Black Friday is held every year after Thanksgiving, and thousands of Americans go out to get the most popular items of the year. Now, there is an event called Cyber Monday that is sweeping the nation.

Black Friday started in 1952, and began to catch on in the 1960s, where the term “Black Friday” was coined. Now it is one of the most popular, and controversial, events of the holiday season. Black Friday became a way for shoppers to get deals on the must-have items of the year. In 2017, 70% of Americans went Black Friday shopping. Black Friday has developed some controversy over the past few years, with people being killed in crowded stores, to fights breaking out when a hot new product has only one item left.

Now, there’s an easier way to get deals without the hassle of Black Friday, and it’s called Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday takes place the monday after Black Friday, and has seen it’s largest sale in 2017. Cyber Monday may steal some of Black Friday’s shoppers with better deals, and a much more convenient way of shopping. A problem with Cyber Monday is that items will sell out very quickly, and websites will sometimes crash because of too many users. In time, Amazon believes Cyber Monday will become as big as Black Friday.

Students at LBHS look forward to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Senior Anthony Campos says, “I went to a few stores on Black Friday to see if there were any deals on the new Xbox One S, but there wasn’t.”

Gaming consoles are especially popular this year, with the release of the upgraded PS4 and XBox consoles, with many games to support them, as well as Nintendo’s latest console called Nintendo Switch,  which became a best-seller worldwide with the release of their Mario Odyssey Bundle.

“I’m looking forward to getting a Switch with Mario and Zelda because they’re some of my favorite childhood games, and it’s nice to see them return on a console,” says Anthony Torres, junior.

“Cyber Monday was pretty cool. Some store websites had good deals, but Amazon wasn’t too good,” says Bryant Flores, senior. “It was my first time trying it out,” says Marisa Reynoso, freshman, “the clothes I wanted were sold out. Honestly, I prefer going out instead of shopping online.”

Regardless of what you prefer to use, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are American traditions that aren’t going anywhere for a long time.