Black Friday

This year I was introduced to a peculiar phenomenon I had previously avoided like the plague. It started with me being dragged out of bed and climbing into a car with my mother-in-law at 6:15 AM the day after Thanksgiving. Before I knew it we were scanning the parking lot at Wal-Mart with blood-shot eyes, looking for a place to park. Why in the world was the parking lot full so early in the morning, you ask? The answer, Black Friday, is a force of nature and is a sight to behold for the shopping newcomer like myself.

Everyone knows that it’s one of the biggest shopping days of the year, but I actually didn’t know it was called Black Friday until last week. As The Redhead’s mom explained it to me, it’s when retailers get into the black (make a profit). I think the real reason is because the sky is still black when people get up to go to the stores. So at 6:30 we were dodging shopping carts laden with TV’s and other large appliances while picking up a few items on sale at Wal-Mart. I went along for company and for a chance to get The Redhead a gift while she wasn’t there to see it. What did I get her, you ask? Well, I might tell you if she didn’t read my blog. But she does, so you’ll have to find out on Christmas like she will.

There was another reason I rolled out of bed at such an unholy hour: a reason far more self-serving. We had decided to get ourselves a Gamecube as a Christmas present to ourselves, and the local video game store had a special deal. Nintendo had already dropped the price to $99 for a Gamecube, two controllers, and Mario Kart Double Dash. That was tempting enough, but we caved when we saw in the local ads that a store nearby was offering some other goodies with it, including some games for our N64. So we left the store with our splendid new console and the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye, two N64 must-haves. We were immensely pleased. But we had to pack them up because we don’t even have a TV in our tiny apartment right now. Heck, we don’t even have room for a TV in our apartment right now.

So we’re actually well on our way to getting Christmas gifts for people this year. It’s a first for me; I usually don’t think about it until a week or two before Christmas. Last year I didn’t get anyone a gift. I was busy doing something else. What was it? Oh, that’s right . . . I got married.