Black Friday

So, I will admit it. I am the average, materialistic, shallow American that is obsessed with Black Friday and all the wonderful deals it has to offer. And that is why I was so willing to wake up at 3:55 AM on Friday morning, make a quick pot of coffee for myself and the two friends that were coming with me, and head to Walmart.

Walmart is every consumer's dream. They have EVERYTHING, and that's what makes Black Friday shopping there so perfect. However, just being there amongst hundreds of deal-hungry shoppers is definitely dangerous.

I stood by what they call "pallets" (just basically boards containing multiple products that are up for grabs) for about 15 minutes, nervous about being so close and nervous that I wouldn't be able to get one. However, as soon as 5 AM struck, all the bags were ripped off and everyone struggled to grab one. I got my Sony camera, successfully, and headed back to our shopping cart. My friend came back a couple of minutes later, saying that she had been shoved in her struggle to get a camera, but some kind lady who had five in her hands gave her one.

An employee whom I had waved to earlier walked up to me a couple minutes later and handed me another camera, which apparently he had "set aside" for me (I'm not sure if that's even legal). So now we had three cameras, and we only needed one. We made two shoppers' mornings that day by giving them away.

After getting the cameras, I ran around looking for the Sony iPod dock I had seen in the ads the previous night. Even though we weren't there right away, both my friend and I managed to grab one.

I spent a large amount of money that morning, but I realized that it isn't all about what you buy. It's the experience, the sort of adrenaline rush I get just from being there. And the quizzical, yet hysterical looks on people's faces when you run through the parking lot shouting, "I LOVE MATERIAL POSSESSIONS!!! AND I LOVE PHYSICAL BEAUTY TOO, BECAUSE IT'S WHAT'S ON THE OUTSIDE THAT COUNTS, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE HEADED TO ULTA NEXT!!!"