Littlejen re: Black Friday midnight shopping
J&A2008
member
My mom and I hit Toys R Us last night at midnight and we found a huge crowd of people in the parking lot and a line that wrapped around the building. We waited in the car for about 20 minutes, then in line for another 20 minutes.
When we got inside, we found literally shelf-to-shelf, wall-to-wall people. I tried describing it to DH, saying "I couldn't move" to which he replied "What do you mean, you couldn't move?" I mean, I was packed into the aisle like a sardine and there was no open area that wasn't crammed with people. They let WAY too many people in and it was a mob. Definitely not safe or legal according to fire code.
Slowly we mincingly stepped along the aisle. We couldn't get to the things we wanted to see very quickly. It's a good thing neither of us were claustrophobic because we would have freaked. By 1am we figured we were already standing in the "check out line" that started at the back of the store and was being snaked through all the aisles. By 1:30 they had some order restored and while we still couldn't freely move down the aisles, at least we could slowly shift our way around the crowds. People were pretty polite. It was 3am by the time we made it back to the car.
Overall, we saved a bundle and my mom said it was an adventure.
ETA: Thanksgiving day I got a text on my cell from BM that said she is signing the adoption papers and has witnesses. I don't know if it's just dramatics that she chooses Mother's Day to tell us that she's in rehab and Thanksgiving to text she's giving them up, so I'm not counting on it.
Re: Littlejen re: Black Friday midnight shopping
I went out! I also did TRU, got there at 11:15, I was all the way in the back but only slightly around the corner but the line went way towards the other end of the building which is a TRU and Home Depot. Probably got into the store around 12:20, they only let so many people in at a time but let more in before people left, it just helped let people get to the back of the store before more came in. They were really organized handing out tickets for the most popular items while we were outside in line...I almost bought that Smores the Pony! I had to criss-cross the store a few times looking for some of what I wanted which was hard but not impossible, luckily I did not need to get into the electronics dept b/c there was a line to get in there. When I got in line the line was to the back right corner and snaked though the small aisles on the right but by the time I was half-way to the front it was already to the back left corner. I left there around 2:15.
BUT, I went home to pee and check on DH and the kids since the kids fell asleep crazy early and I told DH that the line at Target was pretty short but that I would go to sleep at get up at 4 (because the kids kept waking up) and he asked if I was scared to lose my space in line and I said yes so I headed out! I was probably only about 30th in line at Target, got in and bought the 2 things I wanted plus 2 sets of PJs for DS and checked out and was in the car at 5:07...7 minutes after opening.
Headed over to ACMoore for Thomas stuff, then to Michaels for some organization stuff, to Dunkin Donuts to bring Breakfast home and in bed by 6:30 AM.
Not sure if I would do it that way again but it was definitely an adventure and everyone I was in line with was great. It was pretty warm here until about 3:30 and it never rained more than a drizzle but by 4:30 I was getting cold. Oh, and by 5:07 there was not one person on line so I will not camp out there again unless the item is super important which honestly the stuff I went for was not. But I saved a lot.
I am glad you had a good time.