So… we had to go to the store tonight (for health reasons, so waiting until Saturday wasn’t an option), for an item you would find at a Hardware store or Target. But I decided to go to Walmart, assuming other stores would be closed. Now I see I may have been mistaken. No point looking back now.
We arrived at 7:20pm. People, waiting for the 10pm round (a second round started at midnight), stood in clusters all over the store by displays with price-declaring balloons. My kids were like, “What is all that?!” I had no good answer. I think I grunted.
Police milled about, clerks were everywhere. We had to leave our cart at the end of the aisle, then wade through a literal sea of shoppers (camped out sitting on the floor, in lawn chairs, standing…really awkward, especially since Devyn and Matthew were wriggling at my side nearly tripping over folks and I had David on the phone so he could have input about which product might be better and felt really conspicuous) to pick up what we came for.
Everywhere we looked, yellow tape was strung across walkways. I was told it’s purpose is to keep shoppers in their areas. The whole experience gave me the willies. Mind you, I don’t like shopping really any time, except at Whole Foods or thrift shops, so I was bound to be weirded out. Totally surreal, and pretty unpleasant.
Now I know first hand what I’ve assumed for years: Black Friday is not my kind of thing.
There was one neat part. My younger son had fun asking a police officer, “What is that?”about every article attached to his uniform.
I’m not knocking Black Friday. For some people it is great fun, and they save a lot of money. But I get overwhelmed at the mall on a quiet day so there you have it.