BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING

Let me say first of all, I do not shop on Black Friday. I should say, almost never. But, I made a mistake by telling my husband we were almost out of Tide and I needed to go to Rural King to get it. Rural King has the best price on Tide. I didn\’t mean to go on Black Friday.

Both my husband and I are former employers of Walmart and K Mart. We have seen Black Fridays up-front and personal. We know how people push and fight for that one sale item. That is why I couldn\’t understand why he said, \”We\’ll wait a while and go to Rural King.\” Wait a while? On Black Friday? Black Friday is an all day thing. There is no slowing down. I did need Tide, though.

The interstate wasn\’t too busy as we went down. Hubby talked about how he was out of yarn. He crochets and could not find the colors at our local Walmart, but I bravely told him he could probably find them at Hobby Lobby. I love Hobby Lobby.

We turned off the exit to Rural King and got close to the parking lot entrance. It was crowded. Hubby said, \”We need to walk, so we\’ll get a place here in the back.\” I didn\’t mind walking, but the cars pulling out of their parking place would rather run over you than look at you. We dodged them and entered the store.

I looked out at a sea of people. No social distancing, not very many masks. We decided to go to the Tide first and get two. I could see my husband wanted no part of this crowd of people. Then we became separated. I began putting some small things in my buggy, and I saw him walking down the aisle I was in.

\”Hey,\” I said as I pointed to something I wanted. \”These would make nice Christmas gifts, and the price is wonderful.\”

He looked at the tag on the stack. \”You are only allowed to purchase two. You get two and I\’ll get one. Let\’s go check out.\”

Check out was another story. First of all, the lines were backed up to the center of the store. No one again social distanced. Several didn\’t have masks. I\’m pretty careful about wearing a mask and social distancing, but there was no way you could in that crowd at check-out. Even the cashier got in my face. Not good with this pandemic. I\’m praying I don\’t get coronavirus. Today is the fourth day, we\’ll see how it goes.

Finally, we both checked out and made our way to the car. We fought other cars to find ours, but we made it unscatheed.

We entered the interstate and I said, \”Do you want to go to Hobby Lobby?\”

He gave me the strangest look and said, \”I\’m going home! I\’ve had enough.\”

Our granddaughter works at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and she told us we should be glad we didn\’t go to Hobby Lobby. She could see it from her store, and she said it was crowded like crazy.

We were thankful we got home safe and sound. It\’s crazy how people react to a sale. Those leaving the store were acting like the world would end if they didn\’t get to the next bargain. Sorry, people, I don\’t care about bargains that much. I\’ll keep my sanity and stay home next year, even if I am out of Tide.