I was all set for the crowds on Black Friday. Armed with a bodyguard at my side so I wouldn’t be trampled on, I was prepared for the worst. I got to Verizon just as they opened expecting to find a long line of shoppers ready to buy up all the bargains that have been emailed to most of the world population, when I stopped dead in my tracks. We were the only customers in the store! I checked to make sure I was at the right place, when 3 salespeople approached us hoping we could help them with their boredom.
So what’s going on with Black Friday? Was it all hype? A big nothing? I refused to believe that there was no one out shopping at this ridiculous time but us, so we went to visit one of the popular malls around town. The first clue was obvious; we had no problem finding a parking space close to the entrance. Once inside the mall we saw a few people meandering around, but not what I would call a crowd. We did see Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus who looked as disappointed as us. No crowds of little people tugging on their sleeves. It surely was not worth leaving the North Pole for just a handful of kiddos.
From news reports about the happenings of Black Friday in other parts of our country, I learned about a shopper in New York who died as a result of being run over by crazy people who were trying to be the first to get a popular kid toy. Another moron camped out by the front door of a store on Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving so he could be the first to get that $98 big screen TV. He actually had a schedule with his cousin so they could eat and take potty breaks and not lose their place at the head of the line.
Maybe it’s because we don’t get snow or maybe we’re just more civilized, but shopping on Black Friday in our part of the country was actually fun.
