Crazy Black Friday-ness

So, I'm not a shopper by nature BUT I got on the Black Friday kick several years ago because of a friend. I talked my sister-in-law, Paula into it last year so this was our second year going and man, was it a trip!

We never buy much and every year we both ask ourselves (at 3:30 in the a.m.) what we are thinking and why we feel it necessary to go shopping instead of sleeping. We had a couple of missions this year: 1)to buy my niece, (her daughter) a small kitchen and 2) to purchase a very small,cheap MP3 player for Isaiah. We also stated that while we really wanted these two items, we were also not willing to fight for them nor get involved in the Black Friday craziness.

NOW, the real story. We went to Meijer, shop around lazily, see a lady with the very kitchen we are looking for. She reports she has been in the store since 10pm THAT NIGHT (who is THAT insane???) and was planning on buying 2 of them. Suddenly we felt the urgency that this was going to be an item of high desire. We found a handy spot to stand and wait. Within 20 minutes we were feeling crowded and a bit protective of our spot being the "second in line" waiting. Quiet whispers, mass movement to a side door, we split up to "divide and conquer" and I assumed the position of waiting. Then running is observed to a side door on the other end of the store. By this time of course, Leegan MUST have one and I must secure a kitchen set because she undoubtedly cannot live without it. I run down 2 aisles pushing the cart, hoping no one will knock the pregnant woman down. As I reach the end of the aisle a skid with one kitchen passes me by and as it falls off the skid I grab it. At that moment another hand reaches around the corner (but I HAD it). I HAD SECURED a kitchen! I then heard "Karen!" and saw that Paula had also secured one for her precious daughter and later learned she had also tackled an old lady to get it (Just kidding but there was an old lady involved). I gave my kitchen away to one of the many screaming women and we moved on, pleased and hearts pumping. What a thrill! We decided we must go for a high demand item next year too!

On to item number 2...the MP3 player at another store. We feel the urgency now and rush to the section it is located. There stand a group of women around one very tall, Russian man that has grabbed at least 5 MP3 players waiting for the associate to unlock the clips. He is blocking the entire wall. The assoc. unlocks the clip, he grabs the one he wants (which is the last one of that sort), a lady starts screaming at him, other ladies chime in and Paula and I are slightly freaked out. We start backing away (running for an item and getting into verbal fights are completely different), look at each other and I announce that I don't like this. At this point, the entire crowd moves, still yelling and we calmly pick out the cheap, unwanted MP3 player that we came for. Whew.

This is the end of the drama. The rest of the shopping trip went smoothly and after 4 1/2 hours we were home and I went to bed. Happy Thanksgiving to us! :) :)