I Was One of the Crazies!

This was my third year going out on Black Friday. I know, I know....what was I thinking. A close friend that went with me and my mom last year called me up a couple of weeks ago to go this year. In years past we have gotten up at 3:30 to be shopping by 5:00. This year I really wanted to stay up and go during the night instead of getting up out of a restful sleep. So off we went Thursday night to Walmart at 9:30 because sales were starting at 10:00. For all the Walmart haters out there I have to give some history here. My mom retire from Walmart and Wally World has been a part of our lives for a long time. Of course my mom worked there when Sam Walton was still alive and Walmart was a great company to it's employees - times have changed. I am sure that Mr. Walton is rolling over in his grave to see how things have turned out. But I digress.... my point is I still love Walmart for certain items. In my small town we have two choices to shop for groceries Ingles and Walmart, that is it. No small mom and pop operations, no good farmer's markets, no Whole Foods, no nothing. Again I digress... let's just get on with the story. When we reached Walmart the parking lot was full, Taco Bell and Captain Ds was full, cars were hugging the curbs, and all the grass areas were full. Me and my friend said I don't think so and left for another larger town 30 minutes from us. Kohls was opening at 12:00. We arrived at 10:50 because we never stopped at Walmart. I thought we could visit and talk in the car then a few minutes before midnight we would get in line. Once we arrived we realized we were mistaken in that plan because the line was already long. Off we went to get in line and stood there for 1 hour and 10 minutes in 43 degree weather. Allstate had a booth with free cider, coffee and treats. At midnight everything happened in an orderly fashion, we purchased a couple of items each and stood in another line for 40 minutes to check out. While standing in line my stomach started a rumbling, I had not eaten anything since our large Thanksgiving feast at lunch time. McDonalds conveniently located across the parking lot from Kohls was open and we headed there for some much needed energy. We were thoroughly full and ready for our next stop, Belks. Belks opened at 3:00a.m. and was offering gift cards ranging from $5.00 - 1000.00 to the first 250 customers in the door. Belks is in our small home town and we figured no problem. We were wrong yet again. Arrived at 2:30 and already a line of about 200-250 people waiting to get in. Now the temp was down to 32. Figured there was no way we would get a gift card but low and behold I was the 250th customer and received the last card. I told my friend whatever I won we would split it. Scratched the card .....$5.00. A whopping $2.50 each. Purchases where made and home was next stop. I arrived home at 4:30 and slept until 10:00 in the morning. Would I do it again? Probably. The company was nice and it was fun people watching. Did I spend alot of money? No, just a couple of presents for each of my kids. Do you guys have any funny Black Friday stories? Please share.