Black Friday- did you get that bargain?

Black Friday- did you that bargain?

Phew! What a day that was? I thought it would never end. Well then, did you get that elusive bargain on Black Friday? All of that fuss and commotion for what? An unnecessary and desperate rush for that special something for your side board, mantelpiece or the shelf groaning with glittering ornaments and family photos.

You've got it. It was Black Friday, that mad stampede on the heart of London's West End department shops and shops around the country, for something that may be conveniently and temptingly cheap but can't be resisted.  There they are, the baubles, gadgets, souvenirs or dining room furniture knocked down dramatically at the most mouth watering bargain basement price and designed to remove our wallets of valuable money for Christmas almost exactly a month from today.

Yes, Black Friday is the day when people from all over the country and city spend a whole day worshipping at the shrine of commerce and free flowing consumerism. This is the age of the high tech investment, the age of instant gratification, the must have commodity, an unreasonable hunger for something that may be regarded as vitally important at the time but on reflection can be no more than some tacky excuse to spend money on some trivial gadget. Or maybe not.

In recent years the scenes at Oxford Street have been nothing less than outrageously chaotic, the crazy, surging hordes converging on shops as if their life depended on it,  where hundreds of over enthusiastic shoppers and bargain hunters fall over each other determined to get their hands on the latest 84 inch Plasma TV set, washing machines that can sing Happy Birthday to you and sofas so large and luxurious that you may need three or four living rooms to squeeze them into your home.

It's Black Friday, the day of obscene spending and extravagant buying where the people of Britain find any reason to dig deep into their pockets for money they can ill afford to throw away. Or maybe we get a kick out of this day of utter lunacy where for one day only London, certainly, is overwhelmed by seasoned grabbers who love nothing better than a good old fashioned push and shove. They scramble, jostle, lunge and grasp desperately at goods that may look enticing but are no more than attractive shop window decorations.

But then again I may have got it completely wrong and Black Friday is that mindless psychological game where for one day only department stores tell us quite convincingly that you've got to buy it today because tomorrow is just another day and Christmas is that very persuasive advertising campaign when the stuff you could have got on Black Friday may look entirely different on extortionately expensive Saturday. So roll up roll up everybody, show us the colour of your money.

And so it is that the good people of Oxford Street will wend their weary home from their very beneficial shopping excursions undoubtedly exhausted from their huffing and puffing, their gallivanting and traipsing, weighed down by a huge cargo of shopping bags full of whatever it was they couldn't wait to buy tomorrow. But then we love the British and we love their shopping habits, their darting in and out of big department stores, sprinting after their Route Master buses and then trudging back to their bus stops in utter frustration.

Oh if only we'd remembered that armchair, that beautiful carpet, that lovely wardrobe or that irresistible coffee or latte machine, that bean bag, those gorgeous chandeliers or the studio spot lights for the kitchen. It's first come first serve and if you do happen to miss out today there's always next November and the opportunity to do Black Friday all over again.

It's been widely reported that some of the brisk Black Friday trade is also been transacted as an online Internet business. This may be regarded as a most attractive alternative to all of that hustling and bustling, the hurrying and scurrying, lunging at and pulling at clothes, furniture, more bean bags, exotic plants perhaps and all in the name of money and finance.

Now Black Friday may well be drawing to a close and those bright eyed bargain hunters may well be taking a deep breath, looking at their well stocked shopping bags and wondering why? Why did we spend last night camping outside Debenhams and Selfridges when we could have popped into Poundland for something significantly more desirable. But it is Black Friday and it really is side splittingly cool. Besides Black Friday is a day for sweeping up all those goodies in one huge bulk without a moment's regret. Oh Black Friday. And it's only 60 odd days to Christmas. It's too exciting for words.