The day after Thanksgiving is best known for turkey-stuffed shoppers rushing to countless stores to score the best deals of the year. Black Friday has not only been an American tradition, but the most profitable day for businesses for the past decade. For many Americans, it’s when the bulk of their holiday shopping takes place. Black Friday has many perks, but is not always viewed in a positive light.

The term “Black Friday” stemmed from Philadelphia back in the 1950’s. The police used this term to describe the influx of shoppers on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The crowds of shoppers, shoplifting, and traffic was difficult to manage and contain so they were unable to take the day off from work and would have to work extra-long shifts. “Black Friday” caught on throughout the rest of the country and created other terms for the rest of the weekend, such as small business Saturday and Sunday and Cyber Monday.

Since the mid-2000’s, Black Friday has been associated with great deals, long lines, early mornings and considerable trouble. When the day is mentioned, many think of stealing, fighting, trampling, injuries and even death.

“All the people are running to go for sales,” says freshmen Delaney Rothstein. “Others are the ones being ran over by the crazy shoppers.”

Despite popular belief that Black Friday is risky, a total of less than ten people have died since its start. However, over 1,000 injuries have been reported. Countless fights and parking lot accidents are the main causes of these injuries.

“People take the sales way too seriously despite the fact that they occur all day long,” says senior Olivia Fairchild. “I think [the government] should be a lot stricter with the people that go crazy.”

The government has mixed views on Black Friday. Some politicians think it affects the economy to such a degree that it should be an official holiday. Others are completely against the philosophy of it. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke out on his twitter specifically about how Black Friday creates big profit for companies, but does not change how much workers are paid to deal with all the chaos.

“I think [Black Friday] can be dangerous in certain situations but I don’t think the government should regulate what businesses do as far as what they make their sales for Black Friday,” says GCU freshmen Zach Malis. “Letting the government regulate that sort of stuff most of the time makes things worse. I think it’s on each individual business to make sure their event is organized so that customers behave”

Despite all the potential dangers that can arise from Black Friday, it seems that it will be around and unchanged for a long time.