Day Seventy: Black Friday

I said I wouldn't do it and I did it anyway. I got up at 6:00 a.m. and went shopping on Black Friday. Granted, I only went to one store, but I totally went back on my word. I went out into the madness. Still, it was quieter than making the kids breakfast.

I went to Toys R Us in the hope of purchasing the toys the boys had on their list for a bit less than I would if I didn't get up at that unGodly hour. Fool's errand! It turns out that the store opened at midnight on Thanksgiving. I have no idea how long they stayed open but they also reopened at 5 a.m. By the time I got there, around 6:30 a.m., there was nothing left on the shelves worth buying. The place looked like a small bomb went off inside. The aisles were in complete shambles. Discarded toys, overflowing carts, random debris/trash and weary shoppers littered the place. Let me repeat, this was 6:30 a.m. The line to check out snaked halfway through the store. The line to get into the electronics section snaked throughout the other half. I was home by 7:30 a.m. I didn't find a thing.

As I was leaving the parking lot, I took stock of the area. The Best Buy lot was overflowing and there were plenty of people leaving with full carts. I noted Best Buy, because on Thanksgiving, I took the boys to the movies. On the way out I saw people in tents camping out at 6:30 in the evening. I tell you, people are NUTS! But it wasn't just that store, all the lots were full. Every store that was open was packed. I have no idea if there were good bargains out there because I wasn't paying attention. I was only focused on the toys on my list. I did stick to my resolve and have not deviated from my carefully prepared Christmas giving list. However, had I been out in the mad frenzy of shoppers, I am sure I would have bought just about everything in sight. I think it is something akin to the lemming theory- whatever the others lemmings are doing....

I have never attempted to take advantage of Black Friday specials for specific items. My past experience has been going to the largest mall I could find and head straight to the shoe department of the largest department store as soon as the doors unlocked. Merry Christmas to ME! I was not really shopping for anything in particular, that is why I spent a small fortune in department store credit. The whole wait in line at Target, Walmart, Toys R Us for the advertised items is quite beyond me. I suppose I am fortunate in that I don't have to wait in these lines because of financial concerns. If it ain't on the shelf and I can't order it online, it ain't gonna get bought. I don't have the time or patience for the sport known as Black Friday shopping. Although if the Coach, Cole Haan or even the Nine West store was to have a Black Friday sale, I would probably be up for waiting in that line...

Moral of this story is, this whole Black Friday thing is a pain in the ass. It may be the time of the year that big retailers are looking to move into the black on their balance sheets, but it nothing more than a huge time waster for the general public. There are better ways to spend the day after Thanksgiving; eating leftovers, going to the movies, playing football in the yard, taking a nap, or just hanging out with the family would all be much better use of our collective time. I simply don't buy the hype that holiday shopping makes or breaks our national economy. I would hope that those in power are a bit more on the ball than that. Next year I am going to stick to my plan and skip Black Friday all together. Do you want to come over for a turkey sandwich and left over pie?