Shopping mania takes us all over

By Staff
Leada Gore, Editor
My sister and sister-in-law joined the millions of Americans who went shopping at the crack of dawn last Friday.
They were at a large retail store at 6 a.m., just as it opened its doors to the other brave – or crazy – souls willing to battle the crowds for a $29.99 DVD player.
I didn't join them on this excursion.
"I will pay $2 extra if I can sleep until at least 8 a.m.," I told them the night before.
They were undaunted. I heard my sister rumbling around my house about 5 a.m. I stumbled out of bed- so much for 8 a.m. – to make sure she had everything she needed and to give her a house key.
"Interesting attire," I said, noting her flip-flops and scrub pants. I later learned she fit right in with the dawn shopping crowd.
"The best part was seeing what all those people were wearing," Ieleen, my sister-in-law, said.
Ieleen and Anna finished their shopping about 8 a.m. that day, just in time for them to come by the house and pick the rest of the normal crowd up.
My sister- in-law was particularly proud of one purchase.
"It was the last one they had," she said. "Another lady and I were going for it but I got there first. I had to walk really fast."
Survival of the fittest kicks in full gear on the day after Thanksgiving.
I, however, was not going to fall for that. I was almost finished Christmas shopping anyway. All I was looking for was two entryway pre-lit Christmas trees for the foyer. They had been advertised many places, so I didn't think they would be hard to find.
We shopped the remainder of the day and I kept an eye out for the Christmas trees. They were nowhere to be found. I called Greg and had him go by a store that not only said they had them but touted a reduced price.
There were none to be found.
Feeling a little desperate, I started asking around at each store.
"Nope," a not-so-friendly lady said. "We're sold out and won't be getting any more in."
"Sold out?" I replied. "It's noon. How many did you have? Surely there's not a run on pre-lit entryway trees. This is not an X-Box 360 we're talking about."
A nearby lady heard my discussion.
"I'm looking for them, too," she said. "I hear so-and-so has them." She then left the store, a step ahead of me in the search for entryway trees. I hurried out of the store, determined to beat her to the location. If there were two left, I was going to own them.
I arrived at the store only to find they were sold out, too. I passed the same lady as she left the store. I guess desperate people run in packs.