Encountering the Black Friday Frenzy

Imagine getting a bloody nose because you were trying to score the best deals of the season, being pushed or even punched in the face while grabbing the last video game on clearance or waiting in line for more than an hour ready to pay, only to discover that your wallet is missing. These are all events that have occurred at the national level during the phenomenon known as Black Friday, notorious for not only cheap deals, but also bizarre shopping experiences.

One would think that by getting to the parking lot early in the morning, there would be open spaces everywhere, but that is definitely not the case on Black Friday. Everyone is trying to get in and out, and mean glares and nasty stares are exchanged when someone takes the parking space someone else has already claimed. Circling around multiple times before finding the one open spot, only to realize that the car doesn’t fit in between the two other horribly parked vehicles, is just another common occurrence at any store on Black Friday. Sometimes, one needs more than just good driving skills to emerge unscathed from the hectic atmosphere of the early morning rush.

“When I was four, my mom and I got into a car accident while trying to find parking on Black Friday,” sophomore Isabelle Sheard said. “It caused a four-car pileup, and my nose started bleeding because my nose hit the seat.”

Big-box stores such as Target, Walmart and Best Buy all have some of the best deals on Black Friday. People freak out over these sales, opting to camp outside before the sun comes up and wait for hours before fighting over the best deals. Sophomore Barrett Kinnier encountered some difficulties when he found a shirt from his favorite TV show “The Flash” for $5 instead of the normal $22 price.

“There was only one left, and this guy wanted to get it too, so he ran started yelling at me,” Kinnier said. “I ended up punching him to get the shirt away.”

While Black Friday is known throughout the country for the heated altercations that can arise between shoppers, it is also synonymous with waiting in lines.  

“When my dad went to swipe the credit card, it got stuck in between the conveyor belt and the small one-inch crack,” sophomore Nels Williams said. “It took them 15 to 20 minutes to remove it, and by the time they did, there was a line wrapped around the store leading outside because of us.”

Many people have had such negative experiences while shopping on this day that they have decided to never shop on it again, and instead, shop online during Cyber Monday. According to the National Retail Federation, 43.8 percent of people shopping on Thanksgiving weekend used their mobile devices or computers in 2016. This mobile version of Black Friday allows for shoppers to search for the best deals from the safety of their home.

This year, Black Friday falls on Nov. 24. Although deals such as major discounts and outrageous incentives may seem enticing, keep in mind the possible consequences of becoming an active Black Friday shopper. As the annual shopping spree approaches, be sure to watch out for the extreme prices and the extreme people.