Yesterday morning, heading over to Macy's for its midnight Black Friday opening seemed like a great idea.
But after a long day of cooking, eating, and cleaning up after nine people, it didn't seem so smart anymore.
Still, we'd committed to midnight shopping and the kids were all excited, so at 11:30, six of us piled into the car and headed to the mall.
When we got to Macy's, this crowd was waiting outside for the doors to open.
Want to know if anyone showed up with pepper spray to keep the rest of us from getting deals?
Read on!
We actually chose Macy's over Target's midnight opening because I was seeing photos on Twitter of the lines of people outside Target, and it didn't look pretty. Just as we had hoped, the crowds outside Macy's were much smaller and more convivial.
When an employee unlocked the doors and opened them, everyone laughed and whooped and politely filed inside. It had a very festive feel.
Once we were indoors, though, the madness began. People were actually running trying to get to whatever deals they had scoped out in the papers.
I was a little confused by the running. The store wasn't exactly packed, and there was plenty of everything.
I guess they had fallen victim to Black Friday Madness.
As a group, we didn't do so well. Most of us were too tired to try anything on, and the deals, frankly, weren't all that great. Macy's had marked down certain things, but everything else was full price, and it took the usual Macy's newspaper coupon to get a discount.
I did manage to find two Ralph Lauren pillows, a pair of jeans and a sweater for my 7-year-old, and a pair of socks for my son. My total: $56. I saved about 50% which was pretty darn good if you ask me.
But it still wasn't worth braving the crowds of crazy deal seekers -- and the saleslady who helped me must have signed the I-don't-want-to-work-at-midnight petition, because she was incredibly cranky and the night had only just begun.
I think we would have done better if we'd had a cohesive plan. I noticed that the smart shoppers had all gone immediately for the best deals -- They carried luggage, kitchen appliances and bedding and headed straight for the register.
That said, we're glad we did it once, but we all agreed we'd never do it again. We're not big fans of crowded stores and I'd much rather get my deals online.
How about you? Did you go shopping at midnight?