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To all our American cousins, I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving, without any mishaps or disasters.

I am thankful to this forum for bringing us all together, and thankful to you all for putting up with my occasional brain-farts (and the more than occasional times that I just went on and on and on, etc.)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Thank you. And you actually posted just in time for the holiday.

I also wish everyone a (belated) Happy Thanksgiving.

I heard that the day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday, and I've heard some truly bizarre (and even violent) stories about that. I hope none of you had to go out into the Black Friday sales.

Here's the Black Friday crowd summed up in one short, 4-second video.

I never really did the whole Black Friday thing. It's not worth getting up that early. The link you provided didn't work, but crazy stuff is pretty rare. I've never seen stuff like that in my area. I think online shopping mostly put an end to it too. Retailers spread things out much more.

Thanks! And these days, you can find most "Black Friday" deals online, which lead right into the "Cyber Monday" sales.

So not everyone is sleeping outside a Walmart or Target or Best Buy two days before, just to save $100 on some appliance...

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 2:23 am So not everyone is sleeping outside a Walmart or Target or Best Buy two days before, just to save $100 on some appliance...

20 years ago in 2005, my wife and I got up early (3AM) on Black Friday to go to Walmart in the next town over to buy a Viore 42" Plasma TV they had on sale (~$1000 -- a good deal back then). Wanted to make sure we got one before they were all sold out; it was definitely crowded, but we did manage to get one.

The next night (Saturday), we were in another town for dinner and needed to swing by their Walmart afterwards to pick up a few groceries...

...where we walked by a PALLET FULL of those same TVs sitting out in the middle of the aisle in the Electronics section.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 12:01 am I never really did the whole Black Friday thing. It's not worth getting up that early. The link you provided didn't work, but crazy stuff is pretty rare. I've never seen stuff like that in my area. I think online shopping mostly put an end to it too. Retailers spread things out much more.

Whoops. Sorry for the link not working - it's just a video of a guy looking mean and yelling "MINE!"

Maybe crazy stuff only happens in sketchy areas? I don't know. I know that we have Black Friday here in Australia now, although most people seem pretty well-behaved.

(I've no idea WHY we have Black Friday now, seeing as it has to do with Thanksgiving -- I guess??? -- and we don't have Thanksgiving here).

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 2:23 am Thanks! And these days, you can find most "Black Friday" deals online, which lead right into the "Cyber Monday" sales.

So not everyone is sleeping outside a Walmart or Target or Best Buy two days before, just to save $100 on some appliance...

I wonder if Black Friday deals are even as hot as that anymore. Maybe (say) a TV was $699 before, then became $899 ... and then, just for Black Friday, it's $699 again. What a deal!

goatmeal wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 3:12 pm

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 2:23 am So not everyone is sleeping outside a Walmart or Target or Best Buy two days before, just to save $100 on some appliance...

20 years ago in 2005, my wife and I got up early (3AM) on Black Friday to go to Walmart in the next town over to buy a Viore 42" Plasma TV they had on sale (~$1000 -- a good deal back then). Wanted to make sure we got one before they were all sold out; it was definitely crowded, but we did manage to get one.

The next night (Saturday), we were in another town for dinner and needed to swing by their Walmart afterwards to pick up a few groceries...

...where we walked by a PALLET FULL of those same TVs sitting out in the middle of the aisle in the Electronics section.

I hope the crowd was well-behaved, at least.

Just wondering: I know game shops used to have midnight sales on very popular games. Were crowds there ever abusive or violent? I'm not sure, but I'd hate to think so.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2025 3:59 pm Just wondering: I know game shops used to have midnight sales on very popular games. Were crowds there ever abusive or violent? I'm not sure, but I'd hate to think so.

Never went to one for a game; but the wife had dragged me to the Harry Potter releases (as they were coming out it was a big deal), but those were, as you can imagine, pretty calm.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2025 3:59 pm Maybe crazy stuff only happens in sketchy areas? I don't know. I know that we have Black Friday here in Australia now, although most people seem pretty well-behaved.

(I've no idea WHY we have Black Friday now, seeing as it has to do with Thanksgiving -- I guess??? -- and we don't have Thanksgiving here).

It's probably something they adopted from the US. The reason it's called "Black Friday" is because most retailers operate at a loss for most of the year. They are "in the red". They finally are "in the black" at the start of the holiday shopping season... the Friday after Thanksgiving. So Black Friday is only related to Thanksgiving because of how close it is to Christmas. Though I don't know how true any of this is with online shopping now.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Dec 02, 2025 12:13 am
It's probably something they adopted from the US. The reason it's called "Black Friday" is because most retailers operate at a loss for most of the year. They are "in the red". They finally are "in the black" at the start of the holiday shopping season... the Friday after Thanksgiving. So Black Friday is only related to Thanksgiving because of how close it is to Christmas. Though I don't know how true any of this is with online shopping now.

It's hard to believe that most retailers operate at a loss until the end of November. Makes for a nice story, though...

https://www.history.com/articles/black- ... ns-history

And it's also questionable if it's even the busiest shopping day of the year. At least before on-line ordering, others claimed it is always the weekend before Christmas as the busiest shopping day(s), no matter where Christmas fell.

goatmeal wrote: ↑Tue Dec 02, 2025 9:20 am

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Dec 02, 2025 12:13 am
It's probably something they adopted from the US. The reason it's called "Black Friday" is because most retailers operate at a loss for most of the year. They are "in the red". They finally are "in the black" at the start of the holiday shopping season... the Friday after Thanksgiving. So Black Friday is only related to Thanksgiving because of how close it is to Christmas. Though I don't know how true any of this is with online shopping now.

It's hard to believe that most retailers operate at a loss until the end of November. Makes for a nice story, though...

https://www.history.com/articles/black- ... ns-history

And it's also questionable if it's even the busiest shopping day of the year. At least before on-line ordering, others claimed it is always the weekend before Christmas as the busiest shopping day(s), no matter where Christmas fell.

I should have known that the real history would be more complicated.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 12:17 am

goatmeal wrote: ↑Tue Dec 02, 2025 9:20 am

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Dec 02, 2025 12:13 am
It's probably something they adopted from the US. The reason it's called "Black Friday" is because most retailers operate at a loss for most of the year. They are "in the red". They finally are "in the black" at the start of the holiday shopping season... the Friday after Thanksgiving. So Black Friday is only related to Thanksgiving because of how close it is to Christmas. Though I don't know how true any of this is with online shopping now.

It's hard to believe that most retailers operate at a loss until the end of November. Makes for a nice story, though...

https://www.history.com/articles/black- ... ns-history

And it's also questionable if it's even the busiest shopping day of the year. At least before on-line ordering, others claimed it is always the weekend before Christmas as the busiest shopping day(s), no matter where Christmas fell.

I should have known that the real history would be more complicated.

Real stories often are more complicated (but also more interesting.

I had no idea about any of that, although even I have heard of Jim Fisk and Jay Gould. Thank you, Goatmeal!

So ... the name "Black Friday" for the day after Thanksgiving came about because Philadelphia policemen wanted a holiday but had to work instead? I hate to pop that bubble, but, um ... police, like healthcare workers and fire-fighters, have essential work to do. (I work in healthcare, so I'm not pointing fingers or anything). You can't just say "I'm on break" or "I'm on holiday". You do the job that's in front of you, or people die.

Of course I understand that working too many days in a row has negative consequences like burnout, which is why essential workers (police, healthcare, fire-fighters etc.) work in shifts, right? I mean ... they also get RDOs (Rostered Days Off). Right?

... Right?

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 12:17 am
I should have known that the real history would be more complicated.

Hey, growing up in the 1980s, I always heard it was the "red" to "black" on ledger books, too!

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 4:20 am
So ... the name "Black Friday" for the day after Thanksgiving came about because Philadelphia policemen wanted a holiday but had to work instead? I hate to pop that bubble, but, um ... police, like healthcare workers and fire-fighters, have essential work to do. (I work in healthcare, so I'm not pointing fingers or anything). You can't just say "I'm on break" or "I'm on holiday". You do the job that's in front of you, or people die.

Of course I understand that working too many days in a row has negative consequences like burnout, which is why essential workers (police, healthcare, fire-fighters etc.) work in shifts, right? I mean ... they also get RDOs (Rostered Days Off). Right?

... Right?

RoboCop (1987) said it best:

https://clip.cafe/robocop-1987/and-i-do ... ut-strike/