感恩节和Black Friday

今天是感恩节，街道上似乎比较清静。从黄昏开始，房子里也异常清静了，因为只有我一个人---室友们都分别去参加家庭聚会或者同学聚会去了。感恩节对美国人还是非常重要的，一般都会家庭团聚。
本来我是报名参加今天去波特兰（Portland）的，原来说要花3天2夜，因为所在的州免税，所以可以去看看买点什么。为此，还推掉了一个美国家庭的晚餐邀请，也推掉了师弟一家的邀请。结果放弃了很多火鸡肉，却没能去成波特兰：那个活动一直没消息了。

不过还有别的节目，一会儿室友们都回来以后，打算半夜去北边一个很大的直销店买东西。其实买什么自己都没想好，主要是去凑凑热闹吧，因为半夜12点开始，就进入“Black Friday”了，东西大幅打折！（可惜我已经来了两个多月了，有些东西实在挺不住，先买了，呵呵）

忽然想起来，为什么叫“Black Friday”啊？自作聪明地一想，会不会是因为大家都摸黑去抢购呢？还是到网上查查吧。

结果并非如此。以下是从别人的博客上找来的，也不翻译了，自己练练英文吧：

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Since Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday may be as early as the 23rd and as late as the 29th of November.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees take the day off, which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) [我们一会要去的这个，据说零点开门！]and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s.

The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit).[答案在这里！另外，这么打折他们都赢利？看来从商人那里永远占不到便宜啊]

The news media frequently refer to Black Friday as the busiest retail shopping day of the year, but this is not always accurate. While it has been one of the busiest days in terms of customer traffic,in terms of actual sales volume, from 1993 through 2001 Black Friday was usually the fifth to tenth busiest day. In 2002 and 2004, however, Black Friday ranked second place. The busiest retail shopping day of the year in the United States (in terms of both sales and customer traffic) usually has been the Saturday before Christmas. In 2003 and 2005, however, Black Friday actually did reach first place.[嗯，有点意思。看来圣诞节前还得来一次]

In many cities it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up hours before stores with big sales open. Once inside, the stores shoppers often rush and grab, as many stores have only a few of the big draw items. [这样啊？最不喜欢干这种事情了！一会看别人冲就好了。]Electronics and popular toys are often the most sought-after items and may be sharply discounted. Because of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay home and avoid the hectic shopping experience. The local media often will cover the event, mentioning how early the shoppers began lining up at various stores and providing video of the shoppers standing in line and later leaving with their purchased items. Traditionally Black Friday sales were intended for those shopping for Christmas gifts. For some particularly popular items, some people shop at these sales in order to get deep discounts on items they can then resell, typically online.[好主意！或许能小挣一笔呢？可惜我来不及准备了，不懂行情别砸手里了！----我咋就总是和钱没缘分呢？！命苦啊！；-）]