I sat in line in the lawn & garden area of my local Walmart at approximately 8 PM, with my friend Anjail. She was hunting for the 32" flat screen tv for $188. Great deal and she was only about the 10th person in line. I asked her repeatedly if she was sure she wanted to do it. It was a 4 hour wait, after all. She decided to stay and I decided to support her. After all, there was a waffle iron on sale for $2.84...and I was going to get that!
I propped up against a bag of birdseed and opened up the smart phone. Anjail was on my right, playing Angry Birds on her phone. A guy was on my left playing Angry Birds on his phone. He, his girlfriend, Anjail and I ended up forming a quick friendly bond and giggled the hours away, laughing at the idiocy of even venturing out in the madness. I started to play Angry Birds on my phone, but my battery was beginning to die.
At about 9 PM, I ventured out from the safety and relative calm of the lawn & garden section. The villagers were getting restless. Everyone stood sentinel around the item they were intent on grabbing first at the strike of 10. Everything was wrapped in Saran-wrap and Walmart associates stood around nervously guarding their jugular veins with both hands, while trying to shield the merchandise with their bodies. They seemed to understand that these people were willing to rip them apart if it meant they would be getting their needed item. The Saran-wrap had been torn into, with some people grabbing electronics and other items way before they went on sale while sales associates meekly shouted "You can't take those yet!"
You see, Walmart, in all it's genius decided on THREE Black Friday Sales, One at 10 PM (toys, appliances and clothing), one at 12 AM (Electronics) and one an 8 AM (ammunition), Unfortunately, this was not very clear to some people...who were intent on grabbing their X-box, Kindle Fire, and large screen tv in both fists at 10 PM and shimmying out of the door. There were even those who tried to buy their purchases earlier, but Walmart had a fail-safe and I personally witness an associate attempt to ring something up, heard a loud "BUZZ!" and she stated "Oh, I am sorry sir...You cannot purchase this until midnight."
Covering my head, I made my way back into the safety of the lawn & garden area. I hung out there until it was 9:45 and figured I may as well make my way back to my waffle iron. At 9:55, after traveling over land and sea, I finally found the Saran-wrapped waffle iron section...
...there was nothing there but an empty palette and a helium filled Mylar balloon that read "$2.84"...
It wasn't even 10 PM yet! But the hungry vultures had descended upon that particular bargain and tore it to shreds. I texted Anjail this information and she texted back "GO GET YOUR BIKES!!!!"
Oh yeah...the bikes!
Completely Gone...
Throughout the store, there were arguments, yelling, people running over other's feet with shopping carts, arguments with the unfortunates who worked that Walmart shift. One lady barreled though a dense crowd, utilizing her cart as a battering ram.
Thank goodness the ammunition didn't go on sale until 8 AM...
It was shameful...just shameful. I took some back roads, grabbed a few things no one was hovering around, made my way to the car, then came back in and found my way back to the safety of the lawn & garden section...but not before someone ran over the back of my foot with their shopping cart and didn't believe apologies were in order. The line for the 32" tv was now out the door of the lawn & garden section, out the door and up and down three other aisles...
Anjail got the tv. I took her back home, drove back home at a million o'clock in the morning and collapsed.
Never...again....Online shopping is my friend...
No comments:
Post a Comment