Black Friday...

I just got saw a stack of sales papers for today's sales. I heard some stores are opening at 3 am, 4 am, 5 am, and 6 am. Some sales are only lasting the early morning hours. Maybe it’s me, but I just don’t get it. Why do these stores have to open so early the day after Thanksgiving? I just spent two days cooking and a few days before that cleaning and shopping. The last thing I wanted to do last night was set my alarm for 2 am so I can be at the store at 3 or 4 am to shop. I was tired and I took a sleeping pill to make sure I slept through the night and the sales. Even if I was crazy enough to attempt to shop today, I still haven’t had the time or energy to look through the fliers to even see what “bargains” are out there.

Normally, stores here open at 10 am. I can understand them opening earlier this time of year, like 8 or 9 am. That would be reasonable. This middle of the night shopping is crazy. Besides, there will be plenty of sales before Christmas, there always are. All this hype about Black Friday and “door buster sales” just get everyone in a frenzy to make us think they are practically giving things away. They aren’t doing anyone any favors.

A couple of years ago I talked my family into going to the mall on Black Friday, and we got there around 9 am. I figured all the crazy shoppers would be gone by then from exhaustion and we could get a couple of gifts I had on my list. Well, it was a complete mad house. People everywhere. We fought our way through the crowds to get to the men’s department of JCPenney because we needed to get a couple of things for my brother. Once we got to the men’s department, it looked like a tornado had hit it. The merchandise was in total disarray. We tried to look through certain items, but it was futile. We even split up and tried the divide and conquer approach, only to meet up empty handed. All the nicer looking items were sold out, and the only sizes left were extra large. After about 30 minutes, maybe less, we all met up looking like deer caught in the headlights. There was no way we could find anything. So we left empty handed, as fast as we could navigate through the sea of people, vowing never to shop on Black Friday again!

Today, after I have a nice breakfast and shower, I will visit my favorite stores at my convenience and shop for special deals. No, I’m not going out to battle. I’m staying at home and checking out what deals these stores have online. I’ll browse without having to wake up early, without getting pushed and shoved, without waiting in long lines. If I find something it’ll be great, if not, I’ll go out on another day when there are other sales and less people. it’s just not worth it to me to maybe save a few dollars only to lose my mind.

If you are heading out for sales today, I really wish you the best of luck…you’ll need it!