boon's log 4905.02: Shopping Mania

It was shopping mania last ThanksGiving weekend. Literally hundreds and thousands of people lined up in front of malls and stores since the night before the doors opened on the day after ThanksGiving. There were reports of people lining up since 6PM on Thursday evening, waiting eagerly for the doors to be opened at 5AM on Friday morning - that is an hour shy of 12 hours! They came with their sleeping bags, Winnebagos, foldable chairs and blankets, coffee flasks and portable TVs... and spent the entire night camping in front of stores such as Circuit City, Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and the like.

The day after Thanksgiving has reportedly become the biggest shopping day of the year, beating the weekend before Christmas and the more and more locals get more and more excited about it year after year. The National Retail Fderation reported a increase in sales this year - a 22% increase from $22.8bil in 2004 to $27.8bil this year (NRF article), with an average spending of $303 per person.

Well, a few of us actually joined in the crowd (Yeah!!!) but we were not as enthusiastic as some of the locals. We only started queueing up at 12AM on Friday morning, just in time for one stores, CompUSA to open. Various stores open their doors at different times, some at 12AM, 4AM, 5AM, 6AM and some at 7AM. And if you spotted something that you find really cheap and really worth the wait in the cold autumn morning (very early and unearthly hours in the morning) and the rain (or snow in some areas), then get in line, buddy... We managed to get most of the stuffs that we wanted to get, most of which are electrical items. We also encountered a few "interesting" characters during our shop-till-you-drop experience. Shoppers shouting on top of their voices at other shoppers and also at store assistants, people running like a chicken without head... but to top the list of "interesting characters" was one guy who decided to return something he bought from the shop at 2AM in the morning (!!!) and hogging the check out counter! Goodness! Can't he return it some other time?!

Anyways, I will think twice before attempting this "siao" thing again - I guess it is probably one of those once-in-a-lifetime thingy, where you just have to experience it once and live to tell it... :) We literally shopped round-the-clock with a few shut-eye in between for two straight days... goodness gracious. Well, some had more stories to tell and more "sovenirs" from the DoorBuster sales than the presents that they bought - ouch!

boon out...