Black Friday & The Jobs Summit

I was curious to see what Black Friday would be like this year in lieu of what was happening in the economy. And lo and behold, this post is happening on the same day as the jobs summit in the White House. I didn’t plan it, reallly.

We (the husband, the boy and I) woke up early and braved the cold. The guys were kind of grumpy and quiet. Just thought I’d throw that in.

We went to the mall first. I always like to go to the JC Penny’s jewelry counter on Black Friday. There are always huge discounts on clearance jewelry. You don’t get the same deals at a regular jewelry store. I usually purchase jewelry for both my mother and my mother-in-law here. But it wasn’t any of the above so this won’t ruin the surprise for them.

I think I just gave away my shopping secret.

The media was out in full force, interviewing early birds like these ladies. I guess you have to have reindeer horns on to get interviewed.

It was actually a pleasant experience, it wasn’t crowded at all. And look at these ladies! I wish I was shopping with them…not that the guys weren’t a joy to be with.

I was very productive by the way. I found gifts for almost half the people on my list. The mall was kind of sparse, perhaps people were pulling back, hunkering down, waiting it out…I was thinking that perhaps the recession was really making a dent in the economy.

Then we decided to go to Target.

Oh boy.

Their flier said they had a terabyte hard drive for $59.99.

The line stretched in front of me, and behind me…

 

It stretched all the way to the back of the store. The poor last person in line had at least a three hour wait.

And I didn’t want the terabyte hard drive that badly.

I guess people couldn’t get enough of the Hello Kitty toasters.

The hypothesis about the economy’s weakness started to have a different outcome. Perhaps we aren’t so bad off after all. Understand, this is only an anecdotal observation.

I ain’t no economist.

We decided to leave and go to Best Buy. Perhaps they had a terabyte hard drive that was affordable.

But I saw this man with the End Of Line sign and decided once again…what terabyte hard drive?

And so we went to the book store. Ahhhh…the bookstore. No crowds whatsoever. Nothing but peace and quiet. And a coffee bar. It smelled nice too. What? No one reads anymore?

And there was no shortage of Christmas cheer. Just look at this man’s tie.

Another successful holiday shopping trip. See you all at the JC Penny jewelry counter next year.