Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving filled with sales which are touted as “the best of the year.” However, this year, a record number of stores opened on Thanksgiving Day itself, which diminished the novelty of Black Friday.

Black Friday is a term dating back to the 1960’s. The adjective “black” refers to the stores making a profit and no longer being in the red, the color that indicates money loss.

Now, Black Friday is best known for ungodly start times and maniacal crowds.

“I was at Target by 4 am,” said junior Britney Hansard. “Then I went to the mall. I got a lot of stuff for a great deal.”

Getting up early is only half the struggle. If you want to get an item that is in limited supply, you have to fight the crowd (sometimes literally) by getting up earlier than everyone else and get to the store first or you have to run faster than the others.

Sale prices are so low, stores risk not making a profit in hopes of drawing in a big crowd. Is it really worth it?

“For Black Friday I went to Meijer,” sophomore Kyle Lewis said.” I went in search of one thing, the N-Strike Nerf Gun. The price was reasonably priced at $37.25 with my coupons. I purchased it and went home only to discover it needed batteries. Good thing they were on sale with Black Friday deals.”

The sales on this special day also attract violence. Just this year alone, there were 2 deaths and 5 injuries. Last year, there were 15 injuries and 1 death.

This year, stores like Walmart blocked off sections to try and keep order. Certain lanes were sectioned off to make the crowd go around the building and to block off certain registers.

Who knew shopping could be so dangerous?