Opinion: Is the Black Friday madness worth it?

Tis’ the season for long lines and pepper spray; Black Friday savings are drawing near and so are the inevitable fights over an item that’s 20% off. Black Friday is indeed black, as it ruins the meaning of Thanksgiving and the holiday season.

“I think it’s [Black Friday] overrated. The deals can’t be that good,” said Rogelio Rodriguez, a sophomore in the Tech & Media magnet.

With Black Friday opening hours earlier each year, company employees have to exchange a night of festivities with a night of greed. Such companies include Target and Walmart, which will both open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Rodriguez thinks that opening stores on the holiday derails from the meaning.

“People are buying instead of giving. It’s [definitely] not worth it,” he said. Others agree with Rodriguez; in fact, there have been petitions calling out companies and urging that they open after Thanksgiving.

Ryan Zeilman, the author of one out of many Change.org petitions calling out big businesses opening on Thanksgiving.

“Shoppers feel the need to choose between continuing Thanksgiving evening traditions and those Black Friday shopping traditions. We shouldn’t have to choose,” Zeilman said.

Others like Gallilea Guillen, a junior in the Visual & Performing Arts small school, thinks otherwise and says Black Friday shopping is a family tradition.

”It’s a day when sales are up. People can get gifts for their family and save on pricey items [for the holidays],” she said. However, one experience doesn’t speak volumes; according to a campus poll, 46% of students shop during Black Friday for themselves, 38% for others and themselves, while 16% shop exclusively for others. Altogether, that’s still a whopping total of 84% of students who shop for themselves.

While Guillen’s response is humble, it doesn’t change the fact that stores opening earlier and earlier takes away precious family time. Thus, adding to the corporate greed foundation of Black Friday. Compensation is not enough to redress employees watching humanity at it’s worst and missing out on spending quality time with family.