Black Friday
The news showed people being trampled. Pushing and shoving until one, then more, land on the floor. The others just rushed over them. For a free case of CDs? To save a few bucks on the new X-Box? Hard on the heels of a quiet Thanksgiving Day comes Black Friday. We give thanks, then we shop with a vengeance. Shoppers shake off the turkey's tryptophan and rise early to get a jump-start on Christmas shopping. Some stores welcomed customers at 3 or 4 in the morning. CompUSA opened at 11:59 Thanksgiving night. It's almost as bad as playing Christmas music after Halloween. Maybe it's worse.
I don't participate in this ritual. But, my family picked it up several years ago, like a bad habit. The first year, my husband had his eye on some deals. He headed out at 6 a.m., alone. I thought he was crazy. Our oldest, a college student at the time, thought he was cool.
The next year Amie wanted to go along. The lines were long, but Amie and Gary double-teamed. One went right for the checkout line. The other shopped. They did three or four stores this way, scarfing up freebies along the way. They were home by 9 a.m. We scored with a new TV, a DVD player (our first), and assorted computer accessories. And, lots of rebates to process. The following year, Amie insisted they go again. She loved the thrill of a good deal. A tradition was born.
By last Thanksgiving, Amie had relocated to California. She wanted to save her plane fare for Christmas. We missed her. But, on Black Friday, we just moved on: The younger one said she'd go. Gary and Sarah headed out before 6 a.m. to get in line. Circuit City offered a Cat in the Hat look-alike and free donuts—definitely the best pre-dawn, pre-store-opening deal. We ended off with more free CDs, $5 DVDs, a flash drive, battery back-up, and so on. I prayed I'd never be drafted.
This year, Gary prepared early. He scanned the newspapers Thanksgiving morning. He consulted Sarah. They came up with a strategy: What to target. Where to hit first. Where to go last. What time to head out. You'd think it was a bank heist. Might as well have been: Grandma ended up with a flat-screen HDTV for her birthday and Christmas. Gary set it up quickly in her family room. We were all in front of it by evening. Of course, the assorted freebies and rebate items appeared, too. But, we were more interested in the TV. Especially the news. The war in Iraq was eclipsed for the day. The big news was people trampling other people at shopping malls on Black Friday.
I don't participate in this ritual. But, my family picked it up several years ago, like a bad habit. The first year, my husband had his eye on some deals. He headed out at 6 a.m., alone. I thought he was crazy. Our oldest, a college student at the time, thought he was cool.
The next year Amie wanted to go along. The lines were long, but Amie and Gary double-teamed. One went right for the checkout line. The other shopped. They did three or four stores this way, scarfing up freebies along the way. They were home by 9 a.m. We scored with a new TV, a DVD player (our first), and assorted computer accessories. And, lots of rebates to process. The following year, Amie insisted they go again. She loved the thrill of a good deal. A tradition was born.
By last Thanksgiving, Amie had relocated to California. She wanted to save her plane fare for Christmas. We missed her. But, on Black Friday, we just moved on: The younger one said she'd go. Gary and Sarah headed out before 6 a.m. to get in line. Circuit City offered a Cat in the Hat look-alike and free donuts—definitely the best pre-dawn, pre-store-opening deal. We ended off with more free CDs, $5 DVDs, a flash drive, battery back-up, and so on. I prayed I'd never be drafted.
This year, Gary prepared early. He scanned the newspapers Thanksgiving morning. He consulted Sarah. They came up with a strategy: What to target. Where to hit first. Where to go last. What time to head out. You'd think it was a bank heist. Might as well have been: Grandma ended up with a flat-screen HDTV for her birthday and Christmas. Gary set it up quickly in her family room. We were all in front of it by evening. Of course, the assorted freebies and rebate items appeared, too. But, we were more interested in the TV. Especially the news. The war in Iraq was eclipsed for the day. The big news was people trampling other people at shopping malls on Black Friday.
posted by Carpe Diem at 1:17 PM
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