While the winter holidays are one of the most beautiful times of the year, it is also extremely hectic. The closer we get to December 25th, the more urgent it becomes to find that perfect gift, at the perfect price. That need for that marked down price tag has caused many large retailers to create Black Friday. However what started as an innocent marketing plan has become its own national holiday.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is commonly known as the start of the holiday shopping season. Consumers line up to get great deals on this year’s hottest gifts. The term “Black Friday” is believed to have originated from Philadelphia in 1960’s, to describe number of
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Many consumers and employees alike have been injured or killed by the brutality of others. “In 2008, Jdimytai Damour, a 34-year-old Queens man who took a seasonal job at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y, was killed when a pre-dawn Black Friday mob broke the glass doors and trampled him to death”( Tozzi). Shoppers are relentless, going to all lengths to save a few dollars. “Last year I saw a young woman having a seizure on the floor, while dozens of people trampled over her. Not one single shopper was willing to stop, calm down from the madness and avoid the area for the girl”(Resh). These shoppers were so blindsided by the deals, they didn’t care to acknowledge the destruction they left in their path. While a good majority of Black Friday Shoppers are out to find a great deal on a Christmas gift, some are out just for fun. As the prices continue to drop, many customers use this as a chance to do some retail therapy. For many, it has become a tradition and an opportunity to spend time with family and friends. Others say they go out simply to enjoy the experience, and perhaps the occasional scene of someone losing their
The environment of the modern day grocery store can be quite stressful. It is here, that people truly show their disposition. Its almost like the act of standing behind people equally as frustrated is a form of torture, and only then does the truth come out. The truth is, most people live boring lives, and this chore puts an emphasis on boredom. Most people tend to forget about one thing during this grueling experience, and that is the employee. When a customer becomes frustrated, they take it out on the employee, but when the employee becomes frustrated with agitated customers the same outlet is not available. The Story of “A & P” by John Updike, and the Film of “Employee of the Month”
Thanksgiving Day is a day of family, food, and giving thanks for the blessings in life and yet some people believe Thanksgiving to be a prep day for Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. The focus of Thanksgiving shifted from family bonding to incessant shopping. This trend of taking away from the hours of Thanksgiving in order to shop is enraging. It steals away from family time for the shoppers and the employees. Employers threaten workers that if they do not work on that certain holiday, they will be fired. Black Friday should be kept to Friday instead of moving in on my family time. The whole culture of Black Friday has become repugnant and unnecessary.
In a world of consumerism, technology, and spending, a day where no one purchases goods sounds quite impossible. This is what a Buy Nothing Day encourages. People are urged to not buy anything for a day in order to reflect on the effects of over-consumption. First started in 1992, Buy Nothing Day has become popular in different nations. The establishment of an annual Buy Nothing Day would be greatly beneficial to the economy, the environment, and all people who spend.
On the sunny day of December 16 in the year 2017, people fill the entrances of Costco, a general store and buy the various items they need and want. Moreover, bulk Clothing product and holiday gifts are jammed into the carts of customers, while a humongous television is being moved on a big cart with soaps and toothpaste on top. Irrevocably, the customers reach the cash counters, their eyes flicker to the food court, filled with the aroma of sandwiches, pizza, and churros, but the customers remember that they had already drunk a smoothie yesterday when they went shopping.
Imagine having to work on thanksgiving. Not only do those people miss out on Black Friday, but also miss out on time with your family. They also get to go to work more than likely sleep deprived, deal with unpleasant customers, and constant lines. Curtis West worked as a Macy’s employee. In his 24 years of work for them he had to work a total of 19 Black Fridays. He said it wasn’t bad when Black Friday started off, because it usually meant going in at 5 am on Friday. Now for sto...
•some stores actually have to fire workers during black friday because it lasts too long
For hundreds of years Thanksgiving has been a holiday filled with traditions celebrating family and togetherness. The day after thanksgiving known as “Black Friday” is a day for shopping and taking advantage of greatly reduced prices. The recent decision by retailers to move Black Friday to Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, has caused quite a stir among many families. People have become upset over the decision to turn a day of gratitude and family, into another day of greed and violence. Retailers should not open their stores on Thanksgiving Day because doing so will cause many employees to miss out on spending a special day with their families, cause people to forget about the thanks and festivities that thanksgiving represents, and create more violence in stores and violence towards people.
Mallaby admits Wal-Mart can treat their employees and other retailers unfairly, but as a result everyone can share in the 50 billion in savings that American shoppers consume annually. The pay that employees get is the price they must pay for low priced merchandise. Because of the minimal pay to employees, Wal-Mart strengthens its’ consumer buying power. Giving the American shoppers the savings they need, Wal-Mart’s has ultimately been them successful. Wal-Mart has potentially wiped out the middle class as an employer, but the employees can now work and ...
It is seen in everything from the hoarding of material objects to the destruction of friendships, both of which are popular themes when regarding the topic of Black Friday shopping. Black Friday has become Black Thursday, a trend which has only shown up within the last decade. The great American holiday that is Thanksgiving is celebrated because of our gratefulness toward all that we have, a holiday that is meant to be spent gathered around a table of our loved ones. However, the retail holiday that consumes the day afterward has begun to overflow into our gatherings, and it is due to the greed of the American people. Were it not for the market’s demand for earlier sales, stores would not open their sales on Thursday nights. Everyone would simply wait until early the next morning to start off on their shopping extravaganzas, and the sales themselves would likely be far less violent as
Christmas is a special time of year that deserves to be remembered for its true meaning. Every year, Christmas becomes more and more commercialized and society forgets the origin of Christmas. It was not started with cookies, toys, and a fat man that delivers them, but instead it started with a humble inn where our Savior was born. The definition of Christmas is “a holiday on December 25 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.” Nowhere in that definition does it say anything about the outrageous pressure society has set on consumers to buy, buy, buy during the Christmas season. Christmas is about presence not presents.
Holidays have always been known to affect our consumer culture for many years, but how it all began eludes many people and very few studies have been completed on it. Even though some say that the subject is too broad to precisely identify how holidays, especially Christmas, directly affect our market, I have found that people’s values, expectations and rituals related to holidays can cause an excessive amount of spending among our society. Most people are unaware that over the centuries holidays have become such a profitable time of year for industries that they now starting to promote gift ideas on an average of a month and a half ahead of actual holiday dates to meet consumer demands.
In fact, they have fun on the day because they love the atmosphere through Christmas songs and illuminations. Christmas is thought by many people to be the most wonderful time of the year. Winter snow, Christmas tree, decorations and Santa Claus are very important things which makes us happy and think that it is the most beautiful day of all the year. Everybody waits for the day because it has various meanings for different people. Moreover, they can see beautiful illuminations and listen to Christmas songs in cities or downtown. However, some adults who are parents need to spend money for buying many gifts for children. In the United States, parents generally purchase the gifts on a Black Friday. It is good for them to get their presents on the day because they more discounts on that day than other
Holiday shopping, for me, is a nightmare because of the abundance of crowds, all of the fighting and competitiveness. I believe those last minute shoppers are the worst, they are the ones that are rude and impatient. For some people, with lots of patience, dealing with holiday shoppers is a good experience. For people like me, who has very little patience, it is a dreadful experience. Another aspect of shopping during the holidays is dealing with tired, overworked and frustrated employees. They are just trying to get their jobs done as quickly as possible, so they can go home to their families. Meanwhile, you have those employees that are cheerful and are eager to help the distraught shoppers. Also, during the holidays horrible accidents can occur often at this time of year. I am going to portray the dangers and mishaps that can occur during the holidays. I am not anti-holiday, but the older I get the more I don't have any desire to be exposed to all of the potential chaos.
Whether these items are necessities or even a splurge item. Trips to the store are made for a reason and when you go there will always be the impulse buyer, the list maker, and the bargain hunter. Each type has a different method and these methods are being used to shop, and they are our personal ways of shopping. You will come across many different types of shoppers. You will now realize what kind of shoppers these people you encounter are. Every shopper has a different personality when it comes to shopping as well. Some can be good as well as bad. Shopping is a fun thing regardless. Almost every individual enjoys it. We all have had something we 've been excited to buy. These kinds of shoppers can be found anywhere products are being
Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days leading up to Christmas. Consumers stand in line hours if not days before the doors open. The sales begin in the early hours of the morning; typically around 5 a.m. Shoppers save hundreds of dollars on all of the latest gadgets and accessories. But, the insane deals come with a catch. Several customers and employees end up bruised, injured, and even killed during the event. Greed for the lowest price during the holiday season has led to countless fights for a discounted item. Greed is a main theme expressed throughout The Hobbit written by J.R.R Tolkien