Black Friday is for the Crows!

I ventured to BLACK FRIDAY deals this year. The ads lured me in, I'm not going to lie. And, having a toddler, toy discounts are so drastic during this time of year that it's hard not to buy toys at deep discounts like this. I intended on shopping at two places and had my list. Toys R Us and Walmart.

Seriously ... not worth getting up at the crack of dawn. I vow NEVER to do this again. Here's my story in a nut shell.

There were a few items at Toys R Us I wanted for Ava. Actually, Santa wanted to get for Ava. I set my alarm so I could be at the store for the midnight opening. I arrived and there were tons of people. I mean tons. The line was wrapped all around the outside of the store back behind 3 other stores and going into Costco's parking lot. If you can only imagine. I thought to myself and said (in my mind, or at least I hope I didn't say this outloud), "I decided, oh, what the heck. I'll just stand in line and see what happens. The store opens in 15 minutes. It can't be that bad, right." As I took my place at the end of the line a police officer pulls towards myself and a few others in line and said, "this isn't what I think it is, is it? Please tell me you people aren't all in line for Toys R Us?" That should have been my first clue.

I waited. And waited. And waited some more. The store opened at midnight and the line didn't move! Needless to say, I ended up waiting about 30 minutes in line only to continue to wait. The store was completely packed - full to capacity and they were only letting a person enter the store as one would leave the store. Great!

As I waited I began to people watch. I mean what better to do with my time than to see what the crazies of Sacramento were all about. I experienced random comments from the people in front of me asking me, "How many energy drinks did you have before you came here." Mind you, she was in flip flops and shorts on a bitter winter evening and shaking as she spoke. And, "Wow, people are really stupid if they come to black friday events alone. You have to get in line immediately upon entering the store and flip flop shopping with your friend." I knew I was among the crazies of the town. And, oh, I might add that I ventured this by myself and realized IF I even got into the store, I'd not only have to wait another hour to get into the store, but then I'd have to wait another 2 hours in line.

After hearing the comments and waiting in line for 30 minutes and barely moving, I decided to leave. The biggest waste of 1 hour in my life.

And, here's the kicker - I went back to Toys R Us and Walmart the following day - midmorning might I add - and they had everything I was intending to purchase the night before. No waiting, no lines, just a few simple transactions. Yes, the stores were busy, but I crossed everything off my list except one thing.

I will never stand in line like that again. Ugh. Makes me cringe just thinking about it.