“Dad,” said the child, “why is it called ‘Black Friday’?”
Dad didn’t even look up from his computer.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, why is today called ‘Black Friday’?”
“I don’t know,” said Dad. “I suppose I could Google it.”
“It’s just that, well, ‘Black Friday’ makes it sound like a scary or sad or bad thing,” said the child.
“Hmmmm…” said Dad, clicking on yet another banner that screamed BLACK FRIDAY SALE!!!!
“And it’s not, is it, Dad?”
“No,” said Dad, “it most certainly isn’t scary or sad or bad. It’s fantastic.”
“Can we call it something else then, Dad? Something better?”
Dad stopped his browsing for a moment to scratch his chin.
“What, you mean something like ‘Not Bad Friday’?”
“Something like that, but better,” said the child.
Suddenly inspiration struck.
“Hey! How about ‘Good Friday’, Dad? Could we call it ‘Good Friday’?”
Dad thought for a second. He couldn’t think of a reason why not.
“Yes,OK. That seems like a much better name,” he said, clicking on the button labelled ‘BUY IT NOW’. “It certainly is a Good Friday! I’ve just got a great price on this camera!”
And that is how the tradition of Good Friday began.
Meanwhile, on an insignificant hill somewhere, a man died alone and in agony and no-one cared.
