Black(eye) Friday

Black Friday.

Up til 3 years ago I swore I would never participate in such a ghastly, mob-like activity. No deal was worth it.

That was until I actually went. Oh. My. Gosh. It was so much fun that I have done it for the past 3 years. I think if you are going to do it, though, you have to have a few rules:

1. Nothing is worth killing over....so just let me have it already. Let go!!

2. Step away from the electronics. Unless you have a death wish. If so, you have come to the right place.

3. The "Sale" PJ's they have really aren't all that great. Definitely not worth the scratching you will get on your hands, arms and quite possibly your eyes. Seriously! Don't!!

4. All aisle traffic rules are out the window. "Stay to the right" becomes "Get out of the way Grandma!! There is no right-of-way. Sorry!" But you know I would never say or do anything like that. Never ever.

5. You have to laugh. I mean, look around you. All these overly tired, overly stuffed people walking around grabbing stuff like there is no tomorrow. They are frantically calling their relative that is either on the other end of the store or in a totally different place altogether. It's humorous to say the least.

6. Don't curse at people who are laughing at you.

7. Be prepared to stand in long checkout lines. Unless you are smart enough to weasel your way through the lingerie department and get to the other end of the store where the lines are super short. Shorter than on any other day of the year. Scoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooore!

Last year when we went, I commented to my husband that stores should have sales throughout the day, rather than one start time. It would cut down on the craziness, plus you would get more people to your stores. At least that is what I thought. But who would listen to little old me?

Wal-Mart, that's who.

So last night, about 9pm, my friend calls me and asks if I wanted to go with her at midnight because that's when their sales started.

"Uhhh, yeah!" was my response.

So I quickly mapped out what I wanted to get and we headed there early. We were one of the first people waiting at the Wii game cases. My friend stayed to guard our place while I ran and got a few of the other items that weren't locked up with the bullet proof clear wrap. There were, however, some people who couldn't wait and had ripped open the wrapping and began grabbing. Can you believe it??

I told them "Thank you" and took a few of my own.

When I got back to my friend, she told me that the game she wanted was across the store. So I stayed, hoping to get that dang Wii game while she knocked people over hustled to get to her gift. I also noticed that there were more and more people crowding in front of me. "Breath in...breath out. It's all good," I told myself.

A few minutes later, the voice from above said, "Customers. Please step away from the merchandise." Then almost immediately I heard a roar and that's when the real crazy started. Lucky for me I was far away from those red boxes. But it caused me some anxiety.

"What if that lady really does like the XBox customers better and never comes down here to us Wii folk?
"What if she helps these cutters before me?"
"What if all those roaring people take all the other things I want while I stand here and wait?"

It was too much for me. I gave up. It wasn't worth the angst I was starting to feel. No game is worth it. Even if it was $20 off and my son would have really loved to have it and Hubs told me I should have gotten it when I got home. Oh well. It was the same with all those really cheap movies. But it was so not worth elbowing my way through the crowds. At least not this year.

Another Black Friday gone. Another day of great deals.

Another busy day for ERs everywhere!

What deals did you get?