Black Friday Confession

We had a lovely get-together yesterday at Silly's house.  The food was good and time spent with family is always great.  We drove home in some treacherous weather, so imagine my surprise when my mom greeted us at the door with, "will you take me shopping tonight?"  WHAT??

If you know me at all, you know how against my grain this request was.  I am completely anti-Black Friday shopping, let alone shopping on Thanksgiving Day.  However, it was my mom asking for my assistance, so I agreed to drive her once the kids were in bed.  Do you know what my biggest fear about "door buster" deals was?  It wasn't the crowds.  It wasn't the fear of being trampled to death.  It was the thought that one of the 8 public followers I have on this blog may see me and think I'm a hypocrite.

So here is why I agreed to go shopping with my mom.  She was looking to purchase a big ticket item.  The item she wanted was on sale at 4 AM on Friday.  So here was my choice; 1)  take her at 8 PM to buy the item at $50 more than the Black Friday deal, or 2) drive her at 3 AM on Friday to save $50.  I supported the former.

Upon arriving at the store, I instructed my mom that we would remain calm no matter what.  We would not get upset if we were unable to purchase the intended item.  She told me she would follow my lead.  We arrived at the store at 7:56 PM and this was the line.

There were probably 20-25 people ahead of us.  At 8 PM sharp, the doors opened.  We found the item Mom wanted, we grabbed a tag and stood in line.  In order to get the advertised deal, Mom had to open an account.  Once at the register, we informed the clerk that Mom wanted to open a credit line.  He said, "this is a really bad night to want to do that."  At that, I was ready to storm out exit politely.  However, he added that if we could be patient and allow others to go ahead of us, he would assist us in our request.  So we stood by and waited (and waited, and waited, and waited).  Finally, a different clerk (we later found out that she is the owner of the store) helped us.  Not only did she treat us like we were the only customers in the store, but she honored the Black Friday deal and gave us the ticket item for $50 less than advertised.  We were home by 9:30 PM.

Have my views of Black Friday (or night of Thanksgiving) shopping changed?  Not really, even though I had a fun night with my Mom. I still have no desire to shop this early in the season.  After all, tomorrow is another Thanksgiving celebration for our family.   I can only handle one holiday at a time. For those of you who are die hard shoppers, I hope you had a safe and successful day!