There are many perspectives and opinions of Black Friday. Most don’t paint a pretty picture of the event, but after being a loyal Blackfridayan, I’ve come to see the silver lining in the event, discounted half off until midnight tonight.

Black Friday is an American Olympic event. It occurs the day after the national celebration of thankfulness, many times ending up in gastronomic gluttony. It kicks the mind in the butt reminding it that the national celebrations of giving are just around the corner. I can’t think of a better day to jump-start the economy of 2009. Let’s get the party started, right?

The most significant hour was at 4:00 am, when my alarm went off and the first thing I thought was how Sears had already opened. The two items I hoped for were phenomenal deals of 70% off or more at Sears, and I wondered if I should even bother crawling out of bed, knowing I was dealing with the reality of limited quantities. But my son, now six, made me promise that I would wake him up. He knew it was a big day for papa, and he wouldn’t dare miss it. He knew there was loot to get. He arose when I entered his room. I’ve never seen him so focused to go somewhere as much as he was on this pre-dawn day. We went from awake to out-the-door in twenty some-odd minutes. A family record.

Hats off to the staff at Sears. All were really pleasant and helpful, almost omnipresent in their distinct blue Sears shirts. Two Kenmore products and a mini-trampoline were on the list. Score, score, and slam dunk, with a bonus “last one on the shelf” digital picture frame for a friend to boot. Many registers open and ample crowd well distributed. When loaded up and ready, we were out in about five minutes.

At that point I could have gone home and felt satisfied, but my son’s eyes were on the lookout for the toys he saw in the Thanksgiving Day ad flyers. Off we went – Sears, Kohl’s, Walmart (ugh), Toys-R-US (ugh ugh), chai 2% stop, met up with a friend at Office Max, then Target for the winning six-year-old coveted items. The payment for such a successful plunder: Only one could be opened, others had to be wrapped and left forever until Christmas. Everyone’s happy… great! Off again – Jerry’s, breakfast at Shari’s, Best Buy, back to Office Max and home. Time elapsed: 6 ours 52 minutes.

A good time was had by all. I witnessed no tackles for last items, no bread-and-cheese-long lines to registers, and no acts of theft, except from a store with no markdowns on what I had my eye on… shame, shame. I did however see the exchange of smiling faces, money and merchandise. I saw stores full of eager people that would make any CEO blush. I heard people saying “excuse me” and “oh, my fault” in kind and sincere tones.  I paused and looked around at all the activity. I reminisced about the good old days when money and jobs were more plentiful; when it felt okay to have a massive credit card debt and not worry about 29% penalty rate ’cause your ass is late in paying your minimum balance. I breathed the moment in and sighed.

Today I took on some extra debt for the sake of America. As I did I looked for the country of origin on everything I bought to see who I was financing, hoping that we found a cut somewhere in the deal between there and here. But all in all I support the day after Thanksgiving, which could also be knows as Thanksgetting.

Oh, pardon me, I think it’s time to checkout.