Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the Holidays
On Black Friday, a day that I used to utterly despise when I worked as a manager of a retail store, my best friend, wife and I went out shopping. No, we didn’t wake up early, at three in the morning, to battle anyone for door-buster deals or the chance at a 200 dollar netbook. We simply woke up, decided we didn’t care about shopping this year, and went to enter the lions’ cage of retail shopping.
Of course, we did have a few things to look for. I had my eyes on an 80 dollar blu-ray player at Best Buy, but I had plenty of questions to ask if I could manage to track down an associate. I was also looking to replace my recently broken display in my studio computer with the 20″, 80 dollar Acer display that they were also advertising. Kreg was looking for a nice new dummy desktop for his new HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer). No monitor needed, just a good internet connections, and a good video card.
So, we headed out on Black Friday at 1 PM, and hit up Best buy. Not crazy crowded, but sold out of monitors and got some info Blu-Ray players; Kreg checked out some comps, Monika checked some games, and we all left without spending a dime! First success, as far as I’m concerned.
We hit up BJ’s and Target for some regular shopping, and then moved to the Deptford Mall, an adventurous endeavor. Honestly, as much as this sounds shallow for us, Monika and I were looking to hit up the fragrance counters for some new perfumes. I ran out of mine several months ago and haven’t found a new one to replace my old. Monika, on the other hand, has plenty of her Flowerbomb, but that’s not exactly an everyday, going to teach at a High School kind of fragrance. We were both in search of something new.
Well, we did find some nice new possibilities, but by the time we ended up in the car, we had pocketfuls of samples, and literally, I was wearing 6, and Monika 8 different fragrances! This made our car smell like the bathroom at an upscale strip club at best, and at worst, you could only imagine.
Monika and I decided that our cash that day was best spent at Produce Junction on some nice, fresh veggies…34 dollars worth, which is a hell of a lot at that place. The three of us stopped by the liquor store on the way home. Kreg and I decided to build our own HTPCs, complete with full internet access, hard drives, HDMI outs, Blu-Ray players and all the bells and whistles. It’s not only a good deal for the the money, but a fun little hobby that our friends are helping us build.
That night, we hung out with those friends, discussed the specs of our custom comps and played Rock Band for the first time of our lives. They were well versed, of course, but Kreg and I, lifelong musicians, had never really played. It was good fun…not as good as the real thing, for sure, but a new experience to share with friends. And maybe that’s what Black Friday should be all about. Not about shopping, but remembering that this is the first day of the final days of the year, when spending time with close friends is the warmest, and most memorable time of the year.
On The Verge of Tears 
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