WORD OF THE DAY! 12/6/13! BLACK & BLUE FRIDAY SPECIAL!

SOUTH PARK: BLACK FRIDAY!

BLACK FRIDAY: A FAMILY TRADITION!

BLACK FRIDAY: "YOU'VE MURDERED US!"

Black Friday [blak-frahy-dehy]
noun
1. The day after Thanksgivings Day and the first day of the Christmas season, a commercial holiday where retail stores across America open at ridiculous hours, advertise ridiculous deals, and set a bloodbath into motion that cause property damage, personal injury, and even murder by trampling or worse.

This holiday is the perfect encapsulation of everything despicable and despicably commercial about the holiday season.

EX. Let me tell you about my Black Friday experience: I worked Thanksgivings Day from the previous night to past 7 AM to prepare my retail store and then returned Black Friday morning for a 5 & 1/2 hours shift... as cashier. I did cashier training back in October, as a means to increase my availability for hours and to gain more work experience, but I didn't work a single shift as a cashier until Black Friday.

Luckily, I didn't have to work until 12:45, over 4 hours after the store opened its doors and things had certainly calmed down. In fact, during the majority of my shift, I was waiting for customers, zoning the lanes, and running random errands. The customers were in good spirits and so was I after the initial nerves wore off. I had to get help with a few customers, but overall the experience was pretty easy.

For those of you who weathered the storm, especially those who took on the first wave of ravenous shoppers, I salute you. To the people who were part of the horde, on one hand, I can understand the appeal of Black Friday but, from my experience, the only people who saved any significant money were those who picked up big ticket items like TVs. Furthermore, most of the stocked items for the sale were still there when I left at 6:15 AM, save the especially tempting TVs and a few clothes items, such as pajama sets. Overall, everything went pretty well. Especially because of a coupon I got that night for picking up some stuff after work...

I finally decided upon which 1st Gen Console I wanted this year. I saved over $100 with a coupon and various discounts to pick up my console on the 1st of Dec. $200 for a console that has only been out for a year? That's a good deal and I didn't have to trample anyone to get it.

I took it home, I unwrapped it, and I had to wait several hours for it to update...0.0 That's pretty unacceptable, but seems to be standard with consoles these days. I finally started her up, made Miis of myself and all of my family/friends and started playing. It was exactly how I thought it would be-- a new Nintendo console with Nintendo brand fun, light-hardheartedness, and boundless colorful creativity that is uniquely Nintendo. My friends were, at first, a little reluctant, but I think that Nintendo's fun factor won them over and, as the first console I bought solely with my own money, I felt pretty content.

P. S. The controller is a bit of a gimmick, but I love it. It's surprisingly comfortable, has two thumb-sticks, a gorgeous hi-def screen, and I can use it independently of the TV. Combined with the fact that my original Wiimotes still work, with the only backwards compatible next gen system, and I'm a happy gamer. Brilliant. The only thing it needs? More games.

I think Zac Gorman nailed the feeling best in one of his comics, linked below.

ZAC GORMAN'S MAGICAL GAME TIME