COLLINS: Today is a special day!

That’s right, still the busiest shopping day of the year in many countries. You thought Black Friday had already come and gone? No, that was the pre-pre-Black Friday, when all the signs come out on all the ads, mentally getting you ready for today. Then come the pre-Black Friday Sales, where the stores let you in on some “special” savings prior to the actual sale itself.

We’ve been bombarded for the past several weeks, and every website you’ve ever visited is flooding your inbox with sales.

Black Friday actually starts with Christmas in July sales, in my opinion — which, when combined with Boxing Day and New Years sales, means these special days take place almost all year long.

Black Friday is a relatively new scenario. Depending on which historian you listen to, Black Friday originated from such events as a run on the U.S. Gold reserves in 1869, but the phrase really came into vogue when workers started calling in sick the day after Thanksgiving so they could make it a four-day weekend. And it blew up from there.

When I was younger, aside from the usual pre-Christmas excitement, Boxing Day sales were the big thing. You stood in long lines to try to snag one of a handful of loss-leader electronic items and you just had to spend that money you got from Grandma and Grandpa the day before. Of course, those kind of sales have dimmed in importance with the growth of the internet. Everyone has a website and you don’t have to camp out overnight in the cold. Just fire up the browser and shop online. Takes a lot of the social contact out of the season, though. Those all-night campouts were fun and provided an experience we don’t get anymore.

While I don’t look at many of the Black Friday ads, I do understand how important these sales are. For many businesses, this is the time they make their profit. Much of their revenue for the year is taken in in the time between now and Christmas. So I will tolerate Black Friday, in the hopes it helps small businesses succeed, even though I know deep down that only the really big retail distributors and big box stores likely make any money. At least after today, we can look for those ugly black signs to go away, and we can get in a more cheerful mood. And we can start Sunday with the annual Santa Claus Parade.

I’m in a better mood already.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Doug Collins

COLLINS: Today is a special day!

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