(There are 2 separate Black Friday stories in this entry).
I love Black Friday and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's the thrill of it all. The sake of a story. Or maybe the comedy that comes from 90 year old women knocking over baby strollers in search of the discount toys for their grandchildren. But always, it's epic. And this year was the best.
I remember my first Black Friday that I went shopping on my own. It was 1999 and my friend, Annette's, mom drove a van full of a bunch of us high school freshman friends to the Northridge Mall and dropped us off for a good five or six hours. It was great. I remember buying each of my family members a gift that day, including some friends. And since then I haven't missed one (except for those two years in Arizona...but even then...jk).
This year I'm poor so I couldn't buy anything. But that didn't discourage me from missing out on all the fun. I have a tradition with some of my Salinasites (aka JJ, Jaina, and Diane...officially started in 2009...so its only the second annual one.), where we get in line at the Marina shopping center at around 2 am. Diane couldn't come this year because she's in Portugal.
This year we had one goal and one goal only: GET JAINA THE NICE CAMERA SHOWN ON THE TOP OF THE BEST BUY BLACK FRIDAY AD. It clearly stated that EACH BEST BUY in the country HAS ONLY SIX OF THESE CAMERAS. So WE. WERE. DETERMINED. We would get that camera.
So at 11:30 pm, we took two hour naps. This was a genius idea from JJ. Last year we didn't nap. It is now a must. At about 2 am we got in the car and headed for Marina to get in line at Best Buy.
Jaina pointing at the camera she wanted to get. Mission: Impossible in full force.
It was going to be freezing so we needed blankets.
JJ wasn't happy about coming at first, but he eventually got in the black friday spirit.
Hot chocolate. It was freeezing.
The arrival. We call the people at the front of the lines "The Crazies". That blue tarp thing is literally a tent. We found out they've been there since Wednesday morning.
Jaina knew someone near the front, but we didn't cut. I mainly took this picture to get a closer photo of The Crazies sleeping in bags and comforters.
It was sooo cold.
Jaina signing up for a Best Buy card to buy her camera with!
Holla!
SUCCESS! Her camera came with a camera bag, memory card, tri pod, instuctional video, etc...for super cheap.
Ka-CHING! In and out of Best Buy in 12 minutes...
...and on the way home before the sun even came up over the horizon.
BUT THAT'S NOT THE END!
After a nap til noon and a few other errands during the afternoon, I got home and my brother Scott said to me, something to the effect of: "Get back into the car. Dad's buying a new tv. Get back! This is not a drill. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"
Ok so it wasn't quite that dramatic. Only in my mind. But this was HUGE because for years my brother and I (but mainly Scott, he deserves the credit for this) have been trying to talk my dad into getting a new TV. Our old one just wasn't cutting it anymore. It was 18 years old!
So back into the car we went and back to Best Buy for the second time in one day.
A true Black Friday miracle.
Dad and Scott working out the TV deals and sales.
Donovan came to join in on the celebration.
Getting the TV into the car. (We had to document every move for proof.)
Dad's face says it all.
Scott setting it all up. It was a wire disaster.
Still trying to figure out all the systems! Oh dad...
Putting it into place.
The finished product. Doesn't it look so nice there? And in all its full HD glory?
And of course, Dad loves it.
Can't wait to see what next year has in store!
4 comments:
That was fun to read.
hilarious! wish i was there...
Yes it was hilarious. I still cannot believe I did it!!!!
hahaha love it! ...and I LOVE that HP is on the tv!
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