Are you going through a bad time? The only black day that everybody wait for, is just one: Black Friday. It’s the most known commercial ‘holiday’, is the beginning of Xmas purchases and pushes to empty our wallet. Great deals, guys! Let’s go shopping!
The appeal of the United States strikes back. So, in addition to Halloween, McDonald and the bridesmaids, in Italy we imported even Black Friday. Probably, many people know that it’s a day (the fourth Friday of November) in which especially the big stores organize incredible promotions and super sales. In other words, it’s the occasion in which everybody needs to buy whatever they find on special offer, of course. Because, it isn’t so difficult to exaggerate. At the beginning you buy just a hard disk and an hour later you have become an associate at Microsoft.
In our country there’s a lot of confusion. According to my mum, for example, Black Friday is every Friday. Honestly, a few people know the details. But when they read the word SALES, they risk going crazy. Even Italians use to do something mad, they learnt how to wait for the new iPhone outside the Apple Store but it’s not enough.
Because, my dear, Black Friday in Italy doesn’t scare anybody. But if you go to the U.S.A. or to London, that day could be really black. Goodbye dignity, here is the title that I chose for this article.
I want to tell you something that happened to me in London in 2014. I was completely unaware and was walking around the streets of the city after I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum. So, I decided to take the subway: the worst decision, ever. The station was full of people, it was impossible to breath and I heard an announcer who said that because of Black Friday, trains wouldn’t have stopped there. Well, I realized to be in the whirlwind and tried to run away. I was shocked but curious, I dashed to Harrods and looked for a good deal: poor result, no more than a bag by Longchamp 30% off. I’m a beginner.
Between the best deal in my life and my safety, I chose the second one. But for other people, on the contrary, mantra is mors tua vita mea. Have you ever tried to imagine what happens inside a random Walmart in the United States during those 24 hours? As we say, let’s open the cages.
No mercy to grab a TV or a laptop! Women fight for a pair of shoes, they are gentle and nice but in that moment, they turn into furious possessed girls.
It’s a war, and is just the foretaste of Xmas. In fact, Black Friday inaugurates the perfect present-hunt while waiting for December 25th: credit cards, receipts, packets and bows…and bank accounts in red.
The secret to live this day in the best way is self-control: is it good to take advantage of sales? Sure! But don’t lose your mind. Intelligence should distinguish humans from the animals! And even if Oscar Wilde said that «The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it», it’s important to remember that after Black Friday, Monday will inevitably come back!