While the World Watches

Today is Black Friday.

The day after Thanksgiving--yes, thank you, I had a nice Thanksgiving supper. It wasn't home cooking, but it was fine. I hope that you and yours had a wonderful time.

But for now, I want to talk about Black Friday.

Wednesday night, hubby and I went to Best Buy to get our new television. I'm pretty excited about the new television. It's not the BEST we could get, but it was all hubby was willing to shell out of pocket, because his mother knows him so well...and she provided part of the funding for it, so it would basically force him to play his cards--I just hope that he's satisfied with the picture...but that's not the point, and I digress so easily...

Outside Best Buy were two dome tents--people! Camping out on Wednesday night so that they were there, Friday morning, EARLY to get the FIRST Best Buy "best buy". Camping out. On a sidewalk. In 30 degree weather (and rain--don't forget the rain).

I've heard of people who camp out at concerts, days in advance to make sure and certain that they cash in on the best seats they can, but this is Black Friday--What could possibly be so important? Frankly, I don't believe that I am that desperate.

My boss at JoAnn's fabrics tells me that the store is a mob scene on Black Friday. There I am, on the telephone, offering to come in to help at the cutting counter, which has a line waiting that goes all the way around the store TWICE. That's not counting the lines that form in the opposite direction that want to get out of the store, but have to go through checkout first. I could have worked either counter, but there was no time to apply and go through orientation, so I just gave up the idea. Of course, it might be a good idea around the holidays.

In the meanwhile, I see crowds at the discount and warehouse stores. Let's not even go to the mall! Hubby and I are not good in crowds--and I'm asking him.

"Do we want to pick up the television tonight??" Ever hopeful that we can watch Medium and Ghost Whisperer on the BIG screen tonight.

"I'd like to watch it on the big television," he says. "But I'm not about to forge through the crowds today."

"Yeah, I guess I feel the same, too," says I. It's just not worth it to us.

Add to that, the fact that I simply don't like going to town PERIOD during this season. There are simply too many crazies out there who DON'T know how to DRIVE. We're already experiencing higher than normal accident rates on the roadways. I came upon two on Wednesday afternoon--people in a hurry to get home and get prepared for Thanksgiving with their family, some who will now spend the day in the hospital, recovering from head wounds and broken bones--was it worth the hurry?

And I don't care much for the stress from the hurry. It aggravates my IBS (something I'm sure was a TMI moment for you) and then I don't much enjoy my holiday either. Take that, you hurrying hoard! But people get crazy at this time of year. Everything is hurry, hurry, hurry! Even Toys R Us opened--MUCH EARLIER than any of the other Black Friday Elitists--at Midnight--a time when I was fast asleep, counting Z's and such. People who work at these stores barely have time to digest their Thanksgiving dinner before they have to go to work AGAIN under these stressful conditions. They can have it.

I'll just stay home, thanks.

But perhaps...yes perhaps I will go to McDonald's and grab lunch. After all, a girl's gotta eat, and since our supper Thanksgiving left no leftovers, I'm thinking McDonald's is a good choice, fast, just 5 minutes away, and 5 minutes home again, safe and sound to devour my lunch.

I can live with that sort of hurry hurry.

I'm having a fit of startitis. I want to get going on my son's hat, but feeling a bit at odds with myself. I want to and then again, I don't. Maybe I need a break from knitting? Oh, dear, I will go nuts if I take a break from knitting.

I did however, finish a small cloth with a tree on it. A duplicate of the lime green cloth--just a different color is all.

And then hubby and I went to the basement to work a bit on the craft and sewing room--clearing it out and prepping it for ALL my sewing and knitting, crochet, quilting--you name it--stuff. Hopefully, it will become an orderly confusion. The floor is now CLEAR of clutter, bugs, spiders and dust and dirt. We had to bring in the Shop Vac to do it. Now, I need to get window plastic and put up blankets on the windows, so that light doesn't destroy the fabrics. This might help with the bug population, too. I am probably more hopeful about that than is realistic. There also seems to be a small water problem in the closet, so everything will need to go on STILTS so that water can't get to the items "accidentally". That would be a disaster. Trust me on this.

So there's still some work to be done in the room, but we are slowly making headway. I'm getting excited about it, and it looks like soon I will have a little more order to my life. We shall see. Maybe I'll feel like knitting later, when the hoopla has wound down. Right now, I need lunch.