Black Friday

I have never done the Black Friday thing, and I usually think people who camp out in parking lots are just plain crazy. But this year I decided to give it a try. There were a few items in the Thanksgiving Day fliers that looked too good to pass up. So I left the house at 1:30 this morning and headed for Toys R Us, which opened at midnight. Apparently people had been standing in line since 10:30 to get in the store and all the sale items that I had on my list were already gone. So far I thought this Black Friday shopping was for the birds.

Next I headed over to Kohls and stood in line outside for about 45 minutes until the doors opened at 3:00am. I had only one thing to purchase there -- a media projector. They were very organized there which several people on the sidewalks making sure there were no 'butters' in the line, and also giving directions for once you got in the store. I found my projector quickly and walked right up to a register. It was normally $179.99 (which I never would have paid) but I was able to purchase it for $59.99. Things were looking better.

By this time the McDonalds had opened it's drive-thru and I swung through to get a Diet Coke. Hadn't had one in a long time, but I needed the caffeine to keep me going. Last stop of the morning was the dreaded Wal-Mart. Our camcorder quit working a few months ago and WalMart had a great deal on a camera. They had been open all night, but the cameras went on sale at 5:00. By this time it was about 3:45. All of the 5:00 sale items were in the middle of the aisles covered in black plastic. You had to sort of guess what was in each package, or ask the people already sitting in lawn chairs in the aisles. Finally found the camcorder area and there were about 8 other people 'camped' out there. You could tell from the display that there were only about 12-15 cameras. So I stood there waiting and hoping this was not a huge waste of time.

Around 4:30 a larger crowd was arriving and people were jockeying for position. Several police officers and store managers came to the area and the store manager decided to go ahead and open the items to avoid too much of a commotion. As soon as he did there was a press of people, many who had just arrived. A tall gentleman standing in front of me reached over and grabbed a camera for himself and one for me. He wanted to make sure that anyone who had waited for sure got one. My hero.

So, I can now say I did Black Friday. I only purchased 2 items but I saved about $200, so it was worth it. I don't know that I'll do it next year -- I value my sleep too much! Did anyone else venture out this morning? Did you get any great deals?