Black Friday

So, yesterday, Harry and I braved Winston-Salem for Black Friday shopping madness. This was an educational experience that is hard to put into words, so I'll rely on a series of mobile wall posts to Kris' facebook page from throughout the experience.

Harry was very excited about the idea of heading to the stores for Black Friday. He went through the newspaper, picked out the ads he was interested in, and cut out things he wanted and pasted them on a page in order by store. He originally wanted to camp out at Best Buy, but after a late night of Thanksgiving pigging-out and patch trading with Seth (actually, I think we really just raided Seth's collection with his permission, but more on that later) we were both convinced that this was probably not a great idea.

Instead, we came home, and knowing that Harry is prone to sleep in if allowed, I slyly figured that I would put the ball in his court. I told him that whenever he woke me up, we would head to Winston-Salem. As I made this offer, I was between our bedroom and his, and I was so giddy at the idea of sleeping in that I actually laughed out loud.

Big mistake.

This apparently made Harry more determined, and at 5:34 AM, I was awakened by the light of Harry's room, and rolled over to find him fully dressed and ready at my bedside. After a healthy serving of crow, I got up, showered, dressed, and we left the house by 5:50 AM.

We had a good time, and admittedly I'd probably do it again, but here's how the morning of shopping went, accoring to real-time wall posts.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 6:51am yesterday
You wrote on my wall a mere 8 hours ago. 8 hours later on 4 hours of sleep, I find myself at HH Gregg on Black Friday with 440 more enthused, better rested shopping fiends, one of whom happens to be our son. You, meanwhile are probably curled up in bed laughing at us in your dreams. Something is wrong with this picture. I love you! Your turn next year.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 7:19am yesterday
Ok. Remember when I wrote on your wall a few minutes ago? Yeah, well, we've moved two feet since then. Still a dozen people in front of us. It is sooooooo your turn next year! Harry is sleepy and trying to deny it. I predict he will be crabby by 7:30.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 7:29am yesterday
HH Gregg's checkout process must involve a national security checkpoint.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 7:54am yesterday
Left HH Gregg in one piece, but feel like I should have tenure with their company. Now we're sitting in the megaline of traffic at the mall heading to radio shack. I'm gonna need to be in church on Sunday.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 7:58am yesterday
I celebrated like I won the lottery when I found a parking space at the mall in Winston, even though I think I am parked closer to High Point.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 8:04am yesterday
HH Gregg needs to learn from Radio Shack! In and out in 10 minutes! On to Gamestop!

Homer Dearmin wrote at 8:43am yesterday
Mall traffic is nuts! In the drive thru at McDonalds now. Think they have any black friday specials? Doubt it.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 8:53am yesterday
Hey, guess who else is shopping in Winston today? Oh wait. EVERYFREAKING BODY!

Homer Dearmin wrote at 8:57am yesterday
The parking situation at Target is comedic at best. Looks like 15,000 people believed somebody famous was supposed to be here.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 9:38am yesterday
If I see one more soccer mom on a two way radio talking like some kind of covert ops are underway, I may just scream.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 10:01am yesterday
Off to the other Target across town. Heading up Hanes Mall Blvd. At high rates of speed - approximately 14 inches per minute. Seriously, a turtle just passed me in the median and giggled at me. Not cool.

Finally, Kris managed to get up out of bed, probably laughed hysterically at the idea that we were out shopping and she had been sleeping, then read my posts and responded.

Mrs. Dearmin wrote at 10:26am yesterday
I am reading your wall posts - hilarious!! I love you!!! You know what your problem is? You didn't have a plan. All those gals with two-way radios had a plan, they have a team. You seriously figured that Harry wouldn't want to go, in fact, you were snickering at how clever you were. Then...you tipped your hand to him right before bed and it was ON, there was no way he was oversleeping. I have no sympathy for you, but am struck at what a great father you are!

Homer Dearmin wrote at 10:53am yesterday
The other Target is crazay! See, with a strip mall, there are other stores for people to shop at. This one? Uh-uh. For every car in the parking lot, that means at least one person is in here. This is nuts. This could be black and blue Friday before it's over.

Homer Dearmin wrote at 11:23am yesterday
With 42 minutes to go before noon, we are done shopping to Harry's satisfaction. Target was reminiscent of a madhouse. So glad today that I do not work there! We are on our way home to pretend that we never did all this craziness.

When all was said and done, we had been to HH Gregg, the mall, two Targets, and Staples. We made it back home by 1:00 to unload the car, enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers, and most importantly, NAP.