I must admit. I don't know a lot about Black Friday. I do participate, but if Black Friday is a war, I am a foot soldier. I follow orders. I do what I am told. Faith (and Aunt Crystal if we are in the same city) makes all the decisions. Faith scouts out all the deals. She decides what will be bought online and which store is a must to wait in line for the doors to open. She maps things out for us, and her strategy is pretty flawless. Faith is our General. If I am not celebrating Thanksgiving with the rest of the family, she calls me and has me scout out the stores where I am. This is a very serious time for us. Seriously fun! So much fun that I am torn on how to spend my Thanksgiving.
Now, normally we would have Thanksgiving dinner, relax, maybe meet up with relatives (or not) and begin putting up Christmas decorations (which takes days). At some point during the night Faith decides if the Black Friday deals are worth standing in line for and if the weather is going to be a major problem. By midnight she decides if we should just go to bed and hit the stores late, or take a nap and get in line at 3am, or just skip sleep altogether. If it is skip sleep altogether, it might be because we need to shop online first and then get in line at the stores, or maybe a store is open at midnight. I don't understand how it all works; I just follow orders.
This year is different. This year stores will be open during Thanksgiving Day or at least by midnight on Black Friday. I keep wondering how this will change Thanksgiving. Does this mean the end of lines and the fear of being trampled when the store doors finally open? Does this mean the end of being outside in the cold for five hours just to get that new Xbox One or PS4 (PS4 vs Xbox One)? Does it mean the end of many old Thanksgiving traditions? Does it mean the end of many Black Friday traditions? Will we shop till we drop from Thanksgiving Day until end of Small Business Saturday? Are restaurants going to be open? Is Thanksgiving still the main event in November, or is it Christmas shopping? Is Black Friday still Black Friday if the stores never close? Is a deal still a deal, or should I buy what I really want December 26th? Are we having Thanksgiving, or are we having a Christmas Pre-Game?
PS Faith just informed me that Dec.4 may be the best day to shop. Black Friday is the busiest, but what's the best day to holiday shop?
