By Barb Lumley
I have noticed in the last few days quite a bit of
advertising about “Black Friday”. It is
my understanding that it used to mean one day of frantic shopping on the day
after Thanksgiving with stores advertising huge discounts on their merchandise,
sales on selected items and people sleeping on the sidewalks so they could have
the first chance at the items on sale.
Now it no longer seems to be just one day, now it is “Black Friday Week”,
with places starting their deals on every other day of the week. Some of this makes no sense to me!
There is only one Friday in each
week regardless of what color it might be.
Friday is the sixth day of the week, every week. It is the day that so many workers look
forward to, as they will have two days off work to do as they
choose….hopefully. We have all heard the
expression TGIF….thank God it’s Friday!
For some workers Friday brings no joy as they are the people who must
work every weekend. For some parents it
means they won’t have to drag their children out of bed to send them off to
school for two days and they can spend time with them. For other parents it means two days of having
kids underfoot and driving them crazy!
For some, Friday means going out to their favorite restaurant for a fish
dinner with friends or family. Others
hate fish, so it will just be the same food on the menu as every other day!
Why do they feel the need to call it
“Black” Friday? Why not “White Friday”
if it is snowing or “Brown Friday” since it is the time of year when the trees
and bushes have all lost their leaves and everything is so dull and drab? I am sure “Chartreuse Friday” wouldn’t work
as few of the advertisers would know how to spell it!
When I think of the word “black”,
naturally my first thought goes to Holsteins!
I also think of Percherons, Black Labradors, the Las Vegas Raiders, my
toes the time I dropped the wagon tongue on them, outlaws in the old western
movies….they always wore the black cowboy hats, chocolate cake, or a steaming
cup of black coffee.
My Friday after Thanksgiving will
not be a “black” one. It will be a
cheerful day in my “golden” years as I will have enjoyed turkey and all the trimmings
from the Thanksgiving Day meal. I am
blessed with a wonderful family and so many friends! Although we may not all have been able to be
together, many of us will have been in contact with each other and wished each
other a “Happy Thanksgiving”. While this
has been a difficult year for everyone, we still have so many things to be
thankful for! I plan to give myself a
day of rest and relaxation. I am going
to curl up in my easy chair with a warm blanket, a big bowl of popcorn and
watch the “Black Friday Black and White Marathon” on my television. Beginning at 7:00 a.m. it will be an all-day
showing of old black and white western movies featuring a lot of my favorites,
John Wayne, James Arness, Randolph Scott, Alan Ladd, Hugh O’Brian, Dale Robertson,
Gabby Hayes and more. Old western
movies….just one my favorite things that I am thankful for!