By Chelsea Van Baalen/The Torch
chelseavanbaalen@lcctorch.com
I was comatose with too much turkey, exhausted from sitting at a table for four hours and possibly still in my pajamas. Yet, my mother dragged me out of bed to be the first in the parking lot at 4 a.m. By the time I was 10-year-old, I hated “Black Friday.”
After years of massive buying, cart blocking and more insane antics, my mother became fed up with the hectic, early morning shopping. This was when I was 15, and it’s easy to understand how much shopping means to a 15 year old girl.
Suddenly it was me dragging my mother out of bed, still comatose from too much turkey, exhausted from sitting at a table for four hours and still in her pajamas. Since then, I’ve developed a system, and you can use it too.
Brace yourselves:
Chelsea Van Baalen
Each year, I make a list. Do I need a new sweater? Is my mom passive aggressively hinting at a certain item for Christmas? Should I stock up on jeans again? Don’t do this the night before the big holiday, that’s key. If you do, you’ll get sticker shell-shocked. This happens when you see a bright red sticker with a really low price on it next to something you didn’t even know existed. Walk away!
For those of you who can’t wait until the Thursday paper comes out stocked with thousands of ads, a few online sites are ready to leak even the biggest store’s deals. A few to check out include www.theblackfriday.com, www.blackfriday.us and bfads.net. Some stores like J.C. Penney Co. and Old Navy have already started their Black Friday talk. Take a look at their websites, too. I recommend searching for your favorite local stores like Fred Meyer, Bi-Mart and Wal-Mart to see if they’ve followed this trend.
After you’ve carefully mind-mapped your way around Macy’s or wherever strikes your fancy, it’s safe to look at the ads in the paper. Keep two piles, one is for where you’ll go, and one for where you won’t. Mark the items you like, so you can remember them in your pre-coffee moments. Believe me, it’s not easy.
Write a cheat-sheet of the stores you want to see as a back up plan.
The next step is possibly the hardest part. Grab your leftovers and go. Get to bed relatively early and you’ll make it to 4 a.m. earlier than you think. It might be hard to say no to the pie, the coffee or seeing the final score on ESPN, but chances are you’ve been there for hours already and probably want to sleep anyway. If getting away isn’t possible, an all-niter might be. After all, it’s more time to refine your shopping list.
I wish I had some more cheerful, not-so-ruthless tips on how to beat the other shoppers to your shoe size, but I would rather not print them here. In terms of which store will resemble a zoo or need a FEMA intervention, my eight-year-old memory reminds me that it’s like comparing apples to apples. Each store will have their own deal and their own items, and you are not alone in desperately craving them.
To make your day easier, try to carpool with a friend or relative who will be going to the same stores, you’ll spend less time fighting for a parking space, though you might argue over a truck space. Bring a raincoat with a hood too, you’ll avoid having to carry an umbrella on top of your bags. Grab a few granola bars or prepare a leftover turkey and stuffing sandwich. I could go on and on about the dangers of shopping hungry, and the Valley River Food court could be packed.
Luckily, the plan has more to do with your preparation than sheer luck as a shopper on this crazy day. So grab your pen and get cracking!
A&E Editor Chelsea Van Baalen can be reached
at chelseavb@lcctorch.com, on Twitter
@chelseavb or at (541) 463-5657.
1 comment
Judy Blake says:
Nov 22, 2011
As your Grandma I can say this is all true I remember the year of the Furbie’s! This year it was suggested by your Mama to head for Woodburn after the kitchen detail.