BLACK FRIDAY

My typical approach on the dreaded day of crazy sales, formally known as "BLACK FRIDAY" is usually one of a vengeance and anger.  This Black Friday though my family took to the stores together, as one unified attack. It was the MOST exhilarating Black Friday mission impossible I have ever been on. Aside from the moments of chaos and frustration, it was full of laughter and smiles.

There's something incredible about being out that late with hundreds of strangers, who typically are in a rush against each other angrily grabbing, shoving and yelling. When you go into it with a happy excited mood though it becomes something completely different. Helping others on Black Friday is the FUNNIEST thing I have ever seen in my life. For example, Black Friday at Walmart I was trapped between a box of children's comforters and about 1000 people waiting to get through the same area. It was like the worst traffic jam in the world all at one moment. Deciding to just wait for traffic to resume and to just go with the flow I look over to my left and see a lady, looking so very distraught at the quickly diminishing number of comforters in the box that I was conveniently trapped next to. Looking over at her and immediately seeing what she wanted the typical black Friday shopper so focused on their own needs would have just ignored her set on their own dominating path, however because I was so happy to be out with my family I asked her what one she wanted and then tossed it over the isle to her. She was so excited and surprised it was hilarious.

The funny thing is 90% of us Americans have just come from a day of being thankful for whatever and then we go out, we wait in our crazy long lines to get the crazy deals that are just useless materialistic goods and we spend the entire time hating each other for being there, for the guy before us that happened to have cut us off getting the last 50000 inch TV that was a buck fifty, for the lady in front getting the last set of earrings, for not getting there soon enough, for the people getting their before us, for the lines, hating the cold, hating the bad coffee at the only gas station that had coffee. When really what we should be doing is being happy that we have the ability to stand to wait in the lines, the ability to afford the bad coffee, that we have family freezing with us excitedly awaiting 12:00 for when the doors spring open. We should be thankful for the ability to go shopping, to spend money, to live, breath, think, laugh, smile... we should be thankful.

I don't know about the rest of my fellow Black Friday shoppers but I know I am so very Thankful for all of the above and more.

The Thought Process Behind the Disease

"SALE! SALE! SALE!" "BoGo!" "Red Tag!" "Clearance 80% OFF!"

You walk in. Sounds of change dropping from wallets, beeping noises from the registers, the "swish" of merchandise going into bags. Friendly faces encouraging you to buy more and more and more. 

Stores know how to get you in and keep you there. 

Lemmie know if this scenario is familiar... 

You go in... Eyes on the prize a shirt for tomorrow. You walk by the shoes and you stop to look... Harmless right? Wrong! Before you know it you find this adorable pair of shoes you cannot live without. And the plus they're 50% off! So now you HAVE to buy them. Walk 5 steps around the corner and there it is... the purse. You have to get it cause, "Well HELLO?!?" It matches the shoes. Few more steps and you find a shirt that matches the purse, that matches the shoes. Throw in a $1,500 credit limit, some jeans, jewelry and hair accessories and you have yourself a full blown addiction. 

Before you know it you have a maxed out credit card, 6 bags worth of $1,500 bucks in goodies and all you can think is... "I want MORE!"