A New Meaning for Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday because so many shoppers hit the stores looking for bargains that retail businesses use that day's sales figures to establish whether they're in the black for the year.

It's also known as the first day of the Christmas shopping season, in anticipation of the holiday that most signifies love and peace.

But now Black Friday has a whole new meaning. Hundreds of shoppers in Long Island flooded into Walmart during its 5 am opening, tore the doors off their hinges, stampeded and stomped a Walmart employee to death. Not one of their elderly greeters, but a 34-year-old maintenance man who was trying to help keep order.

LATE NEWS FLASH! Three people were thrown out of a West Sacramento Walmart when they started fighting in the electronics department...at 6am.

And--shades of High Noon--Two couples got into a dispute at Toys 'R' Us in Palm Desert, CA and while the women settled for clawing and shoving, the men pulled guns and shot each other to death. Apparently the fight wasn't over merchandise, they just ran into each other there and decided to duke it out at the toy store. Whatever happened to the old custom of "Let's you and me step outside and settle this?"


Is that why they say, "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping?"
Steely Dan's "Black Friday"