Black Friday is awful(ly) great for everyone involved

Next week, swarms of sleepy eyed, un-showered, coffee guzzling, strung-out, pajama-suited zombies again will fill the aisles of every big-box store across the nation. But, will they do it Thanksgiving night or on the traditional Black Friday? Either way, we’re excited.

Black Friday’s seductive power is strong enough to convince victims to camp, literally camp, outside a store in one of the coldest months of the year, (depending on how “hardcore the wind is,” says one of our editor-in-chiefs) at one of the coldest times of the day, to buy one particular item, more commonly known as a “door buster.”

The word itself implies chaos – splintered wood, shattered glass, zombie-like persistence, increased vision, cannibal-like rationality – and still people band together in the dark, out front of box stores across America because of these door busters. It’s hard to talk about door busters and not think of the Tickle-Me Elmo craze, or the hoards of gamers that line up for the newest first-person shooter of their choice. Last year it was flat-screen televisions at discounts that were apparently too good to miss.

For some, the four days now associated with Black Friday (i.e., Thursday through Sunday) are relentlessly sucking up tradition and effectively wringing the last of the warmth from this holiday. It’s a lumbering beast, dragging its claws, marking a warpath leading to a nation largely unaware of any holiday before Black Friday, door busters, 80 percent-off deals and doors that open at 5 a.m.

For others, Black Friday is simply a fun way to save on holiday shopping. It’s a new tradition that is embraced, an event looked forward to all year, and quite possibly, a more practical way for a family to bond than turkey carving and gravy boat passing.

However you choose to spend your Thanksgiving, it has been a win for retailers in the past. Last year, more than 226 million shoppers jumped online or rushed out for BF weekend, spending a total $52.4 billion. That was $398.62 a person, the most since 2008, according to a CNNMoney.com story on BF 2011.

This kind of spending should be good for the economy, right? Yet, in the same CNN article, retailers were reported as saying the key is “to keep customers coming back in.” In the past, retailers often have reported a sales slump after BF.

We think people should do whatever is best for them and their families – just as long as they don’t hurt, steal from, or damage anyone or anything in the process.

Is the steady increase of BF attendees a sign of smarter or more desperate shoppers? Are people becoming more willing to stand in the cold at 5 a.m. because it’s fun, or because it’s the only way they can afford to get their family everything they want this holiday?

Walmart will open at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving, Toys ‘R’ Us will open at 9 p.m., while Best Buy and Radio Shack are also listed as starting their online Black Friday sales on Thursday, also. Get out there. Take pictures. Post them on our Facebook page.