When the sun rose this morning at 6:58 a.m., it shed its light on one of the weirdest American traditions around: millions of people scrambling for discount deals at big box stores. In Denver, this eerie sight was visible from Target and Best Buy to Bass Pro, Kohl's and Kmart.

And while Black Friday may be fun for shoppers with thick skins, lots of coffee and fat pocketbooks (it may be cheaper than usual, but a flat-screen TV still ain't free), it isn't for the employees who work at the stores or for the miserable news reporters who have to cover it.

I know because I've done my share of Black Friday interviews. For many years as a business reporter, I was dispatched to our consumer cathedrals at 4 a.m. to capture the scene.

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So here's to the folks at the Denver Post, the Associated Press, The Gazette in Colorado Springs, KCNC, and elsewhere, who stumbled out of bed on the morning after Thanksgiving to make sure that crazy contingent of our society gets in proper respect.