Well, here we are. Everybody has had their turkey and the hangovers from Thanksgiving Dinner. That early sleep that everyone was pushed to was rudely awakened by an alarm clock going of at some sort of hour that our body would normally think was unbelievable, unless you’re used to being up all night due to work or you have an early morning job, or as Jackie from WROW would put it, that you have to get up at “Stupid O’clock” to go to work.
Today is the day that many businesses across the country make a good portion of the money that they will each year and the economy as it is known across the nation is measured on the sales today. Well, first, I expect those numbers to be significantly less this year for a few reasons. First, there’s been so many sales leading up to now due to the sagging economy and the stores are trying to get people out to shop. Also, many stores have turned to being open on Thanksgiving Day and many are pushing purchases on-line. Personally, I have done both, shopping on Thanksgiving and purchasing on-line.
The idea of calling today “Black Friday” is due to this being a day that many companies make enough to guarantee themselves that they will make a profit this year, or “be in the black.”
This is not an original idea from me, but I heard somewhere and I would like to pose it to you to see if you agree. If you do, I ask that you let me know, but more importantly, change how you think about today. What is it that causes today to be so important? Why is it that today is such an important day here in the United States when no other country goes wild with people lining up at doors waiting to go in and spend our money? It’s because of the freedom that we have and the one thing that the people of this nation over the years have not necessarily mastered, the free market, also known as Capitalism.
So, I understand that you want to think of today as “Black Friday,” but let’s say what it is actually.
If you have gone out spending money or went on-line to buy something to help support a business, then thank you for celebrating what I hope will, in the future, be known as Capitalism Friday. (Capitalism in Action Friday sounds good too, but I think that the 2 word explanation would be more effective, such as Black Friday.)
So, Happy Capitalism Friday to all…and to all, Good Buy!