Americans by their very nature do not like long lines. You will thence not find one to get a train ticket (train what?) or an airplane reservation or a ghaslet (a crude form of crude used in developing nations) line or a burger line either.
There is one exception however. Tis called Black Friday. Here all rules are out the window and even the most advanced and apparently affluent society resorts to primitive hunting tactics. First there is lines - like the ones that would make an Apple eventee proud (oh - of course the apple product launch related lines are merely a passing fad so not included for purposes of comparing true cultural hoopla).
Now here the commonest of common man along with so called Affluent deal seekers (hey who does not like a good one - or so one would think) will arrive at wee hours to mob a store and even go to the extent of camping overnight if the store somehow decides to open at a realistic hour of say 5 AM.
This is then followed at times by a rush to seek out the so called Deal which is so well hidden it requires a military presence to guide fellow shoppers lest they Taser or Hammer or even better Shoot each other in the melee.
Variety of injuries and untoward incidents later the mob still waits - for that oh so cool Black Friday Deal. Now stores are upping the ante - as if there was more to be upped. So now Sears is starting to offer its so called Black deals 5 days early - at least on line if not in store. Now that should teach the other idiotic retailers a thing or two about marketing tactics. Beat them all to the punch so to speak.
Well - I suspect this lunacy will soon morph into a month early then a quarter early and finally a Winter clothes right before summer all out block buster DEAL mania. People with newly acquired ADD through use of FB or other addictions will now completely lose sight of what the calendar is and what month we are in - all sales cycles will be largely skewed and retailers will themselves be confused as to what they are selling. It is not different than the introductory 0% financing that Government Motors introduced and that became the staple for the American car makers. It will now always be BLACK Whatever DAY in America.
THATS THE DEAL!
Our first foray into Central America. That elongated isthmus that forms the geographic boundary between two vast continents of North and South America. Specifically landing for NYE 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital city for this region that does not have its own army, instead relying on its big bro the Estados Unidos to the north is a metropolis of approx. 500K people. Largely wilderness and with both a Pacific and Carribean/Atlantic coast the country is rich in bio diversity. In Spanish it means the rich coast so named by Columbus landing in early 16th century and being mesmerized by the local tribes sporting gold jewelry. Our stay included visiting the foothills of a large strato volcano called Arenal and enjoying the naturally heated thermal baths for a while. Lunching amidst lush forest and watching indigenous species of avian noise makers fly overhead. Toucans, some sort of pea hens, multiple song bird species completed the spectacle. Iguanas and a lonel...
Stupid question- why is the Friday BLACK?
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