Black Friday, the day that follows the infamous Thursday of feasting on turkey and gravy, and engaging in the watching of an NFL game while giving thanks for the things and people in your life. This holiday is followed by the very well known Black Friday; which is the day where friends, neighbors, family, and strangers all come together at a shopping mall near you to engage in some post-Thanksgiving shopping that always includes crazy cheap deals on everything from technology to clothes to kitchen appliances to feed the needs of shoppers on the prowl for gifts to give for the upcoming winter holiday season.

Students at GCHS have this time off as their Thanksgiving break, and one GCHS senior, Ro Mercer, worked black friday as a lifeguard at Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee IL. Mercer describes the family dedicated resort and water park being “at 90% occupancy that day, so I would guess around 350” people. She expressed that a positive to working at this busy time of the year was the fact that she “got paid more than her regular hourly wage of $11/hour”. At the waterpark she calls her workplace, the craziest thing she claims she saw was “quite a few screaming and running children”. She  also stated that she would work this post holiday workout tradition again “if it wasn’t busy on Black Friday”. If she could give any advice to a friend thinking of working black friday next year she said, “I would probably tell them to find ways of keeping their calm and to keep a water bottle on them”.

Stepping away from Black Friday through the eyes of employed individuals who worked the post-holiday tradition, there are also those who participate in another type of Black Friday shopping called, Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is the day after the crazy in person sales where people hunt for the amazing deals without having to leave their homes. GCHS senior, Sofia Casas explains her reasoning as to why she participates in Cyber Monday because of “the sales. You know gotta save that cash”. She listed off the things she bought including “2 pairs of jeans, dog food, dog treats, dog toys, and 2 pairs of crocs” said Casas. Sofia shares the estimated amount of money she saved while engaging in the Cyber Monday antics which was around “$210.00” due to the store specific sales she came in contact with of “40% off everything at American Eagle, buy one get one free dog treats, buy one get one 50% off dog food at Petco, and 40% off select styles at Crocs”. Casas expresses her experience with Cyber Monday as “an extremely satisfied customer”.

All in all, whether you’re working the retail end of the extravaganza that is, Black Friday, or engaging in the holy grail of the best sales year-round, it seems that those select people come out it with a successful shopping trip full of savings to share with others, which is what the holiday season is all about.