Memories from the corners of our minds:
In 2003, Sherrie worked on her first Black Friday at Kmart. She was just starting out in the world: had finished college, moved to Oregon, and had a place of her own. Those were the days! Remember how great it was to be on your own for the first time? She had camping chairs and milk crates for furniture! Since she's always been cheap, she wouldn't turn on the heat - her ability to save even a few cents began then, and blossomed into a Black Friday Frenzy. Regardless of those meager beginnings and being scheduled to work, Sherrie hit the stores at 4am prepared to shop. She ran all over town all by herself (really not as much fun though - get some friends to go with you!) collecting the hot ticket items she longed for. She didn’t even have a list - scorn! By 9am she was sitting at her work desk, yet daydreaming about her purchases - AND her savings.
A couple years later when Sherrie had moved back to California, had a better job (and better furniture) she was still willing and even eager to stand in line on a chilly morning in search of that great deal. In 2005, Marcie and Sherrie went Black Friday shopping together for the first time, though Marcie was still a bit skeptical about the entire concept. Jaime just laughed at the thought. Jaime's mother always preached that going out at O'dark-thirty was ridiculous - so since that is what Jaime grew up - it's what she thought. Regardless, Sherrie and Marcie bought the newspaper. EEK! It was the wrong one! The ads come in the paper THANKSGIVING MORNING! In today's world there are lots of websites (www.blackfriday.info) that have the ads plastered early - so it's even easier in to create your shopping list. Nonetheless, that year, they combed through the ads over and over, in order to have a game plan for the big day - and thus, our traditions began to take hold.
Despite the fun, each year presented a new reason why NOT to shop on Black Friday: Marcie went just a few short weeks after giving birth to her son. As a nursing mother she sat in the back seat and pumped as we drove up the freeway in the middle of the night because she didn’t want to waste time at home doing it! In 2008 Sherrie was in a serious car accident and broke her neck in two places on November 9th but miraculously she was able to recover enough to go shopping! She still got up at 3am to be in line before her favorite stores opened. She had on a neck brace and used her cart as protective armor. You think other shoppers might have cut her some slack, but you would be wrong! She slept the entire next day to recoup but she thought it was worth it after all! Jaime lived a few hours away, but our shopping trio was not complete without her so she has to drive up a few days ahead of time to be a part of the action.
It wasn’t until 2009 we really had things figured out we were all together, we were armed with our budgets, lists, cash, and matching sweatshirt. Each year our Black Friday traditions bring us together for the sake of laughter, spending time with friends, and let’s not forget SAVING MONEY!
Chat with your friends now! Make a pact to go shopping on Black Friday - use the tips in the past weeks, to sort out a budget, make a plan and stick with it. This is a new year! New things can happen! Make a decision now, so that in November, when you are feeling swamped, and your coworkers and friends are feeling pressured, you can happily sit back and think, I've got this all under control!
If you would like to know more about the more about the origins of Black Friday check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)
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