About Us
We all know what it is, and we all love it, or hate it, depending on how much money we are able to save versus how many people we run into at the mall. But where did Black Friday and all its wonderful capitalist traditions come from?
Courtesy of Versatile Aure/ Wikimedia Commons
The name “Black Friday” was born in Philadelphia around 1961, originally describing the extreme pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the city on the day after Thanksgiving. The term began to be used outside Philadelphia around 1975. Although the media has described the day as the busiest shopping day of the year for a long time, it has only earned first place since 2003 (and it ranked second in 2004).
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
It has always been common for stores to open early on Black Friday, but only as recently as the late 2000’s have stores opened at 4 or 5 AM. In 2011, stores such as Target, Macy’s and Best Buy opened at midnight for the first time. This year, Walmart opened at 8 PM on Thanksgiving evening.
According to the National Retail Federation, a total of $52.5 billion was spent in 2011 on Black Friday, with an average of $398.62 spent per person and 226 million shoppers. While Black Friday sales serve as a great economic stimulus by encouraging people to shop, the extreme stores hours have caused some workers to call for a walkout in 2012.
Courtesy of Montecruz Foto/ Wikimedia Commons
Despite the impressive profits, Black Friday has also been known for its violence. Most well-known is the incident that occurred in 2008 in Valley Stream, New York when a Walmart employee was trampled to death as eager customers hurried into the store at opening time. Many shoppers did not express much concern over the fate of the victim, complaining that they had been waiting out in the cold for the store to open. More recently, a Toys For Tots volunteer was stabbed in Georgia in 2010, and in 2011 a woman used pepper spray on shoppers while waiting in line for an Xbox 360. Also in 2011, 73-year-old Jan Sullivan was fired from Walmart after being pushed by a shopper due to Walmart’s policy that employees are not allowed to touch customers. The story received a lot of media attention and was very controversial for Walmart.
Courtesy of Ian Muttoo/ Wikimedia Commons
Incidences such as these lead us to the question: is any sale really worth trampling someone to death? Are labor rights being violated by having employees work ridiculous hours? Or is Black Friday merely an example of capitalism at its best and in fact an important source of consumer spending? Regardless of how you feel about any of these questions, enjoy today’s sales, and watch out for crazy mothers with pepper spray.
Name: Jillian Timko
School, major and year: Arts and Sciences, International Studies, 2014
Hometown: Basking Ridge, NJ
What makes the Gavel so BANGin’? I love the Gavel because it’s so new. We are still figuring out who we are as an organization and how far we can go. While this presents us with a clear set of challenges, it’s really fun to try different things and build our own identity.
You have 24 hours to give prospective students a tour of BC and convince them to enroll. How do you spend the day?
First, I would take them on an actual tour of the campus—it’s beautiful and deserves to be shown off. Then I would take them to a football tailgate, a hockey game, and to Marathon Monday. And we would eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Hillside – after an egg sandwich, a Panini, and a cheeseburger, who wouldn’t want to go to BC?
If you could go back in time and give yourself a pep talk the night before you moved into BC as a freshman, what is the most important piece of advice that you would give to your former self?
I would tell myself to keep pushing to meet new people and try new things. It’s easy to get stuck in a groove you’re comfortable with, but you should never limit yourself like that—the people at BC and the school itself have so much to offer.
What is your favorite study spot on campus?
A classroom in Gasson, or the booths on the first floor of O’Neill.
What is your go-to meal at Late Night?
Usually mozzarella sticks, sometimes pizza…
What is the #1 most played song on your iTunes?
Love and Memories by OAR
What is the best Halloween costume that you have ever worn?
I was a gumball machine, along with our lovely editor-in-chief, and we rocked it.
If you could only eat at one restaurant for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
There’s this Italian restaurant called Bolu in my hometown. It’s always absolutely delicious, and it has enough variety on its menu to get me through the rest of my life.
If you could befriend the main characters from any TV show or movie, who would you choose and why?
The characters on How I Met Your Mother. Mainly so I could experience the joy of high-fiving Barney Stinson all the time.
