Unpopular opinion: If you like Black Friday, admit it, you enjoy chaos

If you are going out for Black Friday, you cannot complain about the chaos – you secretly like the madness. That’s according to KIRO Nights producer Drew Barth, who sees nothing but negativity in the day of extreme shopping deals that inspire mad rushes to spend.

But Drew is trumped by host Gee Scott.

“That is a bonding time with someone in your family,” Gee said. “Maybe it’s someone you haven’t seen in a long time, or somebody you do see often. This is your deal.”

“It’s kind of like going on a roller coaster ride,” he added. “There is no way in the world that it should take an hour to get on a ride. But you do it because it’s fun.”

Having said that, Gee has never gone out for Black Friday sales events. He went out when it first became a marketing tool, but he hasn’t returned to see the horror of people spilling into doorways, fighting each other for deals.

“I can’t imagine this being anything positive for pulling away from family to be a part of the Black Friday chaos,” Drew argued. “And the fact they have made the term ‘Black Friday’ to be all cutesy — that’s ridiculous to begin with. The whole idea is that you have footage on the news of people trampling each other for Tickle Me Elmos. It was consumerism run amok, so let’s call it Black Friday.”

Just a point of clarification from KIRO Radio Anchor Frank Schiers. Black Friday is partially named as such because the holiday gift-buying season is when a lot of businesses “go into the black.” It’s basically when they make their profits for the year.

“I don’t want to be a part of the madhouse,” Frank added. “It has zero appeal to me. Christmas shopping for me is a very individual experience. I’ll take my daughter, and it’s fun. I don’t want it to be some sort of mercenary thing.”