Black Friday confusion

Retailers have long used the phrase Black Friday. They like to create anticipation for sale prices.

For the upcoming 2025 Black Friday, U.S. online sales are estimated to reach between $11.7 and $12.5 billion, with global sales reaching $80–82 billion. Discounts are expected to average 25–30%, with some tech products seeing up to a 40% discount.

I understand that it’s the start of the Christmas shopping season. However, I’ve never cared much for the Black Friday name. It sounds like Black Death or something. One signifies a sale, the other was a pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. In fact, Black Death ranks as one of the most fatal pandemics in human history. It killed as many as 50 million people.

I’ve just never understood the comparison. I’m a natural curmudgeon. Here’s a few other things that I’ve never understood:

–Mean, angry people.

–Why financial literacy (stocks and investments, inflation, interest rates); home and car maintenance, and time management are not taught more in high school? Oh, it’s there some. And I don’t want to come across as a stick-in-the-mud, we-did-it-better-in-my-day, sourpuss, because frankly yesteryear wasn’t all that great either. It just feels like many people could benefit from the skills.

–Rude medical professionals. I had an experience this week with two rude doctors. I’m sure they were tired. I’m sure they were pulled in a million different directions. I actually have sympathy for them both, but somewhere along the journey they lost focus on why they sought out a medical degree. They lost focus on their calling.

–Bitcoin and NFTs.

–How Bluetooth or GPS work?

–Why days feel long, but years are shorter than we realize. Why is that?

–Why the slowest traffic is called rush hour?

–Coldplay.

–How electricity works.

–Spiders and bugs. Nope, no can do. Don’t get them.

–People who don’t understand the difference between your and you’re; there, their, and they’re.

–Why chocolate isn’t considered good for you when it raises so many people’s spirits?

–Why spending a little time on technology is fine, but overuse can strain relationships and increase stress?

–Eggplant.

–We know that it’s better to try than to never take your shot, but why do we still procrastinate?

–Slow drivers.

–Three people across on the sidewalk or trail with little regard for others.

–Bullies.

–The difference between meters to yards. Heck the entire metric system versus the U.S. system and our measurement of inches, feet, yards, and miles.

–How Artificial Intelligence works.

–There are more empty houses across the globe than there are homeless individuals. Ugh.

–Jargon and the overuse of acronyms in the workplace.

–Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Who’s with me?