BUZZURRO

Yesterday was the day after Thanksgiving, better known as Black Friday, where shoppers waiting for advertised bargains line up as early as 1 AM outside stores that open at 5 AM.
Many line up the night before and sleep in the store pasrking lots. Shopping has a frenzy to it as many people want these bargains.

So, what did Buzzurro and I do? We avoided it all and took a road trip instead.

I remember when I was younger how many stores had special prices on Black Friday and many people used to flock to the stores for sales, but the stores did not open at such strange hours like 5 AM, or offer such deep discounts on a limited quality of stock, which they do now. I don’t remember the frenzied crowds either.
In the 1980’s I went to NYC for Black Friday. There were so many people that you couldn’t even walk on the sidewalk. The city was crowded with shoppers. The sales were good, and the people, although there were many, seemed calmer.

6 years ago while living in California I decided to shop on Black Friday. The advertised specials got to me.. The stores opened at 5 AM. I arrived at the store at 4:45 AM, and there was already a line. to get in! I don’t know what time people started to arrive to start it, but I there were several people in front of me.
The store quickly filled up with what I thought at the time was every resident and tourist in Southern California. It was packed. The store was a sea of people, and not calm people before, but angry bargain hunters.
To get into the store was a line, but once inside, pandemonium took over. Kids were running to the toy section with their parents following, or visa versa. Ladies were trying on jackets in the main part of the store and then flinging them on the ground when they didn’t fit properly only to quickly try on another jacket. Men were in the shoe section trying to find a path to try on the shoes in the hundreds of pairs that were just abandoned on the floor because obviously they were the wrong size. The lines at the check out areas were huge. They wrapped around and around and interfered with shoppers trying to shop.. It was stressful just to watch,let alone to be in one of those check out lines.. I quickly as soon as possible left. vowing never to shop on Black Friday again.
So far I’ve kept my word.

Our trip was very relaxing. I can’t say that for all the shoppers who shopped though.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 25th, 2006 at 11:23 pm and is filed under Daily Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.