Black Friday. A shopping lover’s dream. A day where unbelievably low sales are around every corner, and people rush – and, at times, bite, claw, and kick – to claim what they desire before it’s gone.

Black Friday was first practiced by stores that were experiencing extreme deficits. The stores held major sells in hopes to attract holiday shoppers who might bring their revenue soaring back to the top. Black Friday has grown from an ordinary day to the single busiest shopping day of the year, and has transformed worldwide culture.

To this day, Black Friday is practiced by all who dare to endure the chaos. People scramble from their turkey dinners in hopes of finding the best sales from the best stores.

I, Sam Maxfield, a shopping rookie, have no plan of attack.  I have never been Black Friday shopping, and my family doesn’t have much experience either.  We have our own independent Thanksgiving traditions, none of which include the madness of shopping.  But I am undergoing this new experience to hopefully score some deals on Christmas presents for my family.

Thanksgiving:

2:00 p.m. – What a day I have ahead.  After participating in the Maxfield family and friends annual Turkey Bowl football game, I was now at home getting in the shower to freshen up for the day ahead.

I couldn’t wait to fill my plate with turkey, candied yams, cranberry sauce, warm rolls, mashed potatoes, and raspberry Jell-O.  But Thanksgiving is more than just food to my family.  It is the opportunity to hang out and talk to family members you don’t see very often.  Stories, advice, and love are passed around and shared; including after the meal when we all sit in a circle and share what we are thankful for.

4:00 p.m. – About a dozen family members piled into our home, with new spouses, children, and significant others joining them.  Stories were told, introductions were made, and pretty soon everyone got to know each other.  I sat down at the “kids table”, and was able to catch up with my cousin Bryson Garrett, a senior at Murray High, who is a good friend of mine.  Plates were filled, and then emptied, seconds were had, and fatigue and content finally set in.

A food coma was sure to follow…

6:00 p.m. – After enjoying the company of my three-year-old cousin Asher, everyone packed up, and dispersed for the night.  My family hopped in the car, and drove down to the Century 16 movie theater to catch the Hunger Games movie “Mockingjay”. Going to a movie after Thanksgiving dinner is a tradition of ours for the past half-decade or so.

8:00 p.m. – Halfway through “Mockingjay”, although enjoying the movie, I was starting to grow concern for how I would approach Black Friday shopping.  Most major retail stores had already been open for a few hours, and deals might be gone by the time I got there.

10:00 p.m. – The movie was now over, and we were heading back to my house.  I still had no plan for shopping, but I decided that I wanted to get some Legos on sale as a Christmas present for my six-year old cousin Will.  The first place to look would be Walmart off of Parleys Way.

Friday:

12:00 a.m. – Highland Junior Shamim Zamanyfar joined me in my Black Friday quest for Legos, but we quickly learned that every single set on sale had been sold out.  We continued walking around the store; noticing many empty shelves, items out of order, and products on the floor yet to be cleaned up.  So we retreated to our car, and headed down to Toys R Us in Sugarhouse.

1:00 a.m. – Toys R Us turned out to be successful.  They only had one set of Legos still on sale, and I didn’t take particular interest in them, but I found a set for a fairly low price that I liked, so I snatched them up.  After talking to a few customers and an employee about their experiences with Black Friday over the years, Zamanyfar and I headed back to our separate homes to enjoy a long night of sleep.  We missed the initial rush of shoppers that occurred earlier that day, but we learned a lot about the events that take place, and it was definitely an interesting experience.

1:00 p.m. – I awoke fully rested and ready to do anything except shop.  But who knows, maybe I’ll end up partaking in the chaos with a better plan next year.

Black Friday is incredibly beneficial to many business, consumers and the economy alike, but does it take away from the Thanksgiving holiday? Isn’t the fourth Thursday of November supposed to be a time to reflect on what we’re thankful for? Or is it merely a day to watch football, eat turkey and scavenge for as many retail deals as possible?

Sales associates cannot provide information but an anonymous Walmart employee described the downside of Black Friday from a work perspective.

“Sales take away from family time…it sucks…a normal Black Friday shift is about nine hours,” the smiley-face-vest-adorned employee said.

The intensity of the pursuit of savings has led people to camp outside many major electronics and retail stores for hours, or even days, to ensure their selection of cream of the crop deals.

Toys ‘R Us customer Zachary Dunn can’t believe the lengths that some people will do to save a little money on their purchases.

“I mean you didn’t see the pilgrims camping out by the Indians saying: can we have your fire?” Dunn joked.

The greed and materialism of Americans is shown through the $50.9 billion dollars spent over this past Thanksgiving weekend. With longer store hours and with shoppers willing to trade family time for shopping time, who knows what the future could hold?