Why I love Black Friday Mania

Once upon a time a girl moved to America for love. Loving an American was one thing but loving the American way wasn’t easy. When her husband said he would leave home at 3 am to stand in line to buy “that black Friday deal” she scoffed. What a crazy thing to do, she thought. She refused to be part of that mania. What a waste of time.

Why does anyone with a bit of intelligence go through cold, hours of standing, pushing and shoving? There was a line to get in the store. A line to pick up the product. A line to pay for the product. CRAZY.

One year her husband was working and asked her to go to Black Friday sale at Best Buy. He wanted what he wanted and that was that. She resigned herself to having one of the worst nights. After putting on layers of clothing and filling up a big travel mug of coffee, she headed out to Best Buy. The line was already long. She was handed a ticket to buy the desired laptop. While standing she started to talk to people in line to kill time. The atmosphere was electric. Everyone was standing united with the common goal of getting the deals. Somehow, she started to enjoy the whole experience. The strangers became the family she didn’t have in the USA. For some time, she forgot every worry because there was only one focus, the laptop. The cold made her feel more alive than the four walls of the house. There was something beautiful about standing with total strangers and learning about their life. It reminded her of her country, India, where a stranger never hesitated to get in personal space. With billions of people in a small space, the concept of personal space is not a common thing. Finally, she felt at home in this strange country.

When the door opened, a rush of people carried her body inside. Once inside everyone proceeded to get the things they wanted before the stock ran out. There were arguments about who would get the last Beats on the shelf. She stood in the center rejoicing in the fact that for once no one was pretending and realized that people are the same everywhere.

Since then, she has made it a point to go black Friday shopping and come home empty handed most of the time. It’s the experience of human energy she wants, not the stuff.

That person is me. After 16 years of living in the U.S., it has become home. It is no longer a strange country filled with strange people. This is my country and my people. And that feeling of being home started with Black Friday mania.