Black Friday is a day notorious for luring hundreds of shoppers into stores as the shoppers are tempted by enormous sales that promise them of good deals and large savings – sometimes even 50 percent. On Black Friday hordes of consumers surround stores waiting the night beforehand for the opening of the stores atmidnighton Nov.25. A few customers establish their spots in line by camping outside stores in tents so they may be among first in line to pick their sales before anyone else.
RBHS students relish in the thrill of the race to find the best prices during Black Friday. Such shoppers like junior Antwane Sanders sees Black Friday as his best opportunity to spend cash and check out what deals stores have to offer. Sanders said,
“I would stay there [at stores] the whole day,” Sanders said. “I would be there for the shoes [because] have you seen their prices? They got, like the Jordans at $180, $150 and all that… they got [during Black Friday] ones for $100, so that’s two pairs or Jays that regularly would be like $300 but now it’s like $100, you know how many pairs of shoes I can get with that?”
Sanders says shopping during Black Friday is not a must, but he seizes the chance to purchase items he would not buy otherwise.
“I be having money, I be having bread, you know what I mean?” Sanders said. “So maybe I can buy my mom a flat-screen [television] just for Christmas [because of Black Friday], I can find stuff for my family and do my Christmas shopping now, so why would I wait until later?
Junior Rion Tapia shares similar interests for Black Friday as well, but does not find spending a necessity. Tapia considers the prices worth a decent wait, but to a lesser extent than other shoppers, Tapia said,
“Depending on what I want I’ll probably go early like at12:00,” a.m. Tapia said, “I usually spend around $200. I’d say it’s a great amount because normally I don’t spend that much, so I feel like I’m getting a little more when I spend just a few extra dollars on Black Friday.”
However, others find Black Friday unappealing and keep their cool, like Junior Hallie Galvan who is skeptical about Black Friday, and does  not believe the potential danger of shopper mobs is worth the lower prices Galvan said,
“I just think it’s kind of dumb, because you’re running around looking for stuff you could get normally and I guess it’s like cheaper but there’s really no point.” Galvan said, “People get violent about it, women fight over things and people get trampled on, I hear about it all on the news.”
Sanders also finds people who camp in front of stores for Black Friday for days to be overboard shoppers, but sees logic in the decisions made by those who camp the night before and approves of their efforts, he said,
“They’re real crazy, but they’re smart, you hear me? What else is there to do right now? You’re not going to school, you got nothing to do right now, so why not? They’re just going in there and getting the best prices they can, I mean if you’re a busy person and have nothing else to do then yeah.”
By Blake Becker