Chaos!

Tis the season for chaos! I purposefully stayed away from the madness this year due to prior experiences. Individuals transform into different people around Black Friday due for the chance to buy a product at a "discounted price."

My story of Black Friday was in Walmart. I was recruited by my friends parents to wait in line for a 42' flat screen television. In total, his parents recruited 3 friends to wait in line for various "big ticket items." This alone shows the seriousness of Black Friday and how consumers plan out days in advance to get the products that they want. There was a very high level of involvement in the decision making and was carefully planned out. I arrived at 10 p.m. the night before for a product that would go on sale at 5 a.m. the next morning. Walmart was packed with consumers frantically scurrying around like squirrels trying to find nuts.

I went to the line dedicated to the television. I was thirteenth in line, and they had a total of 35 televisions. Luckily the line where I waiting was in the pillow isle. I was able to take a 2 hour nap on 4 pillows until a Walmart employee told me that I could not lay on the pillows. Many veteran consumers brought chairs and blankets with them while the rookies (me) suffered without a padded seat. The fun started when the line began to move. The story began getting very loud due to the plethora of lines all throughout the store. The chaos was due to many consumer behaviors like buying products that they may not afford any other time. The emotion of bargains and buying possibly out of your social class.

With all the chaos and time spent in line, I told myself that it wasn't worth it. I sat a cold tile floor for a television I wouldn't even get to enjoy for 20 dollars. It was a different experience that I was glad that I could see first hand... once. I can wait a few more hours or a day to do my Christmas shopping, it's just not worth it. Having a well thought out plan is the way to go for the Holiday season. Shopping within your means and looking for deals which are all around!