Today is "Black Friday," which is an evil-sounding name for the start of what should be a joyous time of the year.
In recent years, the shopping frenzy of the day after Thanksgiving has become notorious for shoppers jostling, even trampling, one another in search of bargains. Tempers have flared in endless lines. Some unfortunate victims have even been killed.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Lately, Black Friday has drawn an obsessive focus as a bellwether for the state of the national economy. Some 40 percent of annual sales are generated during the season, with Black Friday accounting for as much as 6 percent on its own. The name "Black Friday" comes from the belief that this is the day that retailers finally begin to make a profit — move "into the black" — for the year.
Economists say that isn't entirely true but nevertheless, customers shopping for gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah and other holidays do account for a great deal of retail spending — some $438 billion during the season. Black Friday competes with the Saturday before Christmas as the busiest shopping day of all.
So retailers roll out their best deals, enticing shoppers with sales and bargains, offering even better savings to those who arrive at some ungodly hour of the morning. And while shoppers shop, the analysts huddle over their calculators, waiting for the numbers to come in.
What do they expect to find? The National Retail Federation predicts that Americans will spend an average of $682 this season. That's down 3.2 percent from $705 last year.
Worries about the state of the economy continue to put downward pressure on spending trends. Two-thirds of Americans (65.3 percent) say the economy will affect their holiday plans this year, with the majority of these consumers saying they're adjusting by simply spending less (84.2 percent), the retail federation reported.
More Americans will be redirecting their purchases toward practical gifts or will be purchasing a joint gift for children or parents.
Black Friday should retain its title as busiest shopping day of the year as frugal shoppers seeking bargains outnumber procrastinators who wait until the Saturday before Christmas.
It's the second consecutive year economic pressures have weighed on the holiday shopping season.
"While last holiday season was filled with chaotic confusion, adjusting to uncertainty has now become routine for many Americans," NRF President Tracy Mullin noted in the group's report. "This holiday season will be a bit of a dance between retailers and shoppers, with each group feeling the other out to understand how things have changed and how they must adapt."
People are still "very nervous about the future," Mullin told the Associated Press. "But I think the good news is that stores get this new consumer, and the products are much less showy."
It's all a bit mad, really, this obsession with sales figures and consumer spending trends. And we certainly do not want to see a repeat of the tragedy at a New York Wal-Mart last year when a man was killed and several people were injured by a stampede of shoppers seeking bargains.
Is this what Christmas is all about?
Of course, it's not. Christmas is a time of love and sharing, of taking pleasure in the company of friends and family. It's a time of happiness and spiritual reflection.
Material gifts will always be part of the holidays. It gives us joy to see a loved one's face light up when a treasured gift is received.
Just as surely, economic performance will always be a concern of Americans. Calvin Coolidge said many years ago that "the business of America is business." There's no question the holiday shopping season is vitally important to retailers.
But we could use a little more balance between the obsessive quest for shopping bargains and the peace that should be central to the season. That might go a long way to take some of the edginess out of the holiday shopping season and Black Friday in particular.
Then all we'll need to do is come up with a less ominous-sounding name for the day.
