Reading Stephanie Chao’s opinion piece on how black Friday is essentially destroying the spirit and value of thanksgiving, I would like to give a different perspective on it.

As a poor college student and coming from a pretty poor family, if I could get my mother that blender she always wanted but could never afford for cheap, you know I am gonna wait in the cold for hours to get it. Black Friday gives me the opportunity to express my gratitude to the people I love in the way they would appreciate most. Actual tangible objects that they could use.

As a part time retail worker at one of the aforementioned mega-retailers, I also never fail to see a co-worker who is single and without family nearby take the shift for a fellow co-worker who actually has a family and is planning to spend thanksgiving with them.

Now, while agree that these sales make people do crazy things, there is also a smidgen of care and compassion in the chaotic world of Black Friday.

Jaison Tiu, 17,

Computer Science major