They Said: Cyber Monday vs. Black Friday

BY: Bryan Kelleher

Managing Editor- Multimedia

Black Friday is an interesting time of year. After spending hours with family and friends, stuffing your face with plenty of good food, the natural instinct is to sleep.

However, one day a year, everything you once knew about food coma is thrown out the window and your hearty meal is simply a means of storing energy for the madness to come.

When I was young, going out to shop at midnight was the coolest thing you could possibly do on Thanksgiving night.

I had always wanted to go, but could never convince my family to take me. Once I reached the ripe age of 17, I finally rallied my friends to go to the local outlet shops with me to score some sweet deals. Upon our arrival, I found a parking lot filled with people, freezing, standing in lines for these brand name outlet stores.

From a glance you would believe that all stores were 75% off. As we wander looking for a store to stand in line for, I began to notice how little the sales actually were: 20% off, 15% off, maybe even a 30% off.

These sales would be fantastic on a flat screen TV or a new car, any larger ticket items.

But for my purpose (at the time), a high school student with no job and no money, it was almost pointless to save $2 on the nice tie I would get my father for Christmas, or a pair of gloves for my sister. I have to wonder, how little do I actually value my time sleeping when I will stay up till 3 a.m. just to get 20% off of a low cost item? It seems silly to me.

Needless to say, I never went back. It just seems silly to me that even the following morning, these sales still go on.

There is no true need to stay awake that late just to buy a pair of socks at 3/4 of the normal price. With that being said, if you have an income, and are looking for those large ticket items like a new TV, by all means join the madness and trample people at the doors of Walmart, that’s worth it. For us college students, I believe we have better ways to spend our time like staying home and petting our dogs, or . . . sleeping. It is just simply not worth it.

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