Black Friday and How Ridiculous it Really Was
November 25th, 2011
I will have to admit, last night after a very nice evening
of Thanksgiving with my family, my two oldest and I were actually pumped
up to go Black Friday shopping!
I did it the first time last year, which was okay yet crazy, but this year was actually the most stupidest (sorry, I usually never use that word), night of all shopping history.
I sit here typing with three hours of sleep under my belt saying to myself that I will never do that again.
I may say that now and had again last night traveling home at two in the morning. Was it worth it? I guess I have to open my van and take another good look at the deals I got. Which weren't many. But I will admit, the boys did have alot of fun.
We arrived at Walmart Super Center off Immokolee at around 9:10 pm. Our mission of the evening; PlayStation 3 and a HP laptop computer. The PlayStation was to go on sale at 10pm, and the HP at 12am.
In the rundown of "The Plan" for our shopping extravaganza, I had the boys organized to conquer the PlayStation 3, and once they got one, to head over to the HP laptop line where I would be awaiting for my computer deal. We would then take turns in my line and shop since there was a two hour window.
The boys couldn't wait for me to park, which ended up what practically seemed a mile away, but they wanted that PlayStation 3 for Xmas like no end, so I dropped them off up front and headed out to park.
I was really in no hurry because I thought arriving one hour early for the PS3 and three hours early for my HP,especially it being Thanksgiving, life was good.
Boy was I wrong.
I arrived at my HP laptop area which was clear back in the automotive section where people were already lined up. I thought my chance was crushed that very instant. I have never owned a laptop before, this was my chance.
I get into line and a man said that they were already out, no reason to wait in line.
"Out?" I said, "How many do they have? "
He said they had only 29 and I was number 30! They had given out numbers to the group in line and sure enough, I missed it by 1! How depressing.
I stood there because I really I had nothing else in mind to buy except a few little deals I thought I would get later.
Guess what? I got lucky! A lady was leaving and I asked for her ticket, but this guy by the name of Dion was working it to get people to pay for her ticket. Sure enough,I paid $15 for her ticket number 26 and got in line for my HP. I was happy with that.
The boys called upset because they were number 23 in line for the PS3 and they gave out only 21. They never had chance.
So there we sat from 9:15 pm through midnight in line when Walmart knowing they had 29 customers right then and there to buy and could move on shopping. But oh no, we had to wait it out all that time. And the lady made sure we stayed there too, we could only leave for bathroom breaks. So stupid!
Sorry Walmart, having only 29 HP laptops and only 21 PS3's, even more stupid! What are you thinking? Not only should you have had a heck of alot more products available, but you also should have thought we could have gone on shopping and purchased more items! You blew it! You had all year to prepare. Stupid! (I think I am starting to like this word.)
Throughout the night, I dashed out for an occasional restroom break as I also went to pick up some items from the sale. Nothing much. If you showed up at 7pm that night or even earlier, you could have gotten your cart full of those sale items, yet could not check out until time specified. 10pm or 12am.
Again, stupid!
I guess it's all about the hype and people like me buy right into it. One big ploy and I'm the sucker!
So after meeting three new friends in line which all so happen to live within miles from me, I got my HP at 12:01 and out the door we were to Target. I checked out right away since I was smart enough to actually walk up to the checkout lines as others waiting for hours in one big line like a herd of elephants. Stupid.(This has really become a great word.)
Earlier when scoping out the checkout lines, only two or three people were waiting. Then there was that one line(herd of elephants) reaching back from the front of the store all the way back to electronics going absolutely nowhere. I tried to tell people it was silly what they were doing, but they held onto their spots like it were gold. Hour or so later, I passed by those very same people, walked up to a checkout and was out the door before they could even say, "Happy Thanksgiving!" Or other words for that matter.
At 12:10am when we arrived at Target in hopes for not only a serious bathroom break but in hopes for a PS3.
Target were to open their doors supposedly at midnight, but nooooo, they really opened their doors wide open at 1:20 am! I thought what they did was ridiculous! They were literally letting only 10 people in at a time beginning at midnight, security as tight as tight can be, and the line went back at least 400 people. How depressing ,or again, stupid!
I told the boys I would wait it out for 45 minutes, hoping Target would have sense enough to either let 50 people in at a time or just open the doors wide open. But no, they did not want that mob terrorizing their store. Which I can understand to a degree, but come one! Do you know how many people showed up to that store and left because of what they were doing? It was even more stupid than what I witnessed at Walmart! Look at the loss in sales!
I just sat there on the bench too tired to stand in line anymore, and after 45 minutes, I was ready to go home. But my oldest was determined to get his PS3, so we jumped in line and by 1am we were in the door. But by then we felt a majority of all the deals would be gone, especially watching people walk out in a leisurely fashion with all the TVs. Another deal I was hoping to get.
After getting into the doors, there was no mob like atmosphere, there were hardly any large amounts of shoppers and what they did out front having people wait so long to get into the doors was downright ridiculous! Or again, stupid!
We made it back to the electronics and low and behold, there were still plenty of PS3's on a pallet and plenty more coming. The good deals other than the TVs were still plentiful and we got everything else we needed, even the great deal on a keyboard and car DVD players. The lines to check out were minimal and we were home by 2am.
So all in all, yes, we did get the deals we wanted, but the way the stores went about handling last night was really not very well thought out and actually very stupid.(I wonder how many times I have used that word now?)
So next year, I think I will just wait for Cyber Monday and stay home with my family on Thanksgiving and give thanks to what I do have rather than try to go and conquer what I want.
Merry Christmas!
I did it the first time last year, which was okay yet crazy, but this year was actually the most stupidest (sorry, I usually never use that word), night of all shopping history.
I sit here typing with three hours of sleep under my belt saying to myself that I will never do that again.
I may say that now and had again last night traveling home at two in the morning. Was it worth it? I guess I have to open my van and take another good look at the deals I got. Which weren't many. But I will admit, the boys did have alot of fun.
We arrived at Walmart Super Center off Immokolee at around 9:10 pm. Our mission of the evening; PlayStation 3 and a HP laptop computer. The PlayStation was to go on sale at 10pm, and the HP at 12am.
In the rundown of "The Plan" for our shopping extravaganza, I had the boys organized to conquer the PlayStation 3, and once they got one, to head over to the HP laptop line where I would be awaiting for my computer deal. We would then take turns in my line and shop since there was a two hour window.
The boys couldn't wait for me to park, which ended up what practically seemed a mile away, but they wanted that PlayStation 3 for Xmas like no end, so I dropped them off up front and headed out to park.
I was really in no hurry because I thought arriving one hour early for the PS3 and three hours early for my HP,especially it being Thanksgiving, life was good.
Boy was I wrong.
I arrived at my HP laptop area which was clear back in the automotive section where people were already lined up. I thought my chance was crushed that very instant. I have never owned a laptop before, this was my chance.
I get into line and a man said that they were already out, no reason to wait in line.
"Out?" I said, "How many do they have? "
He said they had only 29 and I was number 30! They had given out numbers to the group in line and sure enough, I missed it by 1! How depressing.
I stood there because I really I had nothing else in mind to buy except a few little deals I thought I would get later.
Guess what? I got lucky! A lady was leaving and I asked for her ticket, but this guy by the name of Dion was working it to get people to pay for her ticket. Sure enough,I paid $15 for her ticket number 26 and got in line for my HP. I was happy with that.
The boys called upset because they were number 23 in line for the PS3 and they gave out only 21. They never had chance.
So there we sat from 9:15 pm through midnight in line when Walmart knowing they had 29 customers right then and there to buy and could move on shopping. But oh no, we had to wait it out all that time. And the lady made sure we stayed there too, we could only leave for bathroom breaks. So stupid!
Sorry Walmart, having only 29 HP laptops and only 21 PS3's, even more stupid! What are you thinking? Not only should you have had a heck of alot more products available, but you also should have thought we could have gone on shopping and purchased more items! You blew it! You had all year to prepare. Stupid! (I think I am starting to like this word.)
Throughout the night, I dashed out for an occasional restroom break as I also went to pick up some items from the sale. Nothing much. If you showed up at 7pm that night or even earlier, you could have gotten your cart full of those sale items, yet could not check out until time specified. 10pm or 12am.
Again, stupid!
I guess it's all about the hype and people like me buy right into it. One big ploy and I'm the sucker!
So after meeting three new friends in line which all so happen to live within miles from me, I got my HP at 12:01 and out the door we were to Target. I checked out right away since I was smart enough to actually walk up to the checkout lines as others waiting for hours in one big line like a herd of elephants. Stupid.(This has really become a great word.)
Earlier when scoping out the checkout lines, only two or three people were waiting. Then there was that one line(herd of elephants) reaching back from the front of the store all the way back to electronics going absolutely nowhere. I tried to tell people it was silly what they were doing, but they held onto their spots like it were gold. Hour or so later, I passed by those very same people, walked up to a checkout and was out the door before they could even say, "Happy Thanksgiving!" Or other words for that matter.
At 12:10am when we arrived at Target in hopes for not only a serious bathroom break but in hopes for a PS3.
Target were to open their doors supposedly at midnight, but nooooo, they really opened their doors wide open at 1:20 am! I thought what they did was ridiculous! They were literally letting only 10 people in at a time beginning at midnight, security as tight as tight can be, and the line went back at least 400 people. How depressing ,or again, stupid!
I told the boys I would wait it out for 45 minutes, hoping Target would have sense enough to either let 50 people in at a time or just open the doors wide open. But no, they did not want that mob terrorizing their store. Which I can understand to a degree, but come one! Do you know how many people showed up to that store and left because of what they were doing? It was even more stupid than what I witnessed at Walmart! Look at the loss in sales!
I just sat there on the bench too tired to stand in line anymore, and after 45 minutes, I was ready to go home. But my oldest was determined to get his PS3, so we jumped in line and by 1am we were in the door. But by then we felt a majority of all the deals would be gone, especially watching people walk out in a leisurely fashion with all the TVs. Another deal I was hoping to get.
After getting into the doors, there was no mob like atmosphere, there were hardly any large amounts of shoppers and what they did out front having people wait so long to get into the doors was downright ridiculous! Or again, stupid!
We made it back to the electronics and low and behold, there were still plenty of PS3's on a pallet and plenty more coming. The good deals other than the TVs were still plentiful and we got everything else we needed, even the great deal on a keyboard and car DVD players. The lines to check out were minimal and we were home by 2am.
So all in all, yes, we did get the deals we wanted, but the way the stores went about handling last night was really not very well thought out and actually very stupid.(I wonder how many times I have used that word now?)
So next year, I think I will just wait for Cyber Monday and stay home with my family on Thanksgiving and give thanks to what I do have rather than try to go and conquer what I want.
Merry Christmas!
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