Today, we are in transition. From one Thanksgiving (my side) to the next. From fall decorations to Christmas ones. It's nice that everyone can help this year, since Chris is off and the kids are old enough to make a difference and not (just) a mess. So it's coming together. Now let's all hope my turkey turns out and no one ends up with food poisoning.
I did partake a little in Black Friday, because I can't resist a good sale price. In years past, I wasn't one to get up in the middle of the night to wait in line for a store to open at 4 AM or some such nonsense, but now that stores have started opening Thanksgiving evening (make of that what you will) AND kicking off online sales earlier and earlier, it's so much easier. I did quite a bit of online scoping this week, and even pre-purchased what I wanted from Walmart, but I couldn't resist seeing what the brick and mortar store had last night. So I had my mom drop me off (eliminating the pesky parking frustration). I walked inside, and it didn't seem so bad, even though the parking lot was rather full. Little did I know that when I rounded the corner, I would be thrust into the literal Sea of Humanity. Oh my. I tried finding the things that interested me from the ad (yes, the things I'd already ordered, but I never said I was sane), but nothing was in its actual department, and I had no idea where to look, much less the desire to push through the throngs to try and locate anything. And since people couldn't actually purchase anything until after a certain hour, there was just this stagnant line snaking through the store to the checkout, and I didn't even bother trying to find the end of it. Within 10 minutes, I called Mom and told her I was coming out.
So many carts were filled with random things like pajamas, not big TVs or fancy electronics, so I don't have a clue what was so important.
Later on, after we got the kids to bed, I decided to check out Kohls, since they would be open all night. It had been a couple hours since they'd opened, so I thought that perhaps the crowd would have thinned. They had thrown up all of their sales online a week prior, and we're talking about primarily a clothing store (no flat screens or cell phone deals here), and I didn't really think it would be jam packed. I mean, they sent out $10 cards that had to be used by midday Friday, but this was Thursday night, so no rush, right?
I drove up, and honest to Pete, the parking lot sea parted so that I could zip right into the first space after the handicapped slots. This had to be providential. In I went. I started off toward the back of the store, hoping to pick up a few things (so I could bust out my $10 card) and trying to find the end of the checkout list. I kept going. And going. And going. I looped the store. I made it back to the registers where I entered. And the line wrapped in on itself and continued off into infinity, I can only assume. They could keep their $10. I think I might still be in line if I tried to buy anything.
So Thursday night shopping, big bust. Thank heaven for cyber sales.
My mom peeked into Target sometime between 9 and 10 this morning. She said there were fewer people there than on your typical weekday morning. She could have roller skated through the aisles. Ha.
I need to remember next year to just order online early and enjoy an extra piece of pie Thanksgiving evening. And to say a prayer for the people working retail that night. They need everything they can get.
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