Last Friday Night

JACQUELYN LOI
Staff Writer

People enjoy stuffing their faces with pumpkin pie, turkey and mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. However, the day after Thanksgiving is when the real fun begins. Black Friday is when stores have huge sales and we can finally shop to our heart’s content without spending too much.

Black Friday first started in the 1960s as a kickoff to Christmas shopping. Back in the day, when accounting records were recorded by hand, red ink indicated a loss, while black ink indicated a profit. Therefore, Black Friday refers to the stores transitioning from “red” to “black.”

However, Black Friday is notorious for being an unsafe shopping spree day. Black Fridays have occurred with disasters such as murders, mayhem and stampedes. In 2008, Wal-Mart worker Jdimytai Damour was crushed to death in a shopper stampede while four others workers were injured. Last year, an argument in Toys ‘‘R’’ Us led to a shootout and the deaths of two shoppers. In addition, a woman attacked other shoppers with pepper spray because she did not want to be beaten to a bargain last year.

Although these disasters have occurred, Black Friday is still a day to shop to our heart’s desire and have fun. Safety should be a priority during this event. However, for those shoppers that didn’t have as much luck on Friday don’t forget you still have Cyber Monday.