Zizi Sparks: What it's like being drawn into the Black Friday hype

COMMENT:

It's 11.30am on Friday. Black Friday to be exact.

I start work at 12 but I've just walked into Briscoes along with what seems like roughly half the town's population.

I went in for one thing and one thing only - plastic ware for leftovers.

But first I have to dodge many other people who couldn't pass up the deals.

They are everywhere you look: In this store, online, in newspapers, on the radio.

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I find myself wondering: Don't these people have jobs to go to?

Speaking of, I've got half an hour to get to mine.

I make a beeline for the right aisle, dodging prams, wheelchairs and slow trolley pushers.

It's 11.35am. I'm standing in front of the plastic ware trying to decide just how much leftover rice fits in a 920ml container and whether a 670ml one will do. I get one of both.

Is a round container better than a rectangular one? Or should I get one of both? I'm easily convinced.

With the job done I head to the checkout. But then I spot a colander. Yes, I've been needing one of those. Into my bag it goes.

It's 11.45am. I'm standing in the checkout queue.

There's a poster on the counter proudly proclaiming, "We're open until midnight!". I wonder who would go to Briscoes at 11.30pm.

The checkout operator has far too much energy for someone working in a store which has already been open for five hours and will be open for 12 more.

After she's scanned all the items and it's all tallied up she joyfully tells me "that's $43.43 and you saved $91.50" - twice as much as I had spent.

It's 11.50am. I walk out the door and realise I needed a new laundry basket.

It will have to wait until next time. Lucky for me Black Friday sales seem to last at least a week.

But what even is Black Friday?

In the US, it refers to the Friday after Thanksgiving, is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

In New Zealand, it's simply another trend businesses have cottoned on to. An excuse to get people in the doors, spending money.

It's another way to push consumerism and get people to buy things, things they potentially don't even need - like the woman in the queue who had bought a utensil set just to have one spare at Christmas.

At fewer than $10 why wouldn't you?

It's midday on Black Friday. I sit down at my desk and look down at the newspaper sitting on it.

"Our biggest ever Black Friday sale," the advertisement on the front reads.

The store's open until 9pm. I might still have time to check it out yet.