Black Friday

I know that yesterday was technically the day for giving thanks, but this year I am most thankful today, the day after Thanksgiving. For the past three years, I covered regional business for The Roanoke Times and it was my unhappy duty to write about Black Friday. For those unfamiliar with this very American phenomenon, let me explain: Black Friday is one of the most popular shopping days of the year. It's a day when thousands of people wake up at ungodly hours to claim coveted items at ridiculous discounts. Usually, things are pretty festive. I've interviewed many a shopper who views their early morning dash-to-the-deals as a holiday tradition. In the past, however, it has been far from festive for me.
Covering this event, you see, meant dragging my bleary-eyed self out of bed at 3 or 4 a.m. when most of my family and friends remained tucked up in bed, soundly sleeping off their dinners. And I didn't even get to score any $400 flat screen TVs! Instead, I'd pull into near-full parking lots, shake my head at the dozens of people lining up to pounce on the aptly-named "door busters," and interview them. Hours later, when these same happy shoppers walked away from the mall dragging bags stuffed with purchases and mentally calculating the money they'd saved, I'd wander back to my car with a notebook full of quotes, mentally composing the next day's story.
But not this year. This year, I slept. And believe me, while I might have missed out on $5 sweaters and $12 universal remote controls, I cannot imagine a better way to spend Black Friday.