Black Thursday?

Black Friday black balls some students

By Chase Christensen

Black Friday has now taken on a new meaning for some Utah State University students. As “Black Friday” sales began taking place as early as 8 p.m. Thursday night, some students found themselves stuck in Logan for the Thanksgiving holiday. Students, whose parents live more than a couple hours away, realized that going home to take part in festivities and returning in time for work was just not an option.

“I was really hoping to make it home for Thanksgiving this year,” said Thaine McDonald, a USU student who works at Kmart. “But it’s kind of hard to make it to Washington and be back by six for work, so I guess that’s not happening this year, or for the next couple probably.”

Many students work retail jobs that offer Black Friday sales and are thus required to be at work on Friday or, as of this year, on Thursday. McDonald said that he did not understand why it could not wait.

“I just don’t see why so many people want to be shopping on Thanksgiving,” McDonald said. “It just doesn’t feel like it’s considered a holiday anymore. I don’t even have time to travel home and see my family, just so someone can get a good deal on a TV earlier than the next person.”

But some students see it as an opportunity to make extra money while they have spare time.

“My family lives so far away that it isn’t really affordable to go home for Thanksgiving anyways,” said Nick Mattson, a student who works at Kmart. “I might as well be at work making extra money over the break instead of just sitting around feeling sorry for myself.”

For certain stores such as Fanzz or GameStop, Black Friday is the start of additional hours available to students for the holidays.

“Normally I get like eight hours a week, and that’s if I’m lucky,” said Jeff Jacobson, an employee at Fanzz. “But when the holidays roll around I can be getting up to 30 hours a week if I wanted to.”

This can mean a considerable amount of extra income for students at the cost of time off for the holidays.

“I don’t really mind much, all of my family is close and I really need the money,” Jacobson said.