Black Friday

It was many years before I realized that term was supposedly a "good" thing. I think the movie "Black Sunday" somehow made Black Friday, and all of the resultant hysteria, one of the same. All I could see in my head was crowds of people stomping over each other to get away from the terrorists (that are the store folks that advertise amazing deals only to tell you after hours of looking for a parking space, making it into the store, and winding down small aisles filled with carts and grumpy people, that there were only two of that particular item and they were gone within seconds of opening the doors at 3am. Black. Black and dark, indeed. I did the Black Friday thing once a few years back. Back then doors opened at 5 or 6 on Friday morning. Mass craziness. It is not something I would ever choose to do again. I don't even do Costco after mid November. In fact, 90% of my holiday shopping is done on line now. I have always been one of those people who goes into a store knowing what I want/need and try to get out as quickly as possible. The Walmart SuperStore overwhelms me a bit and I find myself wandering the aisles, but that is the only place that it happens and since I am aware of it I do my best to stop the silliness and nip it quickly in the bud. I hate shopping and I hate crowds. I do, however, love being able to shop online and have packages arriving at my door several times a week this time of year. It is just so much easier. One thing: do NOT get fooled by the "site to store" thing. Sure, you might save a couple of bucks, but the pickup is often at the back of the store and one must wind through said store and crazy frantic people in order to pick up the item. If you are going to do that, then why bother? Inevitably you will find that one extra thing that you had forgotten that you needed and end up standing in line at the register anyway. It is all part of their plot to get me into the store...and it worked, just once. Now, however, I sit in my wood warmed house. Dogs snoring at my side. Turkey and fixins' still digesting and some music on the stereo. The sun is shining through the trees and the kids are texting me telling me how they enjoyed getting together at the farm yesterday. Bliss.

Suddenly it is shattered by Airlift Northwest flying quickly overhead on its way to the trauma center in Seattle. I guessing that this is somehow related to Black Friday. What the heck are people thinking???? Sleep off the turkey, peoples. Enjoy the family. Stay away from tired people in a rage over the almost false advertising. All of those good deals will soon be on eBay, and chances are the guy who spent his Thanksgiving sitting on cardboard at the door of the local WallyWorld bought both of those laptops anyway.

G2