The Black Friday Experience
I have never experienced Black Friday before in my life. For me, I have avoided it at all costs. Never had a desire to go out in the middle of the night no matter what the savings. However my daughter has been asking me for years to take her. She just has to experience this tradition. I tried to persuade her to wait until she gets her driver’s license and go with her friends but you know teenagers everything has to be now. I thought I was dreaming at midnight when she crept into my room and woke me up. I had been sleeping for hours being bedridden since dinner from something I ate that had wheat in it. I forced myself out of bed and I felt drugged. My son was ready to go, coat and shoes on. I wasn’t expecting him to come so that was a nice surprise. He said he should experience Black Friday just once.
As I warmed up the car, I thought you are an ass. It was freezing and I had no list or game plan, we were just going simply for the experience.
We arrived at Willowbrook Mall and there was not an empty parking space to be had. You would have thought it was noon on the Sunday before Christmas. Clearly I was not the only idiot. I was not prepared for the stampede of people inside…..families, kids in strollers at this hour. We decided that it was just too crowded to browse the stores. Some of the stores’ lines to pay were so long they went through the store and out into the hallway. Some places like Pink and Game Stop had ropes set up to organize the people waiting to enter the store. I told the kids we can each pick a store and get one thing and get the hell out of here. Trying to get down the hallway was like trying to get to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree….insanity. Even my daughter was getting annoyed at people who just decided to abruptly stop and window shop. She picked Forever 21 and literally before she even found something to buy, my son and I got in the line that wrapped around the store. The savings was 60% for most of the items in the store. Our plan worked cuz she met us in line with two sweaters when just three people were left in front of us.
My son’s pick was Game Stop, twice we passed by the store and you couldn’t even get inside. The line went all the way down the hall to the fountain in the middle of all of the wings. Christmas music was playing and the hustle and bustle was evident. Again, I pulled him away from Game Stop. I chose Macy’s I wanted a new shirt for work (and just like my daughter) made my purchase without even trying anything on. You just couldn’t, it was that crowded. Security was everywhere. Now it is 2:00 am and two hours later and we had only gone to two stores! We ran into one of my daughter’s BFFs and her mom had the same look on her face as me, why can’t we ever say no…..and they had just come from Pink and were now leaving. We didn’t even try to get into Pink; the line was longer than Game Stop. Pink was giving $10 off every bra or purchase, I forget which.
We were hot and tired but not loaded down with bags as one might expect. I was ready to go. My son was visibly disappointed in not getting his Xbox game so I told him we will go back one more time. The line was now – at 2:15 am – contained to the inside of the store so I jumped on it while he found someone to ask if his game was still in stock. It was and a half an hour later when we left with it and saved $7.00.
We were sweating and thirsty when we hit the night air. Almost 3:00 am now there were lots of empty spots and the mall had thinned out considerably. I am so glad the kids and I went. It was an experience. I love creating memories with them and an adventure like this is priceless.
My suggestion to others would be sleep in until 2:00 am then go out. It will be a lot more productive for you if you are there to shop and not just for the Black Friday experience. Happy Holidays!