I dared to go out on the most dangerous of days yesterday: Black Friday. Once upon a time, my son and I would wake up at 5 and head out for a couple of hours, end up having breakfast at a downtown cafe around 7, and then come home to sleep. It was a self-indulgent hunt for good cheap loot; we mostly ended up picking up stuff only for ourselves, saving Christmas shopping for a more appropriate time of year...like Dec. 23.
These days the son is just getting home around 5, and I certainly don't have the discipline to get up at that hour on my own, so this year I headed out with a friend at the crack of 10:30.
First stop: Best Buy. Look, I HATE that store, but they had A Home Theater System for $49.99!!! I had originally been on a hunt for a a docking station for my iPod, but here was an entire home theater system for 1/2 the price. This could work! I threw one in my cart, along with a memory card for my camera. We picked up a car stereo system for an out-of-town friend, and headed to the check-out, approximately 11:45, 15 minutes left to get the great prices!!
The Best Buy Authorities directed us with those air-traffic control-orange-popsicle-lights to a recreation-park-esque queue that had been taped off through the kitchen appliance department. It was extremely organized, but approximately 500 miles long.
'Tis the season; we took our place amongst the Frigidaire's. We were soon joined by a woman with a cartful, who seemed to have no idea the significance of the day. Harumphing and sighing, she stood with us around the first corner before beckoning a poor BB employee, "EXCUSE ME, EXCUSE ME...," she snapped, "IS THIS THE ONLY PLACE TO CHECK OUT?!!"
I keep standing and smiling, but I am thinking "No, bitch, there are 1,000 people standing patiently in a line that leads to 15 checkout lanes, but there's one register open back in the rear of the store, wayyyyyyyyy back there with the Princess telephones, that has no waiting. Run on back there and find it. Jay-zus, people should be more patient!!!! More patient I say!!!"
No wonder riots break out, eh?
[P.S. The $50 Home Theater System sounded exactly like a $50 Home Theater System would. I gambled and lost; have returned said system, and instead run a complex system of Campbell's soup cans and string from my television to various corners of the room for a vast improvement.]
Just think if you had to be one of the workers who had to deal with all of those people starting at 5:00 am! I went to Sears at 7:00. It was well organized and wasn't very busy. Staples was another story. RS
ReplyDeleteKudos for going though. And thanks for providing us with the commentary. I can just hear you "saying" that to the lady and it made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteMomo: Once again I kept my inner grumblings to myself; I'm sure if you had been there, you would have read my mind.
ReplyDeleteGuido: I only got my heels ran over by a cart behind me once that day, and I didn't start any riots. Staying under the covers sounds like a good idea. But then, it sounded good this morning too.
RS: Hit Staples after the noon cut-off, so it was rather quiet, and they were out of everything. I found 11 cents on the floor in there, so it turned out ok.
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