Now I know why they call it "Black Friday" 'cause it's a dark day in the life of a shopper. It's a massive come-on with overtures of panic and chaos, fueled by greed.

It disturbs me to consider the orchestrations by the seller that can provide an incentive for the buyer to a level of hysteria that transcends common sense and common courtesy.

Experience has been my teacher. Yes, that's right. I, too, barely avoided being trampled to death.

All in vain. In every case, that which I sought had been sold out within 20 minutes of the store's opening.

In some cases, there were lines to get out of the store.

I recall a recent case where a large retailer was sued by its workers for not taking adequate care to protect them from the crowds. They lost.

Whose fault is it? Well, as I see it, business is business, but I'm going to remember the sellers cold-blooded shame in stocking their shelves with dozens when thousands were needed.

I was also impressed with the pushing and gabbing and the yelling of the buyers where common greed replaced common decency.

In this Senior's View, that made the "bargain prices" a price too high to pay.

Grandpa says: "If a thing seems too good to be true, it generally is."