The day after Thanksgiving is called "Black Friday" because it traditionally marks the period when retailers finally move out of the red and into the black, or profitability.
My definition is quite a bit different. It is the one day of the year that some normal everyday people turn into rude ugly monsters.
I went to Wal-Mart at 5am on a Black Friday once and swore I'd never do that again. This year I not only stood in line at Best Buy for their 5am opening in the 17°F temps (with gusty winds), I was standing in line with the hopes of scoring an elusive Xbox 360 videogame system.
There are rumors that Microsoft artificially created the acute shortage of units to increase the hype through March, when the Sony Playstation 3 gets released.
As we inched to the entrance, the guy behind me told us to look to our left, toward the parking lot, to see the people getting out of their cars and heading to the door too. Those folks figured to take advantage of how kind people are and squeeze in the door. I told everyone around us not to let them in. Yes, it wasn't a nice thing but my numb toes and fingers told me to not let the cheaters in. We all had been standing outside for over an hour, why should these folks make it in without enduring what we had?
And sure enough, there were people trying to cut in but there were about 10 of us who kind of deflected their attempts to squeeze in. One woman even went so far as to say "excuse me, I really need to get in." I told her she needed to get to the back of the line. Then she scoffed. She actually got mad that we wouldn't let her cut in line.
Once inside, I found that there weren't any Xbox 360s to be found. So as not to have my valiant efforts be all for naught, and to show I wasn't just shopping for myself, I checked off some of the items on my Christmas shopping list.
I also stopped by Circuit City, Target and Wal-Mart to see if I had a chance but no luck. The person working the electronics counter at Wal-Mart said, "We sold out of those Monday."
What kind of an answer is that? So I responded with a stupid question. "Wow, sold out? That was the last stock you'll be getting?"
She said more would come in stock and I should check back in every once in awhile. I guess it's fair to assume she didn't realize this is what I was doing since I don't shop there regularly (I'm a Target fan).
One Xbox related discussion forum member jokingly mentioned, after striking out on Black Friday as well, that he's looking forward to the [real] Xbox 360 launch. I think he has a point. I'm hearing of people having trouble with their Xbox 360s already so maybe when we get ours in January, February, March or June of 2006, we'll get the revised versions.
I'm now looking to order online since that seems to be the only way to reserve one. As much of a frequent customer as I am at Best Buy, I am not on the same level as basketball star Lebron James who bought 15 Xbox 360s with 15 sets of every available game and accessory. He had all this stuff loaded into his SUV in front of the line of people at the local Best Buy last Monday night waiting to buy an Xbox 360 of their own. He then drove off, then the doors opened for the pions and they all found there was a shortage of units for sale. Hmmm...
Lesson learned. Black Friday still sucks. Mean people suck.
