When Black Friday Comes…

Those familiar with the works of the sublime Steely Dan will recognize the title “When Black Friday Comes” as one of their songs, well it now has a more sinister meaning following the events of Friday, 25the November 2005.
After Road Rage and Air Rage there now follows ‘Sales Rage’ –as ever-eager shoppers stood in line through the night in pursuit of the ultimate bargain.
At stores throughout the United States, staff labored for many hours so that the locust-like consumers in a matter of minutes could strip the shelves bare!
As with many instances of anger, most people standing in line had unrealistic expectations as to which products would be available once they reached the promised land of the shop floor. Blanket advertising campaigns in the days leading up to Black Friday promised laptops, HDTV’s, DVD players and many other such necessities of modern life at knockdown prices.
With opening times fast approaching (5 a.m. in many places) the shoppers became anxious and disorderly, the concertina effect was in full operation, and badly-managed lines were breached by late-comers determined not to miss out on the sale of the century.
Unsurprisingly, this enraged the patient masses, some of which had waited out in the cold for almost five hours in order to purchase their chosen items. The situation was exacerbated by the conditions in which the shoppers found themselves, many of whom were sleep-deprived, hungry, cold and anxious.
But there was no obvious target at which the well-mannered shoppers could vent their anger –except those in front of them. So the great push started and this provoked a negative reaction from those who were closer to the front (who were being slowly but surely crushed).
By the time the doors opened at 5a.m. the condition of the line could reasonably be described as ‘organized chaos’, with the only orderly area being at the point of entry to the store –where several burly security guards drank coffee and joked amongst themselves (this only added to the ire of the patient masses).
Once inside the store, many of the shoppers found that they were again subjected to a free for all as many of the offer items could only be obtained from a small window on the third floor –which again produced impolite behavior and potential for rage.
For those folks unlucky enough to have been close to the front of the line and to come out of the endurance test empty-handed, there was no obvious place for them to vent their spleen. The nearest target for them now was the store staff –many of which were rushed off their feet with manic shoppers buying at a furious pace –which meant that they couldn’t give the frustrated shoppers any time or attention. This only added to their anger, which was now at boiling point!
Undoubtedly, this scenario will have been replicated throughout the country, with frustrated shoppers leaving stores full of anger and stress –which will have been passed on to family members, friends and other motorists!
What was the source of all this anger? Unrealistic expectations? or the attempts to control others’ behavior? Perhaps both, but whatever the cause, it seems that Sales Rage is here to stay.

Sean Coffey, Hon. Psy., CAMF
London based Anderson & Anderson Affiliate