Midnight Madness

The fourth Thursday in November is the Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. ( Sorry, my blog goes back and forth!!) Originally, it was a harvest festival. Now it is a time for big family reunions and big dinners! Most companies, restaurants, and shops are closed because those employees also need to celebrate the day. Towns are sopposed to be very quiet on the Thanksgiving Day.

However, the next day, the fourth Friday in November, is the biggest shopping day in a year!! In contrast to the day before, shops open very early, and give us BIG sales. Quiet towns change completely to be very crowded!!

Usually, my hubby had to work in this season even though it was a natural holiday.
However,he could have day offs this year. So, I suggested to him "Why don't we go to the 'early bird sale' at the outlet mall in Indianapolis on Friday?"
He answered, "I am not an early bird... How about going the 'midnight madness sale?' It will start just after the Thanksgiving Day is over, the midnight of Friday. We can stay up late, go there, get some good stuff at cheaper prices, come back here early, and can sleep well. Right?"
I agreed with him. But, in the reality, "getting some good stuff at cheaper prices" was not so easy...

This year, the Thanksgiving Day was very sunny & warm. So, we could play golf together! We felt hungry, so we tried to find an available restaurant. But almost all restaurants were closed. We found a cheap Chinese restaurant was opened, so we had a supper there. After that, we left Lafayette at 10:00pm.
We arrived at the outlet mall in Indianapolis at 11:30pm,but...we were astonished to see a loooooong line of taillights!! Many, many, many people came there to go to the "midnight madness" sale! So, we had to wait in a looong line to park!!!

I will show you our terrible experience chronologically... It was, literally the "midnight madness..."
11:30pm (Thursday): We arrived at the mall, but we had to wait for a parking space.
12:00am (Friday): The "midnight madness" sale started, but we were stuck in the
loooong waiting line of cars...
1:00am: Finally, we could park! We run to the Coach shop, but there was another
line to ENTER the Coach shop!! We were in the line reluctantly... We had
been waiting outside, it was...cold!
Look at the photo! WE WERE iin the line!! My
hubby whispered to me, "This is so hard...
I would rather work!!"
2:00am: Eventually, we could enter the Coach shop.
2:30am: We got some stuff at Coach, but we also had to
WAIT TO PAY!!! Everywhere in the U.S, so many people did shopping. So, clerks couldn't check the credit cards because the credit cards's companies were so crowded!! They handed swipe the credit cards, so we had to wait much for each customer!! We didn't say anything during waiting... I found that my hubby's eyes were out of focus...
4:00pm: Finally, checked Coach stuff! We didn't plan it, but we decided to go to the CircuitCity(an electronic appliance shop) even though we were REALLY tired... We may as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb!!!
5:00pm: After waiting (also) a looong line(Look at the photo!), we could enter the Circuit City just after the early bird sale started. We got a digital camera and some DVDs...but, we ALSO had to wait for checking!! We had no idea... The clerks in the Circuit City took much time to check. They were never in hurry...
7:00am: We finally paid our...prizes.
8:30am: We don't know why we did...but we went to some shops in Lafayette.
9:30am: AL LAST, we came back to our home from the severe shopping war 12 hours later we left home!! You know...the day before, we played gold! We didn't stay up LATE, actually we stayed up ALL NIGHT!!!

Just after we came home being exhausted, I turned on TV. A newscaster said "Today is the BLACK FRIDAY..."
I asked my hubby, "Do you know why is it called the BLACK FRIDAY?"
He said," Because people feel depressed and dark! We paid less, but I am sure this sale took years of our lives!! I AM EXHAUSTED!!" Yeah, could be... The REAL origin of the BLACK FRIDAY? The newscaster said, " Shops are supposed to be in the BLACK because of the big sale's revenue, and the town becomes BLACK because of the crowd. It has both meanings."

Are you a shopping lover? From my experience, I will give you some tips of the Thanksgiving sales.

1. You don't have to go to the Midnight Madness sale unless you want to get something precious is like...an eye-catcher. When we went to the Circuit City, a kind of new game soft were sold quickly. But other stuff... When we left the outlet mall at 4:00am when the early bird sale started, we saw many cars finging parking spaces easily! We figured out WE DIDN'T HAVE TO COME TO THE MIDNIGHT MADNESS SALE!!!

2. Keep warm!! Wear something warm and casual! I went there with a skirt and high-heeled boots, but I had to stand & wait for a loooong time at several lines(sometimes it was outside)... It is in the winter night, it's cold!! Also, you may want to sit down during waiting.

3. Make a list of what you will buy before you go to the sale. I bought some souvenirs to my family at the Coach shop, but I still regret I should have gotten more! They were really cheap!!

...Learning from this experience, I am sure I will be better shopper in the next year!

Oh! Will I go there again even though the sale took years of my life!!??