Black Friday Insanity!

I broke all the rules this year. Silke and I did something that I swore I would never do. We got up on our day off at some insane hour of the morning to go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. (This was my fault because I woke up early and after tossing and turning I ended up waking her as well.)

After reaching our first destination, Herbergers, we were quick to find the deals and the items we wanted. There were a lot of people but even that seemed manageable. The lines weren't too long and they all kept moving. Upon arriving at the check out I quickly learned that the coupon I had received in the mail would not work on the item that I had purchased. I felt duped and told the girl I was no longer interested in the product. I went back and found something less expensive that had been marked down for the occasion and purchased it instead.

Wal-mart, the second spot, wasn't really packed at all and it looked like a normal business day. There weren't any real deals and we purchased items that we probably could have gotten at anytime during the week. I left thinking; 'Why am I bothering?'

The third spot was Fleet Farm. More chaotic then the first two. We devised a plan that we would look through the flier this time and have a little more control over what we were looking for. The lines were backed up to the aisles and it looked overwhelming. There were plenty of stock helpers in the aisles and I went to ask about a particular item's location. The stock clerk said "Those won't be stocked until tomorrow, that flier doesn't start until Saturday." For the second time I felt duped and frustrated. They did have other items on sale and there were bargains to be found. We found ourselves centrally located at the checkout lanes and we were out the door quickly.

Last but not least. The big payoff was at Menards. Ironically we were only going for something we needed for the house. The parking lot was full and cars were lined up in the open lot next to it. Once inside we soon discovered that the checkout lines ran clear to the back of the store. We found what we wanted but there was no way we were waiting in line to purchase something that we could get during the week. Getting out was no easy feat either. At this point we had enough and decided to conclude our 'Black Friday' outing.

Looking back on the whole experience I'm only left to wonder why we went. All of this because I couldn't sleep? We shouldn't have been to half the stores because all we did was add to the congestion. Did we save any money? Not really. There will be more sales later on. What if I had landed that door buster shop vac at Menards? Would waiting in line an hour to check out made it worth it? I don't think so.

Next year I'll take something to keep me in bed and skip the headache.