I survived the Black Friday Sales last week with no problem as the only stores I visited were Staples and Shop Rite.
I needed mailing labels and ink for my printer which are normal supplies that I purchase every few months. I know that I could have easily order things on-line and had them delivered to my home, but I prefer to ‘do things the old-fashion way’ and go to a store where there are people working that I can speak with. I could have picked a better day to go to the store than Black Friday but the reporter in me still exists to see what is happening in the world we live in.
It was around nine o’clock in the morning and the manager of Staples was happy to see customers as there was only my husband and I and another gentlemen in the store in what is supposed to be the busiest shopping day of the year!
He asked if we needed any help finding things and gave us a circular pointing out all the top items that were on sale of course.
I told him that the mall and a few big box stores like Best Buy had plenty of cars in their parking lot and he seemed disappointed with that news as we were his first customers and not as many folks came into the store to take advantage of the sales.
Shop Rite was also easy to get in and out on Friday as the Thanksgiving holiday rush had taken place the day before and some of the aisles sure looked like ‘the morning after a party’ as several shelves were a mess from shoppers who took things apart as they hunted for their favorite items.
I enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my children and grandchildren on Saturday afternoon. Several years ago when three of my four adult children got married we decided to change our Thanksgiving dinner from the traditional Thursday to Saturday so that our children did not have to choose between which side of the family to have dinner with each year.
I knew how difficult it was when we were younger and both of our parents wanted us to eat dinner with them on Thanksgiving. One dinner was at 1PM and the other was at 5PM. We were so stuffed after the first dinner that we had no room for the next one! This went on for about six years and after our grandparents passed away things changed and the requirements for both of us to be at Thanksgiving dinner with our family on Thursday were lifted.
As for shopping during the holiday season the only thing I look forward to is buying clothes and toys for my two grandchildren. They are now ages 3 and 5 and they have a list of things that they want Santa Claus to bring.
My daughter told them that Santa has a limit of three items per house/per child, so my grandson has informed me that we can buy the other items he and his little sister want on their list. My husband and I spoil them of course and I have no idea what I will be looking for over the next few weeks in toy stores but I hope it isn’t something I have to get up at 2AM to stand in line for something that the store only has three in stock.