It has been less than 24 hours since I braved the downpour to rummage through the remains of Best Buy on Black Friday (and by Black Friday I mean Thanksgiving night because capitalism never sleeps). I took my well-loved cash-back card, my patience, and my vigilance as I plowed through shoppers to reach the back wall where the PlayStations and Xboxes were duly kept in security cages. My aunt was kind enough to join me in the B.O.-scented sauna that was Best Buy so that I could buy myself a discounted PS4. She held the spot in line so I could have a short look around to see all the games and accessories that were very much still full price. The wait actually wasn’t too bad because the staff managed to keep the lines around the perimeter of the store and separated shoppers based on whether they were paying cash or card.
By the time I reached the front of the line, the bad news was in: they were out of the Spiderman PS4. This was sad not because I give a fig about Spiderman but because this was apparently the only PS4 that was on sale (not that their Black Friday ads made that clear). When the cashier broke the news, I was stunned for a moment. I looked at my card and then at the Red Dead Redemption II PS4 pro, quickly to my aunt, and then back to the PS4 desperate for a home.
“Should I really spend the extra hundred dollars for this kit to get another game I also don’t care about?”
A moment passed and then “should” flew out the window because I was sweaty, out past my bedtime, desperate to justify all the time we had just spent in line, and daunted after dodging the rainy wrecks down a slowly flooding 48th Street. So, I bought it, and another controller of course so as not to be selfish with my new-found happiness. Besides, it is much easier to pull someone in to play Dig Dug with me than for them to pull me away (at least during the honeymoon phase).
Having gone out once on Black Friday I can say I probably won’t go out again. Not because the experience was harrowing or the people were rude (everyone was very courteous, minus the drunk man badgering the staff) but because I have no real occasion to shop otherwise. Plus, if I’m not willing to camp of my own volition for recreation, I’m certainly not doing it to save a few bucks!
Instead, I’ll enjoy my steady, reliable relationship with Amazon from the comforts of my snuggly bed.
