Civility forgotten on Black Friday

Something about the term ‘Black Friday' just seems negative to me. It could possibly be the ominous idea of the color black. Just a guess, but if they wanted the day to be seen as something upbeat wouldn't it be ‘Yellow Friday'?

I like to sleep. Generally, I'll sleep up to ten hours uninterrupted if I'm given the chance. Waking up unnecessarily just seems like a waste to me.

Obviously, I've never been a fan of waking up in what I consider the middle of the night just to wait in line, pick up some gadget, wait in line again

and then go home to not even get to play with my new toy until Christmas.

My mom and sister have each taken their turns at the joys of ‘Black Friday' shopping deals only to return home exhausted and less than excited about the loot they bring in.

I've always disliked ‘Black Friday' and refuse to participate. There is no sale important enough to interrupt my sleep and cause confrontation with strangers. Unfortunately this year, I had to deal with ‘Black Friday' in a different way.

This year, working in the customer service industry, ‘Black Friday' found me. I not only worked on the busiest shopping day of the year, but also the day before (yeah, on Thanksgiving).

There's a lot of preparation that goes into making a store sale ready. Toys, gadgets and many other things came in bulk to Walgreens to be placed on the shopping floor for the early morning deal seekers.floors. Ads littered each aisle. I definitely had had enough as I left the store at 10:30 that night.

Truck after truck showed up with more shipments of deals. I'll admit, this was my favorite part; seeing all the toys and the awesome prices they would be excited me. I just wish I had the gumption to take advantage.

Luckily for me and my love of sleep, I wasn't scheduled early in the morning on Friday. I got to sleep in and head in to work around 2 in the afternoon. I was thinking this would be awesome. No one would still be around shopping this late, I wouldn't have to do too much to work. Wrong.

Working in retail on ‘Black Friday' only reinforced my negative judgment of this supposed holiday.

People came and went, shopped and made unnecessary messes, didn't get the deal they wanted and complained when it just wasn't enough. I rang people up, hunted down toys, restocked constantly and kept that required smile on my face the entire day.

Cleanup was atrocious. Straightening shelves was impossible as nothing was put where it should be. Opened and left items were strewn across the

I've never shopped ‘Black Friday'. But, after working it, I probably never will. People forget themselves and their manners in the effort of a good buy. There's pushing, mess making and people think it should be all about themselves. What a way to emphasize the holiday season, right? I don't see any material item being worth that to me.

I'm not criticizing those who take advantage of sales. I consider myself a trendy shopper. I just don't think for the sake of buying that we should forget how to act in public places or how to treat each other. For this, ‘Black Friday' will always be the dark spot on my calendar.