The day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday.” It is the official kick-off of the Christmas shopping season. Most people have the day after Thanksgiving off from work, so merchants lure these idle people to their stores by offering sales on desirable merchandise. The stores open extremely early at 5 am and offer incredible deals for only a few hours to get people in and spending money. Reporters with cameras show the stampede of humanity as some poor store employee unlocks the door and makes a dash for safety before being trampled by eager bargain hunters.
The local news channels have helicopters circling above the shopping malls, reporting on traffic tie-ups and over crowded parking lots. Usually, we sit back in the comfort of our family room and laugh at people who would line up in the cold and wait for a store to open just to buy things. But this year, the laugh is on us.
Today my husband was reading the advertisements in the newspaper. He saw an ad for a laptop computer at an extremely low price. It just so happens we are in the market for a laptop computer for one of our kids. “The store opens at 5 am and they only have 15 computers at this price” he called to me as I was preparing our Thanksgiving feast. “Only15?" I groan back to him. " That means we will have to be in line at 4 am at the latest!” Silently, we weigh the benefits of saved money for lost sleep.
So, tomorrow we’ll join the stampede of humanity in search of Christmas bargains in the land of Capitalism. Vive the USA!
The local news channels have helicopters circling above the shopping malls, reporting on traffic tie-ups and over crowded parking lots. Usually, we sit back in the comfort of our family room and laugh at people who would line up in the cold and wait for a store to open just to buy things. But this year, the laugh is on us.
Today my husband was reading the advertisements in the newspaper. He saw an ad for a laptop computer at an extremely low price. It just so happens we are in the market for a laptop computer for one of our kids. “The store opens at 5 am and they only have 15 computers at this price” he called to me as I was preparing our Thanksgiving feast. “Only15?" I groan back to him. " That means we will have to be in line at 4 am at the latest!” Silently, we weigh the benefits of saved money for lost sleep.
So, tomorrow we’ll join the stampede of humanity in search of Christmas bargains in the land of Capitalism. Vive the USA!
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Update: This morning my brave husband got up at 4am and was at the store by 4:30am. (Since, I'm still recovering from a bad cold, I elected to stay tucked in the warm bed when I peeked out the window and saw 2 inches of snow on the ground.) He told me later it was the stupidest thing he has ever done. He said that the parking lot was full and more than 200 people were standing in line waiting for the store to open. So, he drove to another store and found the same amount of people waiting. He went to yet another store and found only 75 people outside. He decided to join this line. Once in the store, he didn't find any bargains. So back to the original store with the cheap price for the laptop computers. Now the store was open, but there was still a line outside. He found out that people were given numbers at 3am that told them what time they could get in the store. He looked inside and saw a total madhouse of lines of customers balancing packages in one hand and a credit card in the other. It was hell on earth in his mind. He made his way home and went back to bed until 9 am.
However, he went to a store this afternoon and bought my Christmas present: a new digital camera. Our seven year old camera had finally bit the dust and I've lamented several times that we need a new one. I decided NOT to wait until Christmas to use it! So look forward to new pictures of NM on my blog. :-) This also means he'll have to buy me another present for under the tree! (evil laugh)
I'm nominating him for Husband of the Year for braving the crowds on Black Friday. He was clearly out of his league!
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