"Black Friday"

BLACK Friday

Black FRIDAY

Traditionally the day retailers are finally able to show black in their annual ledger.  If they're lucky and have a good turnout.

Many years ago, when the kids were little bitty, Bill and I saw it as a game and adventure to get up around 3 am and go stand in line together outside the store doors with other crazy, adventure seeking shoppers and wait for the doors to open at 6 am.  Back then, that was considered extreme behavior.  We'd cuddle and laugh and sip hot cocoa while cheerfully chatting with the strangers around us.  At around 5:30 to 5:45 am, we'd start to see latecomers try to sneak in line in front of us, but mostly they were repelled by the die-hards around us who had built a strong bond of early hour camaraderie.  Once the doors opened up, we dashed inside like giddy children and had a frenzied blast buying up Christmas toys for our kids.  Many shouts of "Merry Christmas!" were heard, and I would see shoppers help each other lift items into carts.  We'd be out of there by 6:30 am, heading to breakfast at the local IHOP, and home again before the kids even awoke.

Those early years were fun times and I have fond memories of them.  It didn't stay like that, however.  Over the years, I started seeing disturbing behaviors amongst my fellow shoppers.  Once, I saw two grown women fighting over one toy.  That was a scene that repeated itself several more times.  Another time, I saw a man cussing out a store employee for not having any more of the item he stood in line so long to purchase.

One year, I saw the doors break as the crowd surged in.  That was the first time I felt scared.  The crowd was massive that year.  I can understand how dangerous a mob can be, because I was trapped in one that morning!  My only concern that time was to simply stay upright and go with the flow that was literally pushing me along.  I feared what might happen if I fell.

We stopped shopping Black Friday as a fun adventure after that.

Not as many years ago (5 years ago, in fact), I was standing in a Black Friday line; this time with my son, Will.  We desperately needed a family computer and couldn't afford to spend much money, so Black Friday sales were more of a necessity than anything else.  In my desperation to make sure I got the coveted "Doorbuster" price, we arrived at midnight, hoping for good line position.  Nope.  We were around the block standing on a bridge over the wetlands that surrounded the strip mall.  It was a terrible night, too.  It drizzled freezing rain on us for hours as we waited for the store to open.  It was miserable.  Will was only 11 at the time, and I could tell he was wishing he hadn't asked to come.   I ended up sending him back to the car to get out of the bad weather, but I stayed in line.  Yes, I did get a computer... but I got pneumonia, too.

Nowadays, it is not so much a "Black Friday" shopping experience as it is a "Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Insanity" nightmare.  People camped out in front of stores for days at a time, sacrificing holiday family time in pursuit of the coveted "Doorbuster" that would be sold to them on Thanksgiving day itself... forcing others to give up their holiday in order to sell it to them.  The true insanity comes from the fact that these days there is NO NEED to stand in those crazy lines to get the best price!


You can get the same prices ONLINE.

So, why in the world would you stand in line at some unreasonable hour now?

We are once again in the market for a new family computer; that 5 year old laptop has grown quite geriatric.  So, after Thanksgiving was over and all dishes were done...  Everyone winding down or heading to bed... I spent a couple of hours researching the best online "Black Friday But Really All Weekend Long" deals while lounging in PJs and eating a turkey sandwich.  I bought a good computer at a decent sale price and it is being shipped to me, free of charge.  No fuss, no muss... and no scary mob/pneumonia inducing craziness!

It's sad to see how something that used to be fun and adventurous has turned so greedy and monstrous.  We really have no one to blame but ourselves.  Retailers are out to make money.  If crowds of idiots are willing to throw away tradition and flock to the stores to buy, buy, buy...

But not me.

Not ever again.