# In an op-ed, Prof. Adam Alter explains why some shoppers are impatient in advance of Black Friday

1 Faculty News November 27, 2013 ![The New Yorker logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_032750.jpg?itok=hERliZMl)>

Excerpt from [The New Yorker](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/11/black-friday-creep-and-the-roots-of-patience.html) -- "When you remind people that they’re deprived, they become drawn to whatever happens to be scarce nearby, as though possessing a scarce object corrects the imbalance. Of course, nature also plays a role in determining how people respond to scarcity, as do a number of other factors. Yet a lifetime of waiting also appears to teach you to snatch fleeting opportunities that other people might ignore."

[Read more](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/11/black-friday-creep-and-the-roots-of-patience.html)