We’ve never been Black Friday shoppers. Well, my husband did convince me to go one year—for a $20 DVD player. He woke me up, drove us to the store, saw the crowd in the store, and stayed outside while I waited in line to pay. Then we went home. Haven’t attempted it since.
But this year my kids decided they needed to experience Black Friday in its truest form. “More power to you,” we said as we went to bed. They went to Walmart.
They arrived at 11:30 in search of the $3 appliances for daughter’s upcoming move to a campus apartment. Not one in sight. What they did see were women stacking their carts with movies (heedless of titles), crockpots, and anything else they could find on sale. Apparently right before they arrived there was even a brawl over Wii games that resulted in police and ambulance presence.
So after bombing out at Walmart, you’d think they’d have learned their lesson and come home to their warm beds. (Did I mention it was in the 30s that night?) But no. Instead, they came home for blankets and chairs and got in line at the sporting goods store. After all, the first 85 people would receive a gift card valued anywhere from $10-$500. As you can imagine, visions of sporting goods danced in their heads. Five hours later they finally arrived home and dropped into bed, having spent their $10 gift cards. (The $500 one went to the person four behind them.)
My daughter loved the rush of it all. My older son (who is very much like his father) hated it but laughed and refused to admit that (after all, he got free headphones out of the deal). But my younger son didn’t mince words. When we asked if it was worth it—the cold and the waiting and the up-all-night—he promptly answered “I’m not doing that again.”
LOL. I went Black Friday shopping one time, with my Jewish friend. Never shop with a Jewish woman when there are sale prices involved. I should have worn a helmet and pads.
I do most of my shopping online these days!
I'm not a fan of the hoopla of Black Friday either. Or of malls and Wal-Mart in general, but my 13-year-old grandson had some money that was burning a hole in his pocket, so my daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and I took him to the mall on Friday afternoon. We actually got a decent parking place. All in all, it wasn't too bad, but I tend to agree w/ your youngest – not something I care to do again.
I have done the very early Black Friday thing with my sister, and it was an experience that's for sure. I think it's only worth it if you have something particular that you need to get. But again, there is a lot of false advertising out there – if they say something is on sale, often there are only two or three of those items to be found in the store! These days we leave the house at a respectable hour and still find good bargains to be had, and don't feel ill by lunch time!