Friday Nuttiness

"For those who still enjoy the mayhem of Black Friday, please continue. Myself, I think this whole Black Friday thing is about ready to be eclipsed by Cyber Monday. And that day, I can fit into very easily."

As I sit in the comfort of my own home this morning, I would like to cast aspersions on all those "other" folks who are out Christmas shopping on Black Friday. But that would be very hypocritical of me. Why? Not too long ago, I was one of the "other" folks. Yes, I took part in this annual nuttiness, and did some very nutty things on Black Friday. It was after all, as much of Thanksgiving weekend as turkey and football was.

One year in particular, we talked our oldest daughter and her husband (before grandies), to come over for Thanksgiving dinner, hang out, take a long nap, and then leave at 11 pm to get up to Albertville by midnight. Why Albertville? A HUGE "everything was on sale, sale" at the outlet mall. So we did it. Finished a late turkey day dinner, took a nap, got up, and headed north to Albertville. 

When we got about five miles away from the outlet mall, traffic on I-94 came to almost a dead stop. I thought, "Oh no! A serious accident on Thanksgiving night!" Well, there was no accident. It was just a zillion or so folks with the same nutty idea we had. When we finally got up there, it was SRO with almost no parking spots. We ended up buying nothing, coming home empty handed, and almost asleep at the wheel.

There were many a time however, when the kids were young, and I would get up at the butt crack of dawn, head to WalMart, Target, Menards, or where ever to get in line to buy stuff that nobody needed. But the price on that stuff that nobody needed was the drug which got me there. I would fill up my cart, get in a long line with crabby people, pay my bill, and head out to my truck. About 8 in the morning, I would be done, broke, tired and icky. 

I did take one more run for the roses a couple years ago. Mills Fleet Farm had a ridiculously low price on bulk ammo with rebate. So low, I got into my truck in the middle of the night, bad cataracts and all, and drove 20 miles to the store. Once I got there, the line was stretched all the way to the end of the building. I almost turned around and came home. But - I still had just enough nuttiness left in me to put up with the mayhem and get my ammo. When I got home, my wife was up and making breakfast. I looked at here and said, "This time I mean it - NEVER AGAIN!"

Today, my shopping is done, thanks to Amazon Prime. It has made a lazy and sane person out of me. For those who still enjoy the mayhem of Black Friday, please continue. Myself, I think this whole Black Friday thing is about ready to be eclipsed by Cyber Monday. And that day, I can fit into very easily.