Black Friday (26 Nov 14)

 

So I was sitting at my favorite Chinese food place, waiting for them to prepare my Kung Po Chicken add Beef, Eggrolls and Pork fried rice. This woman comes in and asks for her order, and Ming (the young lady at the counter…I’m a regular…) told her it’ll be a few minutes. The lady goes over and sits at a table opposite where I plopped myself down at. We’re the only two in the food place, and we’re watching the nightly news on the big screen TV they have in the place.

The television goes to a bunch of stores prepping for the big shopping day on Friday (or as the reporter explains, “tomorrow night at midnight in some places…” ) The woman looks at me and asks aloud, “Are you going to be participating in…” and she pauses and whispers, “Black Friday?”

I smiled and giggled a bit, and then I answered “Ma’am, the phrase doesn’t offend me. You can say “Black Friday” out aloud if you like…” She responded “I didn’t know if was offensive or not…everyone’s saying it…”

Old lady…

The day’s name originated in Philadelphia. It was descriptive of the heavy and congested foot and vehicle traffic which would occur on the morning after Thanksgiving in the early 60s. It caught on outside Philadelphia around 1975. Economists explain a more “makes sense” definition: stores traditionally operated at a loss or “in the red” the first 11 months of the year; “Black Friday”, the start of the December holidays sales period, signals the point at which most stores start to make a profit, or “in the black”.

Now you know about…(whispering) “Black Friday” *heheheehehee*

Happy Thanksgiving!!