Shop 'til You Drop

Or shop until you get a raging migraine; you pick. Yes, I am one of those crazy shoppers who is out early on Black Friday. This year there was nothing in particular that was pulling me out of bed at 4 am. But there must've been something pulling my hubby out of bed at 4 am and I subsequently couldn't fall back asleep, so I was at the stores by 6 am. One of the toys I was looking for I couldn't find at Kohl's (they opened at 4 am, so everyone had a 2 hour head start) but it will still be there at the same price sometime in the next few weeks. Otherwise I bought things for the kiddos and maybe a few things for me.

Black Friday shopping isn't that bad when you encounter nice people, which was the majority of people. Yes, we may have been up at an ungodly hour and yes, we may have all been fighting for the same $49 DVD player, but over all most people were overly polite today.

The biggest example of how "safe" and trusting people here are in the Midwest occured at Target today. Target was c.ra.z.y. when I got there around 7:30 am. I only had a few things on my list there and after grabbing those, I got in line to wait what I thought may take 2 hrs (the line snaked around the entire store). I started chit-chating with a nice guy behind me who was buying a $300 TV. An older gentleman approached him with a cart and the same TV. He said something to the effect of, "Here, use my cart. Here is some money for the TV. I need to go meet my wife in front of Kohl's and I'll be back." From the way the conversation went, I assumed the two men knew each other. The guy in line and I were chatting some more and he said, "Wow, I must really look like a trustworthy person." The two men had never met before. Here a guy hands another guy $300 cash and trusts that he'll get his TV at the end of the line. We made comments about "Oh, take the money and run" or "Sell the TV for more money once you get out the door." We were joking, but I'm sure those thoughts would cross most people's minds. The line at Target took about 1/2 hr and right before we got to the cash registers, the older gentleman came back and said, "I sure appreciate you doing that for me." He introduced himself and the two men chatted for the next 10 mintues until we hit the front of the store. I'm glad I live where strangers are nice and don't trample each other to get in the stores.

By the time I had shopped for 5 hours (hitting Kohl's, Bed/Bath/Beyond, Target, multiple store in the mall, Toys R Us, and Walmart), I was about done. What put me over the top was the lovely gift of a speeding ticket I received as I drove to meet hubby, BIL, and two SIL's for lunch. Merry freakin' Christmas.