Black Friday

When Farm Boss heard the story of the employee who was trampled to death in New York, he said it was no surprise to him. He had experienced a black Friday sale in 1964. He still remembers it vividly.

It was not long after we got married, and I wasn't feeling well. A department store downtown was having excellent sales. Those were the years when we didn't have much money and a sale was a big temptation. He had a class downtown anyway and offered to go with a list of things I might want.

He was a much smaller man back in those days. Still 6'1", but slim and boyish in build. He waited in line with no clue what was about to happen when the doors opened. After all, around him were just women, much shorter women than he, but they were something he was not-- experienced and ready to do whatever was required to get to the sale items first.

When the door opened, he was propelled forward into a metal merchandise rack and flattened against it as if by a force of nature. Those women who had seemed like civilized people became something totally different with the opening of the door which apparently led to a shift in their consciousness into predators with prey in sight. Nothing and nobody, certainly not a 21 year old boy was about to stand in their way.

He came home that day with some things he had bought, a much wiser and more experienced man. From then on, even though today he'd be a much harder man to propel forward, the very possibility of a Black Friday sale has led to a lot of things he has to do to be anywhere but in front of a store door when it opens.

The tragedy in New York, worker trampled to death by shoppers, can be repeated around the world whenever people get into a mob mentality. It happens at sporting events, at rock concerts and at sales. Why stores have such sales is all about profit and creating that mob mentality for the first ones through the door getting the best prizes.

I had had a minor experience like it, on a much lesser scale when I was in high school. A girlfriend of mine had a mother who offered to take us both to the big ritzy department store in downtown Portland for a series of charm lessons-- each one intended to teach girls how to dress, walk, and use make up. It was taught by tall, beautiful, models who the store employed at that time for the occasional runway shows.

The last day they had some samples to give out, make up or something like that. Charm went out the window as the girls lunged forward for their share of the spoils. I wasn't inclined to do that even then although I sure didn't come from a family with money to buy such things; but I stood back listening to the models react in horror to the obvious failure of the classes in teaching poise development. If I recall, they stopped the rush and proceeded to add a lecture on how to behave like ladies when there were bargains (or freebies) to be had.

I am not a person fond of sales and never go to big ones. I am not willing to elbow anybody out of the way for a bargain. Fighting the crowds is simply not worth it to me even if there was no risk of being thrown to the ground. I'd rather have less clothing and buy it when I am ready to do so.

It's too bad some store doesn't mark everything the lowest price possible, skip sales, and keep it there until end of season sales which make some sense at least. That, however, would defeat the mania they are feeling they need. I would personally prefer to shop where prices were always as low as possible and who has quit re-tagging them through the season. Wouldn't that actually lead to lower overall costs? I wonder how many people feel like I do and instead of sales hysteria, have sales paranoia.