I don’t see the problem. If you don’t approve of Black Friday and think it’s all just commercial hype, ignore it. Do what you want to do on the day after Thanksgiving. No one’s forcing anyone to go shopping. We’ve got bigger problems than crowded malls.
My wife manages a retail store in Rockford, IL. I had to call her around 1:45 pm our time and she said it had been solid lines of people since 6:00 AM. She’s budgeted to do $26K, but if it kept up as it has, she’ll do around $50K. You don’t have to ask who’ll have dinner ready for her when she gets home (along with a glass of red wine...
BTW, went to breakfast with her sister & her husband who stayed overnight and were leaving for Chicago. Stopped at Wal-Mart afterward to pick up a couple ink cartridges. They weren’t that busy at all (around 11 am). Asked the register clerk how it had been and she said it wasn’t all that busy. But this is a small town (Rochelle, IL). I imagine people were more inclined to head to Rockford or in toward Elgin or Naperville.