Thanksgiving is over, so it's officially CHRISTMAS! And first up, like always, is Black Friday. I know many people are out there braving the stores today to take advantage of deals, and so I wanted to take a moment to share my one and only Black Friday shopping experience, and explain why I will never do it again.
I was right around nineteen years old, and I really wanted a new laptop. This was the time when Circuit City was still around, and they were doing a big Black Friday sales event. They were advertising this laptop that was at least 50% off. I think we were talking in the $300 range when it was like a $700-$800 laptop. And for me, as a college student, that was really intriguing because I needed a laptop for school and I didn’t have a lot of money. So I decided to go, and asked my Dad to accompany me staying, literally, the entire night standing outside this Circuit City so that we could have a chance at getting this laptop.
We get to Circuit City right around 8 or 9 o’clock at night on Thanksgiving. We were only like fifth in line! I was feeling pretty good about my chances, and so we sat there, trying to enjoy ourselves. We had brought drinks and sandwiches, and my Dad and I actually had a great time. It turned out to be a really fun bonding experience.
Finally it's the morning, and about an hour or so before the doors opened, all of the sudden the people that were in line with us started growing. Basically everyone had just sent one person of their family members to wait and then everyone else started coming out of the parking lot to join them. So when I was 5th back in line when I started, I was now a hundredth back in line. I was just blown away. I had waited there all night and then all of the sudden these people were there.
So the doors open up, and people start rushing in. And not only are people rushing in from the line, but people start coming out of the parking lot, cutting in line, forcing their way through the door. Anarchy.
We get in there, and they had handed out these maps earlier in the night so that you could know exactly where you could plan to go. So I wanted to go back to the Electronics section, which was in the back of the store, so I start running. My dad and I are trying to stay together, but he is a little slower than I am so I had to leave him. I book it, figuring, hey, even though I am further back in line, I’m faster than the majority of these people, I’m more nimble, so I’m gonna get there and I’m going to beat them to the punch.
I'm searching the electronics section, but I don't see this laptop anywhere. So I get up to the counter, I look at the salesman, and I say, “Hey, I really, really want this laptop, do you have this anymore?” And laughs at me, literally laughs at me, and says, “That didn’t even exist, that wasn’t even here.”
I’m like, “What?!? So you advertised for it, you got me all excited, I came down here, I spent the night on the concrete floor and you didn’t even have it?”
You didn’t even have it, Circuit City. I am glad you went bankrupt, I’m glad you’re out of business. Thank you very much for ruining my night.
But, you did give me a holiday experience, you did give me my one and only Black Friday experience, and I will never, NEVER do it again.