The day after Thanksgiving has traditionally been a big shopping day, as it is the "official" start of the Christmas season. I remember as a young teenager with a paper route, I hated that day because it was the fattest paper of the year with all the sale ads. This is the day that all the big sales begin.

Supposedly, the term began to be used in the mid-60s in Philadelphia to describe the traffic snarls. It began to spread beyond Philly in the 70s. Even in the mid 80s it wasn't well known, although by that time the name was being attributed to retailers' bottom lines moving from the red into the black.

In recent years, the term could also describe the hearts of some shoppers (not to mention the executives that make descisions for the retailers). Stores initially began opening at 6:00 AM, then 5:00, then 4:00... This year, several large store chains opened at midnight. This means that low-paid workers had to abandon their families on Thanksgiving day to prepare for and get to work so that they could work through the middle of the night.

This applies to shoppers too, but they do so willingly. Perhaps it's partly a sign of the financial times, or perhaps it's greed or competitiveness, or the idea that saving $20 is worth several hours of inconvenience. It's often not worth it, unless you are one of the first in line, and buy only the deeply discounted item(s).

In recent years, the knowledge that retailers are gaming the public with "loss leaders" has resulted in a feeding frenzy leaving people injured and one even dead. This year, the violence became somewhat topical.

In California, apparently taking a cue from the over-zealous cops trying to break up Occupy protests, a woman pepper-sprayed others in the store. The police called it a "competitive shopping incident". That is a phrase that should not exist in the English language.

In Milford, CT, a fight broke out in a Wal-Mart shortly after the store opened. There are few details, but one can easily assume that it was between two people trying to get that last DVD player available at the "door buster" price. Although comically portrayed in the move Jingle All the Way, it's not really funny in real life.

As the day progresses, we will likely be hearing more tales from the front lines, as local stories trickle out to the national news feeds.

It's time for this to stop. This is within the hands of consumers to stop it. Many will say "I have to - I can save more money this way". Actually, you can save money by buying less. It's not necessary for every Christmas to be bigger than the last. It's not necessary to buy everyone you know a gift. It's not necessary to give your child everything they asked for and then some.

It would be better for the economy (and retailers) if people shopped all year long, and put items aside in anticipation of Christmas. It would be better for all of us if we eschewed big box retailers and shopped at locally-owned stores, buying products made in America (when possible). We can simply buy less and make up the difference with hand-made gifts. If I gave my sister the choice between a pair of gloves and a package of home-made pasta and a jar of home-made sauce, she would choose the latter.

Before the Black Friday stories get any blacker, it's time for Americans to set aside their "competitive" impulses, and not give into the hype. If a deal is good for only one day, and only for a limited number of items, then it's not a good deal. At least - not good for the country.