A Black Friday Story

I have only gone shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving once. It was many years ago, when Black Friday had not become quite the spectacle it is today. Or perhaps it was and I didn't realize it. Anyway, we were living in New Jersey, and I was off from work Thanksgiving and the Friday after it. I had noticed an ad for a cordless phone in a flyer for Best Buy, which my youngest daughter, Eileen, had wanted for Christmas. It seemed like a good deal, so I thought I'd go up to the local Best Buy in Deptford, NJ and pick one up. The reason I know Black Friday had not become the spectacle it is today, is that stores did not open up in the middle of the night like they do now. I think the flyer said the store opened at 8 am, so I got up around 7, hopped in the car and began my journey. I got to the Best Buy around 7:45 am and couldn't believe my eyes! There was a line of people starting from the door and winding around the entire parking lot, waiting for the door to open. I was shocked, I had never seen anything like it. I wasn't about to get involved in this to save 10 bucks on a cordless phone, so I turned around in the parking lot and went back out. After I got back on the road I decided to stop at Deptford Mall which was right down the road. There is a huge Sears there and I figured I could pick up a phone even if I had to pay the normal price. I noticed all the cars in the parking lot, but really didn't think much of it until I stepped inside the mall. Sears had not opened yet, their gate was still down. There was a line of people standing in front of the first floor gate, which stretched all the way down the mall to the other end. Probably about 2,000 people (rough estimate). 'Well, forget this' I thought, and started to go back out the exit door when I thought; 'there's a second floor entrance, maybe the line isn't quite as long'. So I walked up the stairs to the second floor entrance and to my amazement there was not ONE SINGLE PERSON standing in front of the second floor gate, which was still down. As I walked up to the gate it began to go up, as did the first floor gate. I walked in and looked down, and saw the people starting to shuffle in on the first floor. I walked back to the electronics department, which was on the second floor, and immediately saw a stack of the same model phones for sale at Best Buy, and they were $5 cheaper than the Best Buy advertised price. I picked one up, paid for it at the electronics register, as the first of the crowd began stumbling up the stairs and escalator to the upper level. Not being able to resist, I went down the escalator in the store, rather than go back out the second floor entrance, and made my way past the people who were still filing in the first floor entrance. I really enjoyed the amazed looks on some of the faces as I passed them with my bag in hand.