They Don't Call It 'Black Friday' For Nothing

There are two kinds of people in this world. There is the kind that don't go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, and there are the people who do. I now fall into the latter category. Yes, 2010, was the year Lauren Gross was introduced to the mother of all shopping adventures, the excitement and thrill of the chase. This was the year I got hooked. I mean, really, how did an uber-retail practioner such as myself, one who likes to believe she is single-handedly boosting her local economy, not ever experience Black Friday?! Well, that's all changed.

Perhaps motherhood has changed me in ways I cannot begin to understand. It wasn't until I became the mother of a fun-loving toddler that I ever really thought twice about leaving the comfort of my warm, cozy home after a tryptophan feast to brave the frighteningly bargain focused consumers out at ungodly hours of the day to get a good deal. How can one pass up the chance to get their child the ultimate Christmas gift for well below the manufacturers suggested retail price? Not. Me.

This is how it all went down. Andrew and I decided that we would get David a battery operated vehicle for Christmas. I was preparing my acceptance speech for Parent of the Year award until I saw that battery powered vehicles are like $200-$300. I considered pulling my nomination until the hubs spotted an ad for an $88 Jeep at Wal-Mart, price effective at 12:01am Friday, November 26th. Yes. Black Friday. It was done. I had to do it. Recommence speech writing.

So, with my sister-in-law in tow I entered Wal-Mart just before 11:00pm on Thanksgiving night, my sights set on that prized Jeep. With one hour till go-time, I found said Jeeps, about 15-20 of them on a pallet in the Garden Center of the store, surrounded by WAAAY more than 15-20 people. Commence cursing. But, all was well when the Good Lord above sent an angel to help me. A sweet lady who had accompanied her nephew in procuring the same Jeep I was after, helped me bob and weave my way to the Pallet O' Jeeps. I got my hand inside the flap of that box and there I planned to remain for the next hour. You'd have to pry that box out of my dead, lifeless hands, or so I thought. Long story short, like 4 different Wal-Mart associates and 1 Yuma County Deputy Sheriff parted me and my fellow Jeep-buyers from that pallet with threats of denied sales and arrests. I love my son, but I couldn't live a life being black listed from Wal-Mart and with an arrest record. But, no worries, the clock struck midnight, and I wasted no time in politely pushing that Wal-Mart associate aside and grabbing that Jeep. Commence Hallelujah Chorus. Just a 10 minute wait in the check-out line and it was officially mine.

I'm not sure if it was the crisp cold night air or the adrenaline of getting my intended item, but I was on a roll. I couldn't stop now. We decided that our lives would not be complete without $10 kids' jeans. Next stop: Old Navy. Besides the store being VERY crowded and waiting one-hour in line to pay for our cheap kids' jeans, it was fairly uneventful.

And there it is. The story of how my life changed forever. I'll never be the same again. My SIL and I are watching the game reels and already revising our game plan for next year. It's gonna be IN-SANE!