Anyone want to take a crack at why it’s called Black Friday?
Lois
Anyone want to take a crack at why it's called Black Friday? LoisI thought Black Friday was when the Stock Exchange crashed in '29. But I'll take a crack... Is it because all of the retail store's balance sheets will be in the Black after the holiday shopping season?
Anyone want to take a crack at why it's called Black Friday? LoisIt's called 'Black Friday' because stores are expecting to make enough in sales on that day to make their business profitable. that is, take it out of the 'red', into the 'black'.
The biggest problem, as I see it, is that many retail workers are forced to work on national holidays. This I am against. I wish there were a law that no retail employer can force employees to work on a national holiday under the threat of losing their job orvother threats to their livelihood. LoisI'm curious. Why should retail employees be given some sort of special status?? Nurses, doctors, police, firemen, restaurant employees, entertainment people, gas station attendants and many others have to work on national holidays. There is no way of getting around that. Those services are needed. Why is it so sacrosanct that retail employees have certain holidays off when so many others don't? If we are being perfectly honest here I don't think this has anything do with people having a day off. I think you are appalled at the materialism that you see and are focusing on the loss of a day of for the worker when that's not really the problem. I used the term "retail workers," which' IMO would include gas station attendants, restaurant employees and many entertainment jobs, among others, to make a distinction, without having to list them all, between jobs that involve the health and safety of the community and those that simply earn money for the owners of the businesses. There is good reason to expect medIcal and safety employees to work over holidays, whereas most other jobs shouldn't require it. The majority of people working in retail are oppressed already, paid low wages, and are exploited in many ways--and their jobs are not required for health or safety. When retail workers are expected to work on national holidays, no one's life would be put at risk if they chose not to work. Only profits would be at risk. That was my point. Let the employers pay as much as it takes to encourage employees to work on those days. It should not be a matter of losing their jobs or giving up promotions or raises to force them to work in non-essential jobs. OK but many people would argue that restaurant employees jobs are essentially because travelers have no where else to eat. Gas is a critical commodity in many cases so gas stations need to stay open on holidays not only for people who are traveling but for emergency vehicles. There are also hotel workers and all the people who work in the entertainment industry. Keep in mind too that most jobs in this country are provided by small businesses and many of them are not highly profitable. Losing even a few days of income could put some of them out of business and their employees out of a job. Many of these workers are paid no better than retail workers so why carve out a special perk for retail workers when so many other people who are no better off don't get the same privilege? In all the conversation about store holiday hours I don't recall seeing any interviews with employees to gauge how they feel about this. I am wondering if the majority of them are as opposed to this as the general public or would they prefer to have the extra hours and the money that goes with it during the holidays? If they're not opposed to it then whatever we think is really mute.
Asanta and Viazma are right about the origin of the term “Black Friday.” it was originally an accounting term to designate the day when retail establishments’ books were supposed to go into the black, the theory being that they made all of their profit during the Christmas season, starting with the day after Thanksgiving and that they are in the red the rest of the year. I’m not sure I can accept the theory as being true for all or even most retail establishments but I do think “Black Friday” was a term created to support it.
This question was asked at a large Thanksgiving dinner party and only one person, my son, knew the answer. I was among those who had never heard this explanation.
(It is the term used for the day the stock market crashed in 1929, as Vyazma said, but it has nothing to do with the day after Thanksgiving being called by the same name.)
Lois
The biggest problem, as I see it, is that many retail workers are forced to work on national holidays. This I am against. I wish there were a law that no retail employer can force employees to work on a national holiday under the threat of losing their job orvother threats to their livelihood. LoisI'm curious. Why should retail employees be given some sort of special status?? Nurses, doctors, police, firemen, restaurant employees, entertainment people, gas station attendants and many others have to work on national holidays. There is no way of getting around that. Those services are needed. Why is it so sacrosanct that retail employees have certain holidays off when so many others don't? If we are being perfectly honest here I don't think this has anything do with people having a day off. I think you are appalled at the materialism that you see and are focusing on the loss of a day of for the worker when that's not really the problem. I used the term "retail workers," which' IMO would include gas station attendants, restaurant employees and many entertainment jobs, among others, to make a distinction, without having to list them all, between jobs that involve the health and safety of the community and those that simply earn money for the owners of the businesses. There is good reason to expect medIcal and safety employees to work over holidays, whereas most other jobs shouldn't require it. The majority of people working in retail are oppressed already, paid low wages, and are exploited in many ways--and their jobs are not required for health or safety. When retail workers are expected to work on national holidays, no one's life would be put at risk if they chose not to work. Only profits would be at risk. That was my point. Let the employers pay as much as it takes to encourage employees to work on those days. It should not be a matter of losing their jobs or giving up promotions or raises to force them to work in non-essential jobs. OK but many people would argue that restaurant employees jobs are essentially because travelers have no where else to eat. Gas is a critical commodity in many cases so gas stations need to stay open on holidays not only for people who are traveling but for emergency vehicles. There are also hotel workers and all the people who work in the entertainment industry. Keep in mind too that most jobs in this country are provided by small businesses and many of them are not highly profitable. Losing even a few days of income could put some of them out of business and their employees out of a job. Many of these workers are paid no better than retail workers so why carve out a special perk for retail workers when so many other people who are no better off don't get the same privilege? In all the conversation about store holiday hours I don't recall seeing any interviews with employees to gauge how they feel about this. I am wondering if the majority of them are as opposed to this as the general public or would they prefer to have the extra hours and the money that goes with it during the holidays? If they're not opposed to it then whatever we think is really mute. I worked in retail (in a large department store) many years ago and, though no one was expected to work on Thanksgiving Day because the store was closed, you can be sure that neither I nor my fellow employees were happy to be expected to work on other holidays when it was open even if it wasn't our regular work day. The store had a rule that we had to be at work the day before and the day after a holiday in order to be paid for the holiday if either was a regular workday for the employee. We didn't get paid anything extra even if it made us exceed our 40 hours a week. Everyone had to work the day after Thanksgiving whether it was on our schedule or not. None of us had any money to spare so we were unlikely to fight it, but it didn't mean we thought it was fair. The only other holidays the store was not open were Christmas and New Year's Day and the same rules applied. People who work in retail are among the most oppressed workers and are unlikely to "make waves." i don't think conditions have changed in most retail establishments since, and it's been more years than I wish to admit to. There was only one good thing to come out of the experience for me. It made me vow to get out of retail, and I did. Lois