It’s supposedly one of the biggest shopping days of the season that can put all businesses “in the black.”

Now that’s marketing.

But the name seems ominous, like if a day of the week were a comic book villain, that’s what it would be called: Watch out, it’s Black Friday!

It also comes with the pressure to spend, spend, spend — in a frenzied way that doesn’t seem healthy.

No shopping trip should involve setting an alarm.

As a child, I thought Black Friday was some kind of mandatory shopping day. I got this notion, like many others, from TV. News anchors wondering aloud in serious voices, “Is this a good Black Friday? Is this a bad Black Friday?”

An expert would chime in: “Sales aren’t as good as we’d thought, but we hope to see more spending by the end of the year.”

Always that one-two punch: We’re disappointed, but hopeful!

The newscaster would sternly warn of economic meltdown if you didn’t go start shopping, you miser, you.

I ventured out this past Black Friday for the first time. I’ve just never had much to spend. Plus, I don’t care to be shoved over a sweater.

I was pleasantly surprised.

No pushing, no tantrums (except for one little boy whose mom endlessly perused bath towels, but really, who could blame him?)

I covered Beaver Creek Commons in Apex and Crossroads in Cary — as many stores as I could before my blood sugar crashed.

(Never drink a Peppermint White Mocha on an empty stomach. Half an hour later you will literally swipe a bag of Cheerios out of a child’s hand, I kid you not.)

Some observations:

• The crowds were very store-specific. Old Navy was full of teenage girls shuffling around in their Uggs with their mothers. One mother held up a pair of tweed pants and complained that the lining only went to the knee. Her daughter seemed unfazed.

• For some stores, it was business as usual. Target was like any other weekend: packed. People had the usual odd array of goods in their baskets, like a shower rod, pretzels and lingerie. (Target, which sells a bit of everything, has a knack for making their shoppers look a little crazy.) Two women speculated that there would be better sales later. I hope they’re right.

• Sales are not always what they seem. Linens N Things is going out of business. After disappointment over a small garbage can for $20 (regularly $29), I got it out of a beleaguered clerk that the “real” sale won’t happen until the end of the year.

The official word is Black Friday was a mild success, with sales up 3 percent from last year’s.

They had hoped to do better.

I also hope to do better next year, maybe spend a little more — and still find myself in the black.