Ahh... Black Friday.

Ah, Black Friday. I hate Black Friday, I've hated it for years, and yet, I took part in it this year. I hope to never do it again!

So, the reason I went shopping is because we wanted a new tv for the living room. We had my old picture tube out in the living room, but I wanted that back in my room, and we still wanted a nice one for the living room. We didn't want a dinky tv, but the size we wanted were a little out of my price range. Until of course, we saw the Black Friday deals in the Target and Walmart papers.

So I stayed up late, just like I mentioned last night, and I got to Walmart at about a quarter after 3 am. I thought their sales started at 4 am, so I though, oh, almost an hour, that should be plenty of time. They had key sale items placed stratgically around the store, so the tv I wanted was actually at the lawn and garden center. Well the line weaved in and out of the aisles, but if you got a voucher, you were guaranteed a tv. Well thankfully when I went to get a voucher, the lady said she only had seven left, so I was in luck! I made my way into the line (at this point it was down to the shampoo aisle), and I waited.

And then I heard a woman say the sale didn't start til 5am, and surely enough, when I looked down at my sales ad, it said 5. I was so tired, and almost falling asleep standing up, and I had to wait another hour? Good lord! Well somehow I managed it, and let me tell you something, I now know all the ingredients of the Suave shampoo for thinning hair... and was finally able to get my tv.

But as the clock approached 5am, Walmart became a zoo. There were people EVERYWHERE. I heard someone say that people were fighting over $2 DVDs, and then about ten aisles away I could hear two women screaming at the top of their lungs at each other! I clung to my little cart and tried to make my way through the store to the nearest register.

Big mistake! I should have checked out at the Lawn and Garden center. I didn't simply because my car was parked all the way on the other side of the store, and it was freezing cold outside! I stood in the longest line ever, and it wasn't moving. For like an hour I stood in the line, and barely moved 10 feet. When I looked up front to see what was going on, I could see four big lines including my own, all merging for one register. And there were two girls who had been at the register for 15 minutes, because the cashier couldn't figure out a particular code or something! I seriously thought I might have an anxiety attack, so I got out of line and made my way back to the lawn and garden center.

I got in a very long, but organized line there. I waited in line for about half an hour there (my sis was now up and getting ready for work, so she was texting me to keep me awake), and was finally able to check out at about 5 after 7am! I did have to walk in the freezing cold (man the wind felt like a knife to my face) from one side of the store to the other, but at that point it was worth it. I then drove to Burger King, and got myself some breakfast. On the way home, this guy was riding my ass the entire way, even though I was doing the speed limit. When I went to turn for my apartment, of course he had to slam on his brakes because he was riding so close to me. He then honked his horn at me as he sped around me, in which I politely flipped him off. So, yes, moral of the story, don't piss me off when I've been up all night!

I carried the tv upstairs (a 32" LCD flat screen... actually not too heavy for me to carry!), promptly put it on the living room floor, and left it there. I took my Burger King in to my room, ate it in bed while surfing the web, and then promptly passed out. It was about 8:30 am at this time, and I had been up for about 23 hours. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until around 2pm.

Now my big hope is that I can actually sleep at a decent hour tonight! But seeing as I'm already kind of drowsy, I don't think that will be a problem.

Goodbye Black Friday, hopefully we will never cross paths again.