Shop/drop

So what’s the perfect bookend to “Black Friday” (BF), the shopping marathon that kicks off the Christmas retail season?

You guessed it: All-Night Wednesday (ANW).

That’s right, consumers. As the Associated Press put it:

“The nation’s stores are pulling all-nighters and deepening discounts in the final hours before Christmas, trying to draw in all the shoppers they can as they face dismal sales in what will likely end up as the worst holiday season in decades.”

It seems like a waste of time and priorities to me, but at least ANW makes a little more sense than BF — similar to the way death by explosion makes more sense than death by fire.

Some harried shoppers might not get any time off from their jobs until Wednesday. For them, a last-minute all-nighter is justifiable.

And unlike the “campers” who wait outside stores on Thanksgiving night to be first in line for Black Friday Madness, at least you’re inside for ANW. If Nature calls, you can answer.

And you might get some good deals by waiting until the very final hours. Some retailers will be desperate to move merchandise off their shelves and cash into their registers.

Personally, I’ve copped out with gift cards and envelopes containing pictures of dead presidents.

It doesn’t show much imagination, I’ll admit. But I do get to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve with my family.