CREDIT: SARAH V.
Nothing screams "holidays" like lining up for hours in the dead of night with thousands of others to take advantage of Black Friday sales.

Black Friday has come and gone and it has drained our respective pocketbooks, chequebooks and credit cards, having lured all of us to the stores for a wonderful day of screaming, rushing, yelling, crying, fighting, pulling, pushing and "door crashing." This leads us to a time when children become so belligerent about getting that brand-new electronic gadget that it borders on insanity and it is the worst 30-day period any parent deals with.

The truth is, Black Friday is not really a Canadian holiday, nor is it a Canadian shopping day. However, because we live so close to the border, the big corporate retailers have responded in kind by giving Canada its own Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which officially kick off the Christmas shopping season. Even though the days have passed, expect record numbers in certain industries — especially with sales of electronics like televisions, cellphones and video games.

The season for shopping has officially begun and now we are counting down the days until Santa and his assistants come down to spread joy (they don't want to be called elves anymore).

The fact is, every single year Black Friday and Cyber Monday make a fair amount of companies a wee bit richer and lead the way to a month-long shopping frenzy. It is an absolutely massive day for retailers across the continent. Last year in the United States, $52.4 BILLION was made in one day, shattering the previous year's record of just over $43 billion. Think about this number for a moment: $52.4 billion. That is approximately $1,541 for each and every one of our 34 million Canadians. Think about that astronomical figure for just one moment and realize that all of that money was made in just one day.

Although it is not as good as it seems. Unfortunately, due to the ridiculously low prices in the United States, and with London being a close neighbour to the U.S.A., this translates to our citizens going over the border and waiting in even longer customs lines and having to deal with even more people in order to get that flatscreen television for $100. The fact is, Canadian retailers are completely incapable of matching the discounts American retailers provide simply because we do not have enough people to make the discount economically sound.

PayPal conducted a survey recently about the awareness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday among Canadians. It was reported when this survey was conducted in late 2011, awareness of the phenomenon had climbed to 52 per cent from only 24 per cent the year before. I would be willing to bet that this number is going to rise this year and grow even stronger in the years to come.

So whether you shopped on Black Friday or not, the holiday shopping season is now in full swing, so keep in mind when you are out and about that it is important to be respectful of others even if they are not respectful to you. Smile at everyone you pass and wave hello, you might make a person's day, which is the true gift of the season: the gift of selflessness and love.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.