Friday, November 28, 2008

Black Friday

This morning while millions??? many people were up before the sun even thought about rising, drinking their supposedly better than Starbucks McDonald's coffee (as if!) I was snuggled warm and cozy in my bed sleeping like a baby. Well, being kicked by a baby anyway.

Julia has been gone all week in Nashville and since she and Jenna sleep together that meant Jenna ended up in my bed. That would be me, Emma and Jenna, the notorious spinner, in my bed. Let's just say the last few nights haven't been my most restful.

Enough whining all ready, back to the story!

I'm not a shopper. Darrell loved to shop with me because I'm a "get in and get out" kind of girl. Since I don't really find shopping enjoyable, with crowds especially, it goes without saying that Black Friday isn't my cup of tea. But 2 years ago the kids and I went to Kentucky to visit my brother Dave and his family for Thanksgiving and I was introduced to a completely unknown world.

My sister-in-law Kaye is always looking for the best deals. She'll spend hours looking on the internet and sale ads looking for the best price. Not me, I'd rather be reading blogs, but 2 years ago I really hadn't been introduced to the blog world and Kaye was doing all the research for me. I must have had my head buried in some really big sand pile because I was completely clueless about Black Friday. But I told Kaye I was in the market for a new video camera since my had broken just that summer. I was also looking for Guitar Hero for Trace. Kaye did some a lot of research and told me I could get both at Best Buy. The key was I had to be there and buy them before 8:00 a.m on Black Friday morning to get the best deal. The store opened at 6:00. After some careful thought, Kaye decided we needed to be there by 5:00. That's A.M. As in After Midnight. As in Absolute Madness. I just didn't know it yet.

We got up and left her house by 4:45. My mother was there too and went with us. Black Friday turned out to be one of the coldest days in a really long time in Louisville, Kentucky and its really, really cold just before the sun comes up. I discovered this as I waited outside for FOREVER waiting to get into the store. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Kaye had just recently had surgery on her foot and was on crutches. When we got to the store the parking lot was completely packed and it was going to be hard for Kaye to walk so somehow it was determined that my mother and Kaye would look for a parking space and hang out in the warm car while I waited in line. Yeah.

So I got dropped off at the front of the store and started following the single line to the back. When I got to the back the line serpentined around several times in the back parking lot and I was at the very end. Sound familiar? Kind of Harry Potterish??? Well, I wasn't last for long. Just a short while later a couple of guys showed up, along with various other people over the next hour.

I must make a confession. I tend to be an eavesdropper while standing in line bored out of my mind. I mean, really, what else am I going to do? Some people were pretty quiet, some people were having very mundane conversations, but the 2 guys behind me, they were a completely different story. It turned out that these 2 guys, who I would guess to be in their early to mid 20's, had been at a bar until it closed, went somewhere else and weren't quite ready to call it a night so they decided to head over to Best Buy and see what was going on. Basically they were drunk, but they were happy drunks and very entertaining.

{Public Service Announcement: I in no way condone nor encourage others to get drunk for my own personal amusement.}

Okay, that's of the way.

The Wii had just come out and was really hard to get because of the short supply. (Not much has changed in 2 years, huh?) So these 2 guys started yelling "We want a Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"They even took turns running up and down the lines shouting it at the top of their lungs. They weren't so drunk that they didn't know they would lose their place in line if they ran together, although they were so entertaining I would have let them back in line just for my own amusement. As people started coming to stand in line behind us one of them pulled out his cell phone and pretended it was a tape recorder and he told them he was interviewing people for NPR. I have to say, it was pretty humorous and I giggled quite a bit. In between shivering that is. I would have even suffered through a cup of McDonald's coffee at that point. I was that cold.

A little after 6:00 the line slowly started to move. As we finally made it to the side of the building people were starting to come out of the store and get in their cars. My new friends were shouting at the people "Did you get a Wii???" Some people took them seriously and answered "No, they don't have any Wiis." Others looked at them like they were crazy and ignored them. And still others had no idea what a Wii even was. As we rounded the corner of the store and stood on the front sidewalk we got close to a police officer observing the crowd.

One of the guys volunteered to the policeman "We want a Wii!"

The officer did a double take and asked "Son, did you just say that you wanted some Weed?"

At this point, I was laughing so hard I was crying.

The guy put up his hands, shaking his head "No! No! We want a Wii. It's a game system."

The policeman looked him over with a dubious look "OK"

The guys were a bit more subdued after that. But they didn't have to be careful much longer, because we were soon through the magical doors and into The Promised Land. If I thought standing in line in the freezing cold for an hour and a half was bad, I hadn't seen anything yet.

It was absolute mass chaos. Items flying off the shelves, people practically running each other down. I got Trace's Guitar Hero but I couldn't get anywhere near the video cameras, let alone get a salesperson to get one out of the case for me. I decided it just wasn't worth the effort and went to find the check out line. After standing in another long line, although shorter than my previous one, I finally checked out. While waiting in the check out line I saw my new friends leaving the store empty handed.

"You decided not to get anything?" I asked them. (Yeah, I'll talk to anybody. Just ask my sister-in-law Janne' who laughed at the conversation I had with the guy at Starbucks at the drive thru speaker this past week.)

"No, they didn't have any Wiis. Besides, we just wanted to see the crazy people waiting to get in."

All righty then. Hope they weren't too disappointed. I know I wasn't.

9 comments:

Kristy said...

Again I love reading everything you write and this one just cracked me up.

Denise thank you so much for being there for me and for encouraging me. I can't tell you how blessed and happy I am thatyou "stalked" me as you call it. You are truly a blessing.

Love, Kristy

~Isabel said...

At last...i have finally found someone else who sleeps through "Black Friday". I truly thought that i was the only one! :) There is simply nothing that is worth getting up that early for...

....unless it's to cuddle with a baby. ;)

Off to do my shopping...online in my fuzzy slippers with a cup of hot chocolate. :)))

Hope you're enjoying your holiday!

Unknown said...

You are just too funny!

Denise Grover Swank said...

Issy-- Online Shopping-- now THAT'S my kind of shopping!!! My only other "favorite" in person places are Target and Costco. I'm trying to stay away from both places because they suck the money right out of my debit card. Unfortunately all these kids eat all the food and I'm forced to go back to Costco. What's a mom to do???

Brandy said...

How funny! At least someone was there to entertain you.

I went yesterday and it wasn't too bad. No waiting in line though since Walmart was my first stop...it was packed but cleared out quickly. It's grab and run to the next stop ya' know.

Donna said...

Oh Moi Aussi! I HATE, LOATHE, DESPISE Black Friday. I refuse to do it just a save a few bucks. NOT WORTH IT! :) I actually enjoy shopping for others at Christmsa time and I want to do it at a leisurely pace. The rest of the year, I'm also a "get in & get out" girl. I go with a specific mission and I either find what I want or not. Either way, I'm done. I guess I could find better dals if I shopped around but again, I just don't care that much. :)

Happy post-gobble day!
Donna

Kristin said...

A very funny story---one I feel you won't experience again. Love your drunk pals behind you. That makes the wait so much more tolerable, doesn't it? Having people to laugh at I mean! :-)

I'm with you on the Black Friday thing. I was much happier in my bed instead of inline at a store at midnight---which is what happened here this weekend. Geesh!

Margaret M said...

I'm with you...in and out shopper. This post was funny. Everyone needs to experience Black Friday at least once.

Mary, Martin, Maggie and Mickey said...

Hmmm... I suppose this would be an awkward time to mention that Best Buy was selling any number of items cheaper online than in their stores?

But here's my real comment -- if you had only two kids in bed with you, I have very little sympathy! My nights usually start out comfortably enough, but inevitably end up with: my unmoveable lump of a husband smack in the middle of the bed, our toddler son between us spinning like a top on my right shoulder, a kitten curled up somewhere in there too, my bony six-year-old and her 18 extra elbows (which only come out at night) on my left, my favorite cat snuggled against my legs, and our obese tom cat sleeping on my chest. Note that with hubby in the middle, all the rest of the "action" takes place only on my side.

And before you ask, I've tried to escape into my six-year-old's twin bed. First to follow is usually the tomcat, then hubby with toddler, then kitten, then daughter. My favorite cat meanwhile enjoys the luxury of having the big bed to herself, while I end up with the rest on a twin bed.

And my husband had the nerve to ask in the mornings why I look like I haven't slept.