In America, today is the biggest shopping day of the year, dubbed “Black Friday” because of all the black eyes people get while fighting to save $3 on a 8 inch black and white TV. If you are one of those people who woke up at 4am and camped out at the front door of Best Buy with your cordless electric heater and your MP3 player, don’t feel ashamed because two years ago, I was just like you.
The year was 2003 and I wanted to get in on a $100 rebate on a video card for my computer. I woke up at 4:30am, drove 20 minutes to Best Buy and stood outside…in the rain…without a jacket…without my dignity. When the store opened at 7, my position in line didn’t matter because of the horde of people who appeared out of nowhere and sprinted to the front of the line. While trying to squeeze through the front door, a lot of toes were stepped on, a lot of people were hit by carts, and I think a few lives were lost, but none of this was going to prevent me from getting my video card.
Since I knew the store like the back of my hand, I took a shortcut and ended up being the first one at the computer service counter where they stashed the video cards. Just as the worker handed me the video card box, a woman dove and snatched it out of his hands as if the life of her first born child was in danger if she didn’t get it. Best Buy was a complete madhouse, so I wanted to quickly leave the store after I got my video card, but there was one LONG thing stopping me from gaining freedom…the line.
The nine gillion person line started at the front of the store and went through every isle of the refrigerators, into the office furniture section, into the car electronics section, through the home theater section, between the aisles of the phone section, down the aisle of the computer accessories and straight to the service desk. It took me around 3 hours to get to the front of the line and when I finally got to the cashier, the prepubescent 15 year old boy badgered me about getting an extended-service plan.
After all of the trouble that I went through to get the video card, I was never able to send in the rebate because I never found a stamp.
This year, just like year in the past, I have put my Christmas List online to assist you in your shopping endeavors this season. Since I’ve been regarded as “greedy” for never having any cheap items on my list, I expanded my horizons and added something for every budget. You, too, can make a Geremy happy this season.