My First Black Friday:P

Hard to believe that I have never participated in Black Friday seeing that Shyrl is my Mother, but it is true. I am used to Boxing Day but that does not even come close to the the horror/crazy stories of Black Friday I have heard over the years. This year I knew the sales were going to be well worth the effort, and the loss of sleep, so I ventured out into the darkness hoping to find some light and keep some cash in my pocket.

We left Paul's and Janis's house around 11:00 p.m. and headed over to the mall ... The Disney Store was having an amazing sale at Midnight and I was dead set on getting the matching Tree Skirt (they only had 3 left in stock) to match our Minnie & Mickey Tree Topper. The girls thought it was quite exciting that they got to go to the store so late and we were the first ones there...that did not last for long, a crowd started gathering but I must say Disney Folk are very polite and did not try to butt in line. I am happy to report that at the stroke of 12 I was able to get my Tree Skirt at 60% off and the girls their Christmas Jammies also at 60% off. I saved so much money I was able to get myself the matching stocking. I saved $65. I was soooooooo happy:)

I took Wes and the girls home and waited till 3:00 a.m. to head over to our Super Walmart. Now remember this my first experience with this CRAZINESS so I had no idea what to expect. I got there and about 450 people were lined up inside in the front of the store. A Manager was on the P.A. telling all the customers that they were not allowed to have anything in their carts or be by the merchandise until 5:00 a.m. I started questioning my sanity. I knew I was going to save a good amount of money but was waiting in line for two hours with a bunch of WII hungry lunatics ... worth my safety? I guess so because I stayed. The woman behind me was there to get one of the 40 WII bundles they had on sale and she was telling her daughters to do "what ever it takes" to get back to that section. Knock people over, hit them, pretty much anything. She meant it too. All I could think was "Wow" ... I was appalled. The store started to get so crowded that there was no longer a line. At about 4:30 the Manager got on the P.A. and told us we could all go and stand in front of the sale items we wanted. There were well over 1200 people in the store. I have never seen so many people scatter so quickly. I walked back to the DVDs, it was nice to take a stroll with no one around.

Now whoever set up the sale items clearly was not thinking straight. The DVDs were smack dab in between the 52 inch HD televisions and the 32 inch TVs...those people were out for blood, there were only a certain amount and they made it a point to let everyone around them know that they were not leaving without that precious item. It was scary. So I am thinking I am going to get trampled to death just so I can get a few copies of Kung Fu Panda and some Pet Shop Toys. The other people waiting with me to get the DVD's were very kind and we all came up with a plan so we could all get what we wanted. It was refreshing to know that in the midst of all the madness there were still some friendly and kind people not willing to bludgeon you with their cart.

5:00 a.m. hit, and it is still all a blur. I can't even explain the things that I saw or what people were shouting at other people. All I know is that I got my movies and now had to make my way to the other side of the Super Walmart so could get the Pet Shop Toys. I am very lucky I am so small and persistent ... I got crushed in between two carts and trapped in the Video game section (that is where all the maniacs were) but I was able to push my way through and get my Pet Shop Toys. I was full of adrenaline. It was a high I have never felt...the people in the toy section were like hungry hyenas on speed...it was insane.
I started mapping the best way to get to the front of the store and figured that getting to the paint isle would be the safest exit...who is buying paint on Black Friday? It took me about 4 minutes to squish my way threw the crowd and I only had to go a couple of feet. I have never been so relieved to see a can of paint. I finally felt safe, it was a wasteland. I saved about $40. Next year if I decide to brave Black Friday I will definitely go for a bigger item.
I then headed over the the Bonton and got a few games for 50% off. It was not crowded and everyone was pleasant.

I guess I was still really pumped up when I got home because Wes thought he was going to have slap me of sedate me to get me to calm down from the adrenaline. I guess I could not stop telling him about everything that I saw and repeated the story a few times (this is all kind of fuzzy) with more enthusiasm each telling. I ended up getting a few hours of sleep.

Did you know that we had people in our family in all time zones at Walmart for the early morning sale. Andy was Pacific, Mom, Aunt Robyn and Danielle were Mountain, Marcie was Central and I was Eastern Standard Time. Look, we all did something as a family:P