There are numerous miseries and pleasant surprises affiliated with day-to-day life. But that multiplies 10-fold on one day of the year, the day before Thanksgiving each year — Black Friday.

So why is it called Black Friday?

Many retailers report some of their highest profits on Black Friday. The black portion of the name, “Black Friday” relates to businesses recording their losses in red ink and gains in black. This tradition lives on in modern accounting software, hence the name.

Stories about Black Friday range from the despicable and gruesome to the cute and lovable and it seems to simply depend on the day.

Some of those stories are simply horrifying.

A tragic story took place at a Wal-Mart in Long Island in 2008. An employee by the name of Jdimytai Damour got caught amidst complete bedlam in a stampede on Black Friday, resulting in his eventual death.

Sources say that Damour was literally trampled to death by crazed shoppers.

In case that dampened your hope in humanity a little bit, here’s some encouragement to restore it.

Two individuals have Black Friday to thank for their unique love-at-first-sight story. The two lovebirds struck up conversation while standing in line at a Long Island Kmart.

The small talk turned into sweet talk as the two waited in line together for a total of seven hours before doors opened.

Move ahead two years, and the couple is happily married with fond memories of the day they met, saying, “Black Friday will always be a memorable day for us. That was the day that changed our lives.”

Now that you’ve got a good mixture of adoration and disgust in your mind, let’s talk crazy.

Thieves stole 500 shopping carts starting on Black Friday and continued to nab carts throughout the holiday season. Shoppers were left annoyed as they were forced to carry all of their purchases, since no carts were anywhere to be found.

Police suspect that the carts — which cost a hefty $200 a piece — were either stolen by gang members to sell metal scraps for money or taken by homeless people who use them to carry their belongings.

Black Friday is a chaotic mess of anxiety, good vibes and just plain weirdness. Let’s all be happy that it’s only one day out of 365 that 500 shopping carts are stolen… in one day.