Christmas Shopping

There's several people I know who were all balls out to go battle the Black Friday crowds at 2am, 3am, 4am and so on... screw that, I cherish the days where I actually get to sleep in with Eric, lol. I heard on the news about someone actually getting trampled to death while trying to get into a store for the "amazing" sales. Seriously? Is that possibly $40 savings worth your life? I understand that some people really save a ton of money by doing that type of stuff, but damn.. I've heard some gnarly stories about people getting SERIOUSLY injured, attacked, STABBED and mugged... STUPID! Stuuuuuuuuuuupid.

So anyway...

Yesterday, Aunty Loo, my Dad, Eric, cousin Kendall and myself decided we were going to hit up Borders in Monterey. I was anticipating the worst considering it was Black Friday, right? No parking spots, long lines, jerky people getting super pissy due to long lines... you know..the whole "essence" of the Christmas shopping cheer. WEEEEELLLLL.... We got there and found a parking spot right off the bat. SCORE! Walk into Borders and honestly.. if I didn't KNOW it was a "massive" sale day, I would've assumed it was like any other normal day. No huge crowds, no long lines, no shoving and elbowing to get your desired merchandise. None of that. Totally calm and mellow. I remember last year being a complete nightmare, so to see the complete opposite this time around was a major relief. It wasn't like that just at Borders... same deal with Game Stop as well as Best Buy, which TOTALLY shocked me.

Even today when Eric and I migrated to Del Monte in Monterey...sure, the parking lot was full..that's to be expected there since the parking layout isn't the most convenient thing on the planet. I got a parking spot without any hassle right behind Macys, walked over to Mervyns and picked up some goodies since they're currently 50% off where we were the only ones in line, then headed over to Game Stop & I managed to pick up some UMD movies for my PSP at the grand price of $4 a piece (they're usually $20 a piece), went over to Chipotle for some burritos without having to wait in line forever (normally they're super slammed)... I mean, it was unreal to me. When I lived in the area, I worked for Macys at Del Monte and I DREADED Black Friday and the following weekend since it was always a mad house. So, to see just "average" foot traffic rather than the crazed stampeding crowds I'm used to.. it's just... humm... how can I put it...

It solidified every ones financial woes regarding our economy. No one is wanting to spend the extra money & everyone is cutting back... it SHOWED. It really showed. I'm sure retailers are going to have disappointing sale numbers for the month of December dispite the fact they're offering deep discounts and what not. Although, I must admit... figuring how I've been in retail for a good 10 years now, it makes me a little biased when I walk into a store and see something for $100 with a 30% discount. I know what that merchandise really cost and how large the mark up really is... half the time when I go out to buy stuff, it's really a challenge for me to spend my money, lol.

Ok, time for me to get back to the family :)