My "inbox" is full of "Black Friday" internet offers. I've been tempted by a few, especially those that offer free shipping.
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. It is a holiday for most people in the US. It's our only "pont" of the year and we defend it fiercely. If we had to work on this day, we couldn't visit family that live far away, we couldn't overindulge, we couldn't stand on our feet all day cooking. And, we couldn't shop!
Black Friday is the day that retailers start to show a profit for the year. They go into the "black" from the "red".
I've been trying to explain this, in French (which makes it harder) to French people this week, without much success.
I think the French use the words black and red to describe positive and negative numbers on a balance sheet, but the rest of this concept is lost.
I keep getting snarled up in the middle of the description of the day with people telling me that we Americans consume too much. They don't mean just turkey, they mean everything. I can't say if they're right or wrong, I think there are members of every society who buy more than the need/want/can use. That's why we have Goodwill and the Salvation Army.
In any case, since there is no Thanksgiving in France, the Christmas decorations here went up before Halloween. Chocolate is abundant and Pere Noel is everywhere. Who needs Black Friday?
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