Black Friday. This is perhaps the most anticipated, gossiped over and ravaged day of the year, as far as shopping is concerned. If you have to work during this day however, it is a day of dread, fear, and anxiety. I got my first and most likely final taste of Black Friday last week as a consumer. The day that caused a woman at Wal-Mart to pepper spray 20 other people while racing to get her precious whatever. This is the same day that has even caused people to be killed in the past, all to save 300 dollars on a television. I was giddy at the prospect of going and observing all the people. I sincerely hoped and prayed I would be fortunate enough to see two 70+ aged women racing to get their hands on the Golden Girls series collection.
I was home for Thanksgiving break and went to Target at midnight with a couple of my buddies. They didn’t even have to talk me into it. I am pretty easy going with my friends, up for just about anything, as long as it’s not dangerous like bird watching or bowling. I’m not that big of a risk taker. Driving there I was convinced the lines would be chalk full of elderly aged women prepared to hobble and stumble to the nearest aisle that tempted them. I have no idea what type of aisle elderly aged women are into….cooking perhaps, housewares? I don’t profess to have any idea. As we pulled up I could not have been more wrong.
Starting at the front door was a line. This was no ordinary line. It winded. It zigged. It zagged. It did all types of things a line should not be capable of doing. This line was full of all types of people. There were children under the age of 5, teenagers, college peeps, moms, dads, and elderly on their death beds. All eager and pumped to rush into Target and buy that new coffee maker. Many had the “eye of the tiger,” the look that said, “I will do whatever I must to get that TV.” My friends and I made our way to the back and prepared for the doors to open. We saw one lone security guard doing his rounds on the perimeter of the store. He looked terrified about what could potentially happen if the crowd became unruly. At the stroke of midnight a loud cheer echoed throughout the parking lot followed and duplicated by nearly every person in line. Unfortunately this did not cause any fights to erupt, much to my chagrin (Chagrin is truly an awesome and quite scholarly word. So much so I decided I had to take time to call your attention to it with this very long insertion via parentheses). As we got closer we were able to see people already leaving the store with their purchases. Most people had gotten big ass TVs or Xboxes, I-Pods, etc, but there were a few things I found odd. Such as the woman who pushed her cart past me full of bedding. Yep, bedding. All I have to say is that bedding better have been like a 1000 count Egyptian thread. Or the guy who tried to fit his 55 inch TV into the back of his very small car. We finally made our way into the store and went towards the electronics section. I am not going to get into what we bought, (I got movies) but we had to wait two hours in that line alone to actually pay for what we bought. This is added on to the thirty minutes it took to get into the place. All in all target was extremely organized and nobody died or was peppered sprayed (should have gone to Wal-Mart instead). Is it strange I kind of wished I had witnessed something of this nature? It probably is, yes.
Looking back on my short but interesting experience I still cannot figure out what would cause people to wait outside of a store for days, just to get through the door first. Is that TV really worth taking time off of your job and away from your families, hobbies, etc. I don’t think so but then again what do I know?
Disclaimer: I realize some of the above sentences are not actually sentences. Then again, this is my blog so I don’t care. Hope you all had a fantastically wonderful holiday.
