Thursday, December 04, 2008

Black Friday


I’ve never really partaken in “Black Friday” practices before, but this year was an exception. I arrived at one of the big retailers early, shortly after 6 a.m. I wasn’t one of those who waited in line. The store was giving away a little memento to the first 500 shoppers. Apparently there were plenty of people ahead of me.

One thing I did find out is that most shoppers have a plan. They scout out their aisles knowing full well what they are looking for and where to find it. My game plan was incomplete. I was only looking for a few items and had no idea where in the store they were going to be. Fortunately they were still there and a few of them were actually on sale.

I could say that one store was my limit. Well practically after that brief shopping experience we went to Schreiner’s Restaurant. My mom was visiting from the U.P. and I wanted to take her to one of Fond du Lac’s traditional eateries. The place was packed. There was a mix of regular patrons, hunters, and shoppers. Two women sitting a booth down had Christmas attire on. Reindeer caps and t-shirts that proclaimed they were, excuse the expression, “Christmas Hos.” You get the drift.

We eavesdropped on a few conversations. One older gentleman was telling someone it was the only place he could go to get away from his wife of 52 years and enjoy himself. Another talked about the joy of finishing up chemotherapy. God Bless them. The food was good, but the drifting conversations were better.

Afterwards we hit a grocery store for some odd and ends we neglected to pick up earlier in the week. Then it was off to home. We watched a few Christmas programs, wrapped some gifts, and I even managed to fill out some Christmas cards.

“Black Friday” wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be. Then again I wasn’t camped out in line at 3 or 4 a.m. To those victors go the spoils or rather early bargains.

No comments: