Black Friday

In my hometown (DuBois), you have to be part of Black Friday to believe it! Even the years I've spent in Pittsburgh...the after Thanksgiving shopping there has nothing on DuBois. Maybe it is the fact that DuBois has 50,000 people jammed into 5 stores where as Pittsburgh has 200,000 spread out in 200 stores. In any case, DuBois on Black Friday is not the place to be!

For some reason I let Jen talk me into driving her to some stores on Black Friday while we were in DuBois last week. The video above only tells 1/2 the story...the inch by inch travel time...the 1 hour drive to go 1 mile...but this was taken around 2:00 PM. You multiply this by 100 and you get the 6:00 am to 10:00 am craziness!

Growing up when I had no money, I would go out on Black Friday only if I would save at least $100. That amount has climb significantly over the years and now stands at $500. But several years ago, there was a computer I wanted at Walmart that would save me a bundle. With the store opening at 6:00 am, I journeyed out of the house around 5:15.

Big mistake! The Walmart parking lot was already completely full, as well as the McDonald's lot on one side, and the bowling alley lot on the other. The line wound all the way to the back of the main lot further than I could see. By the time I got parked and made my way to Walmart it was 5:55 and the store would be opening soon. With the size of the line, I knew it would be hopeless in getting my computer unless I came up with some sort of plan.

So here's what I did...my grandma used to work in the fabrics department there, and I would drop her off or pick her up for work at a little used side door. I figured I would just go stand in front of that side door and act like I was waiting for it to get unlocked (figuring nobody would unlock it) and then just "merge with the traffic" at the main door, knowing it would be way faster than standing at the end of the endless line.

About 10 seconds after I stood at that door, a sales associate came. I thought I was going to be told to go to the end of the line, but she unlocked my door. I was the first one in the store! I went straight back, grabbed my computer, and thought this was going to be the world's fastest in-and-out in Walmart history! Unfortunately the main doors had been opened as well by now and within seconds I was surrounded by 1,000's of people! Shoulder to shoulder...you just couldn't move! It took almost an hour to drag that computer back to the front of the store and check out.

So that's a summary of Black Friday in DuBois and my "mini triumph". Hopefully Jen will tell you on her Blog someday the Black Friday at Sears in DuBois that made her cry --- she fell victim to the DuBois madness! Above all, Black Friday in my hometown requires patience. As I talked about yesterday, advent is all about patience and waiting...but thankfully Black Friday falls just before advent and does not apply. hahaha