Under the Arch

Yes, I am one of the crazies that gets up at 3:30am the day after thanksgiving to fight the crowds for bargains. Why? I think it's fun. I know, I know. Let me explain.

I don't have any kids. Other than my parents and siblings, I don't have a list of people I HAVE to buy for. I rarely even buy anything on black friday. So, why do I do it? The thrill of the hunt.

At 4am, my mom and I were at JCPenney's when they opened. My only real purchase of the day was here. A chunky black necklace that was 50% off. But, we picked up the free mickey snowglobe for this year and some jeans for my nephew. By 4:30am I was standing in the toy dept. at Walmart, right up next to the pallet of Transformers toys that were on sale for $10. (The Walmart in my hometown is a superwalmart, open 24 hours, so you just go in and at 5am when the sale starts is the first you are allowed to touch the sale merchandise.) By 4:45am, it was getting crowded in there and I overheard a woman ask someone how this works. All wide-eyed she said,"You can't take anything until 5, when the sale starts?" (Seriously? Are you new here?) Keeping an eye on anyone who might try to edge me out of snatching distance, I silently snickered at the idiots still trying to maneuver around with a cart. (Suckers!) Most of the carts were being abandoned in the side aisles, which was going to make things difficult later. At 5am on the dot, the associates guarding the pallets gave the signal and I snatched up 4 of the Transformer 2-packs and made my way down the aisle to the tonka dump truck, snatching a pack of matchbox cars on the way. I detoured through an actual toy aisle and snagged an empty cart to deposit my booty. As I started to make my escape, a girl that I knew in high school spotted me and marveled at the amount of stuff I had already. (Yeah, I know. I Win.) Then, I met up with my mom (in charge of electronics) and my sister (charged with the task of getting the computer for $398). My sister hates this kind of thing and was appalled at the women scratching and kicking for the $5 kid's Pjs. My mom and I just looked at each other, we've been doing this for years, nothing shocks us. After Walmart, we went back to JCPenney's to get some more jeans for my nephew, with my sister this time, and then on to Bath and Body Works for the $5 Wallflowers (regular price $12.50, they make great office gift exchange gifts, and it's good to stock up). By the time we had wandered around Sears to find jeans for my brother and made it back to the car outside JCPenney's, the sun was finally up.
Whew!
to be continued.....