In the States, the day after Thanksgiving is referred to by retailers and shoppers as Black Friday. It’s considered the start of the Christmas shopping season. Many of the stores open at ridiculous hours and have great sales. There are even web sites that post bootleg copies of the shopping ads weeks before the big event.
I usually partake in the bedlam, because that’s what it is when the doors open at midnight, or 5:00 am, and the crowd rushes in to grab up the bargains. I have waited in line at 4:00 am with my sister to snap up a digital camera that was on sale at Walmart one year. The doors opened and we ran through the aisles to the electronics department where we snatched up our prize. I’ve waited in line at 4:00am at CompUSA to get the stuff that’s free after rebates, even though I didn’t REALLY need any of it…and most of it was crap….but hey, it was free. And after that I ran across the street to Office Max where I waited in line again because they opened an hour later. Pandemonium ensued as soon as the doors opened. They had moved most of their big buys onto tables in the middle of the aisles. People jumped onto the tables and started throwing things to others who were crowded around trying to get their hands on anything……I mean ANYTHING. People were getting run over by shopping carts, kids where getting trampled. It was pure chaos. Last year my sis and I went out at midnight, where we waited in line for an hour only to finally get into the store and find that what we wanted had already been sold out……sad. And don’t forget, it’s cold here. We freeze doing all this standing in line stuff.
So, we just finished looking at the ads for tomorrow. I’d already been looking online and didn’t really see anything of GREAT interest; CompUSA’s got a router for $4.99 that looks sorta interesting. That sale starts at 9:00 tonight. Right now I’m thinking it’s not worth the hassle. Circuit City’s got a bunch of cd’s on sale tomorrow, but not worth getting up at 4:00 am for……. Oh, I’ll be shopping tomorrow, for sure, but I think I’m going to retire the tradition of being in line when the store opens. Maybe I’ll sleep in on Black Friday….cripes that’s almost sacrilegious!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Happy Shopping Seymour!!
I am not a shopper, especially when there are huge crowds in the aisles. Black Friday is marked on my calendar to stay away from any retail outlet. But this online thing is dangerous for me. I didn't know they had special sales the day after Thanksgiving online too.
Only in America ;-)
That was interesting thanks Seymour. I love hearing stories of everyday life from far across the waters.
In Africa we would never have shops opening at ungodly hours for two reasons.
1) NOBODY WOULD WANT TO WORK THOSE HOURS - SO THE SHOPS WOULD NOT HAVE STAFF
2) AND NOBODY WOULD BE SHOPPING THEN BECAUSE THE THUGS COME OUT IN THE DARK.
tb: I ended up doing a little online shopping myself. It was much more peaceful nobody got hurt.
lurker: HAHAHA......we wouldn't let those little things get in the way of getting the almighty deal! We're too damn greedy.
Post a Comment