BLACK FRIDAY HELL!! or not???

There is a reason I have always avoided Black Friday. I don't like shopping. I can't stand crowds, and I think it is absolutely ridiculous that people put themselves into a frenzy over "stuff." Then about a week 1/2 ago my sister in law Erin called me. She asked me if I wanted to go with her to the madness. You see, there was a pretty pricey item on sale for a great deal that both of us needed {wanted} to get from our children's Santa wish list. Crap. Now I'm torn. Do I go fight the crowds to save some money? Certainly I'm in NO position to not try to save some dollars whenever possible. But is it really worth staying up all night? Putting myself not only in the position of shopping madness, but also in the my least favorite nightmare store..Walmart? I told her I needed to think about it. I guess I always knew that I would end up going, the guilt of saving that money would get to me and I knew this, but I gave it my best effort of fighting it.

Now picture this: We get there, Erin has list and game plan in hand..{mom and Cam are both there too.} We send them to the line for the item that we both came for in the first place and Erin and I take off to see the games that are on sale for $7.00. Which by the way, really is a smokin' good deal on these particular games...Erin takes me back to where we stand and wait to grab..We have to wait until midnight to grab but see people start crowding around these items two hours ahead of time. I asked Erin how you do it, she says "as soon as they say GO, you grab whatever it is you are wanting and you do it as fast as you can bc it will be gone in seconds." Well I feel the pressure start to build..I'm checking out the cart of stuff and I see nothing that I wanted. We ask the Walmart employee {guard of all items} where these other items are and he says "watch the backroom door, they will bring out a new bin in a bit." So our eyes are on the door..Suddenly it opens and out rolls the cart..I ran over to it, spotted the items I was looking for, Score! BUT I soon realized they only put out FOUR of each item!! With all of the people wanting the same thing, and they really only put out FOUR of them??!! I was mad!! I felt tricked!! But I stood guard over them for the next hour 1/2. I knew that what I was doing was ridiculous, but as the minutes passed I found myself getting some sort of crazy adrenaline rush..my heart was pounding..suddenly those items were a NEED not a want..And I was going to grab them first. NOTHING or NO ONE was going to stop me. I began to think crazy things like "if that lady who is eyeing this item even DARES to grab it, she WILL regret the day she crossed me!" I was like a wild beast protecting her young. I knew the logic of the situation. I realized the ridiculousness of it, but I couldn't help myself..The more people that swarmed in around me, the more I KNEW I HAD TO HAVE IT AND THEY WERE NOT GOING TO STOP ME! I was as nervous as could be. Erin and I texted back and fourth to each other at our own posts while the anxiety was rising.. I started to realize there was no way that I was going to be able to grab the item on the bottom shelf and be able to grab the item on the top shelf also. I would have to make a choice..I couldn't bear it, so I created a game plan with the lady next to me. I told her I would grab her item on top if she hunched down and grabbed my item on the bottom.. It was genius! I was thinking, "I am so smart, none of these Walmartians will outsmart me!" Finally the time came! I heard "GO!" I grabbed my items plus hers, she grabbed her items plus mine..I was so quick that I realized I still could grab more if I wanted to! No ONE had been as quick as me! So I grabbed two other things just because and took off running out of the way of the other mental patients. Phew!! I DID IT!! I GOT THEM ALL!! EVERYTHING I WANTED! I WAS AMAZING!! I found Erin and as I showed her my amazing score, I found my hands were shaking!! Shaking from the crazy adrenaline rush! It was purely primal instinct at its finest!

Well needless to say, after an all night bender, we got exactly what we came for! It was a total success and we were amazing! Will I do it again you ask??? Well, it would have to be a big item again. I would never go to save a few bucks on small items. But I was able to get my big item, plus five other items for the price of the big item not on sale. So did I feel it was worth it? YES. Sadly..Yes I did.