Even though the season of gift shopping is here, please stay home during this pandemic-influenced season. Photo by Cindy Canas.
By Cindy Canas, Staff Writer
Stay home, this year should be an excuse to NOT buy a lot of materialistic gifts for those “close” relatives that you only speak to during the holidays.
As the number of COVID-19 cases rises, once again, in Los Angeles County and a second shutdown is imminent, there should be no priority placed on buying gifts for Black Friday.
Black Friday deals for the majority are online and extended throughout the month. All major retail companies understand the situation that the nation is in and are also providing alternatives to potential shoppers online.
Traditional pre-Covid Black Friday of the past is no longer, and this new pandemic society Black Friday has changed the landscape of societies peak shopping season. Instead of hundreds, thousands lined up haphazardly outside of a shop batting rams (read: shopping carts) in hand, it’s completely different now that there are limitations on people allowed inside a store at a time, more social distancing, and a set curfew for people to be outside. That should be more than enough reasons to stay home and be excited for Cyber Monday.
Cyber Monday is the way to go this year, as most of the discounts and sales are reflected both in-store and online. Shopping online reduces the risk of COVID-19 transmission to the individual self, the people working at the store, and overall keeps the number of cases low.
As usual, people were still going to the malls and shopping centers to buy gifts over the past few weekends leading up to Black Friday. And of course they Making made sure to that they post their findings all over social media, but all it did was show showing them breaking quarantine rules to shop materialist items in store.
Posting videos and photos on social media buying the newest materialist item of the year with a group of people in a crowded area are not the way to go especially being in the purple tier in Los Angeles County.
According to the Census Bureau, the majority of people working retail are over the age of 16. Some are college students working in retail to earn money to pay tuition for zoom university this year, helping out their family financially, and saving money for other reasons.
Being at least nice, accommodating, and understandable of the situation to the plights of retail workers would not only make their time working on Black Friday or any other day smoother but improve on everyone’s shopping time.
Patience is going to be the key skill for many to be able to get through the in-store Black Friday, while tensions will be high with possible sightings of Karens looking for the nearest manager.
In California, people are continuing to struggle while trying to jobs and Black Friday just so happens to offer these individuals the perfect opportunity to secure some sort of financial stability during the busiest time of the year. According to the Employment Development Department, “September’s unemployment rate of 11.0 percent marked the second consecutive month since March 2020 that California’s unemployment rate was lower than the 12.3 percent mark set during the height of the Great Recession.”
People going out to shop are waiting in long lines to get into the store, but also waiting in long lines to pay at the register. Even though the lines are long due to social distancing, people are still standing in hour-long queues to buy one or two things most of the time.
While online shopping gives more availability for people to buy in the comfort of their home, why would anyone want to be standing in line next to a minimum of 20 people in an enclosed store?
Black Friday certainly won’t be the same delusional night adventure that seems like a dream this year but will show the people taking this pandemic seriously at the end of the night.
