Black Friday 2011

Shortly after noon this past Wednesday, a Black Friday adventure started for two of my coworkers. Note: I didn't say "two of the guys that work for me."  Yes, I'm they're boss, but we all work together.  So that having been said, I let them leave extra early on Wednesday so they could go get in line at Best Buy to get an unbelievable deal on a 42" flat screen TV for $199 bucks.  Here is a detailed report of their adventure that started at about 1:00 Wednesday afternoon and ended after 1:00 in the morning on Friday.  This entry will be long, but I enjoyed being a part of their adventure through text and email updates and I wanted to put it in my blog to preserve for history. 

1/23/11

1:00pm Left work early to be first at Best Buy. Thanks to great boss CP for the early exit.

1:05pm Reminded Black Friday partner AK to put ice in his cooler.


1:15pm Finally left the office.


1:30pm Made it to Best Buy on Shelbyville road. Talked to manager and found out we are first in line. Also found out we can get one item each of each door buster item. So, if you want me to get something for you call me before tomorrow night.


1:45pm Since nobody else is waiting we AK and me eat lunch at McDonald's.


2:15pm Wasting time in Best Buy because we are still first. Also looking for wall mounts for TV's.


2:30pm AK is already bored and bothering me. only 31 hours to go!


2:55pm Our first BF competition showed up. 10 guys were asking the same questions we did earlier. 2 more showed up asking the same questions. None of these guys stayed but I'm sure they will be back.


3:30pm Our hand was forced to actually get in line. 3 dudes set up a tent. Also a mother set up a tent. AK and I got in line finally. We are numbers 6 & 7.


5:00pm My beautiful wife stopped by and brought AK and me some Subway. Also, another guy showed up with a nice canopy and some camping heaters to keep us warm. 11 people are here in total so far.


6:00pm Taking stock of AK and my supplies:
2 folding chairs
2 sleeping bags
1 cooler with bottled water, sliced turkey, a loaf of bread & 2 Subway sandwiches
3 jackets
A bunch of Hot Hands
2 books
1 can of Pringles
1 football


6:05pm The first twinge of controversy happened. The first three people in line had a friend show up. The friend wanted to join the 3 guys in line but they told him he couldn't let him get in front of the other people in line. The 3 guys did the right thing but we would have told him to get behind us anyway.


6:25pm We've had two more tents show up. Now we have 14 people waiting.


6:26pm We campers have already has countless amounts of people taking pictures of us. Some people make fun of us and call us stupid. Well, we will have the 42" HDTV and they won't! We all are having fun with people asking us stupid questions. I'll explain the fun after watching a movie with AK.


7:25pm Two more tents have been added. One of the tents has a married couple with a child that appears to be less than a year old. Wow, I thought I was stupid! The other tent has two people. Just past the last tent is a lonely guy sitting by himself. He told me his brother works inside Best Buy and is going to take his place at 3am. He also said his brother has agreed to sit in line for him until midnight tomorrow because he paid his brother's phone bill. The lengths people will go through to get a 42" HDTV. The guy that set up the white canopy next to us just brought out a kerosene heater. It is a good thing he did because my fingers and toes are starting to get cold.


7:40pm I can't feel my nose.


7:45pm The guy with the white canopy let us move in. Warm and toasty with the kerosene heater!


9:10pm More people in line now. The baby is still here but sitting in a car with her father. Inside the white canopy is still warm. The poor people outside the canopy are literally freezing their collective asses off. Getting back to stupid people saying things to us waiting people. You would be amazed how many people ask us what we are doing or why are we camping. We are having fun saying equally stupid things back.


10:05pm The store just closed. No immediately available toilet until midnight Friday! Oh no!


11:45pm There are now twelve tents in our village. I didn't count everybody but it has to be close to 50 now.


11/24/11
1:05am I fell asleep and the others in our heated canopy made fun of me.


9:00am I've been awake for about an hour now after sleeping in my truck for a few hours. AK slept in the tent instead of his car. The India or Pakistani family behind us in line are now awake. I swear that family sounds like Borat's family. Very Nice!


10:00am AK and I just got back from making another run to Thornton's. Shelbyville road is very lively now. Thornton's too. A couple of young guys in line with us at Best Buy walked to Thornton's earlier. They had icicles hanging off their noses when they got back. I have to say that the idiocy of the people we are waiting with isn't limited to their decision to wait outside Best Buy.


11:30m Good friend EG stopped by to take my place for a little while in line so I can eat Thanksgiving dinner with my family. You don't really know how good a friend is until the take your place in a black Friday camp. I have to remember to buy EG lunch soon! The nice guy letting us use his canopy brought another toy out of his truck. We now have a TV hooked up to a battery and are watching the Macy's parade. The tv also has a built in DVD player. I guess we will watch some movies later. Again, AK and I are very fortunate! The line is still growing but no offers yet of people wanting to pay us for our spot in line.


3:15pm I just got back from eating with my family and friends. What a waste of time! EG had to leave to spend time with his girlfriend and her family. What a nice friend. The two ladies that are friends have some serious friction between them now. One friend has been here the entire time. The other friend has had a real hard time staying in line. Early this morning while everyone was sleeping she snuck away, drove home and went to bed. The friend that stayed is so embarrassed and is telling all of us other people her friend should lose her place in line.


3:45pm The line is now wrapped around the corner and down the whole side of the building.


6:00pm At 5:15pm AK and I made our last to Thornton's for a bathroom break. When we got back at 5:30pm, the local news crew was here. They filmed everybody in line, even the inside of the canopy we are sharing. One old man inside our canopy was interviewed. The line has now wrapped around the back of the building
6:30pm The lady friend that hasn't been here for hours just showed up. There is a sort of weird tenseness between the two ladies. People in line are starting to pack up their occupy/camp equipment. The stress of waiting out the elements and time is starting to disappear.

7:30pm We people at the front of the line are getting restless. Some feel that people are going to try to rush the front of the line. So we have dismantled our tent city and lined up clearly so everyone can see. Our actions have caused a chain reaction among the rest of the line. All the tents down the line are coming down. AK and I thought it was too early to do this, but there is a decided increase in traffic in front of the store. Now the wait in the freezing cold starts for the last few hours.


8:50pm Best Buy employees have been trickling in for about 30 minutes now. The police just showed up. It is getting closer and closer to game time. Hurry up time I'm freezing!


9:20pm I just made my last trip to see where the end of the line is. It took me over 3 minutes to walk from my #6 spot to the very end of the line. The line is literally hundreds and hundreds of people long. I have no idea what the people in the back expect to buy. It will take most of those people at least an hour just to get through the doors once Best Buy opens. Us at the front are increasingly feeling like animals in the zoo. In about 30 minutes the managers will start handing out the vouchers for the door buster items. The time is finally here!


10:15pm They finally started handing out the coupons/vouchers. About 5 minutes ago one homey tried to blend in at the front of the line. Every single person around me started yelling at the guy and the cops came over and made him leave. He said he was waiting for a friend to show up. Yeah, right!


10:40pm Finally! The wait is over! Now the wait for S.S.S. begins!


10:50pm Here is a picture of the kerosene heater that saved us. That is AK acting like a total sissy. OooooI'm so cold.....


11/25/11
1:00am We finally made it through. The journey started at 1:00pm on Wednesday and ended at 1:00am on Friday. After getting our vouchers for our items and then waiting for the doors to open at midnight, it took us 1 hour to get the items and check out. After helping AK take his treasures to his house, it is back to my home where food and sleep awaits. I think I will go home just after I stop at WalMart in pursuit of the elusive $2.84 waffle maker....