So This Is Why They Call It "Black Friday"...

Thanksgiving. So we meet again.

It's the season for gluttony and watching "It's Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown!". But I have to admit, I did partake in both activities. And no, I didn't feel bad.

Thanksgiving for my family is usually quiet and low-key. Our tradition goes as follows: we help make the food, we eat the food, say what we're thankful for this year and then go into a tryptophan-induced coma. Is it conventional? No. But it works.

But this particular Thanksgiving was different. This year, I was going to endure my first Black Friday shopping adventure.

After our hour-long nap, my mom and I convened to buy a paper to look over the ads to plan our route. Little did we know, trying to find one on Thanksgiving would turn into a two-hour goose chase. I knew this was a sign of things to come.

We plan what stores to swarm, get a team compiled of my mom, my godmother, her 10-year-old daughter Emily, and I. The meeting time was 7 a.m. (even though Emily insisted we meet at 3 a.m.) in Folsom. I was pumped.

The excitement went away when I woke up at 5 a.m. I don't even remember the last time I left the house and it was still dark outside. A trip to Starbucks was definitely in order, even though it took almost 20 minutes to get my precious caffeine.

Fast forward to Folsom. We start at a small shopping center that conveniently had all the shops we wanted to hit. What wasn't convenient was that it started to pour rain and I hadn't worn the most appropriate attire. I blame the weather man for telling me lies the night before.

After hitting several stores to no avail, we go to the mother of all Black Friday sales: Target. Little did I know that I would have to bust some elbows trying to make my way through the store. Not only did it look like a tornado had gone through the store, but the amount of rude old women fighting over Wii games was too much for me to handle. We left to the outlets in hopes of better luck.

Bad idea.

The place was swarming with the most boorish people I have ever seen. So much for this season being jolly. Plus, I was feeling the effects of 9 hours straight of shopping.

As I sat down on a bench in the Puma outlet to rest my weary feet among the mass of people trying on ghastly overpriced shoes, a young couple decided it would be a great idea to scoot me off the bench in order to get some cuddle time in.

Enough was enough.

I got up, gave the couple a dirty look and blatantly told the two to "get a room". I stormed out of the store, whispering obscenities under my breath, which led to a loud 5 minute rant to my godmother. Why must people go out of their way to make others miserable? And there's a time and a place for cupcaking. The Puma outlet on Black Friday definitely not being one of them.

I took a deep breath, and realized a negative attitude was not going to get me anywhere. Plus Emily was nice enough to buy me a soda with her own money (which was a BIG deal). I regrouped and proceeded to Banana Republic. Hey, everything in the store was 50 percent off. You can't beat that!

The shopping day ended with a spontaneous thunder storm, which to me was a symbol that we should cut our Black Friday loses and drown our sorrows (and hurt feet) in beer and pizza. Sadly, the pizza was probably the highlight of my Black Friday.

Would I do it over again? Maybe. If I was ensured I got my coffee in less than 20 minutes and I wouldn't want to shank someone prison style in an outlet mall.