Black Friday

I braved Kohl's for Black Friday. I wasn’t going to, but I did. The stores have a way of luring you in with deals you just can't pass up. In this case, they had exactly what I needed for $20 less than usual. I did NOT get up at 4am with the other lunatics. My sister-in-law and I showed up about 8:30 and found that the line curved around the entire store. That was a little discouraging, but not discouraging enough to send us home in defeat. We had made a sort-of 'pact' that we wouldn't get crazy and it would be a laid back morning, so we smiled and got to it.

As she held a spot in line for us, I went for the items I came for. I found them without much hassle seeing as half the people in the store were in line doing the same thing we were doing. I came back to line and my shopping partner went out. Now, she has three kids, so she took a little longer and came back with some really neat things.

Guess what...the people we were in line with were really nice. I found a fellow Arkansas Razorback fan (that's a rare thing in Tennessee) and a talkative guy from the East coast. I felt bad for him. It was his second trip to the store and the lady behind him was convinced he had cut in line. She actually confronted him about it. That was the only awkward moment of the day. Turns out, he didn't cut in line, and she ended up feeling a bit silly.

The other unexpected thing I found about being in this line was that it wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. As you circled the store, you also passed by all the things they were trying to sell. I'm sure that was a convenience to them. All of us were dashing in and out of line as we saw something that sparked our interest.

After hearing other horror stories of how people were trampled as stores opened, fights over the last toy or video game and other examples of the downfall of our society, I have to say we had a pleasant experience. It's hard for me to become obsessed over an item having seen some of the living conditions in a refugee camp and impoverished areas of Mexico and Venezuela. Some of them look at our culture and feel sorry for us. Why? As a nation, we are obsessed with ourselves and we're dying because of it. I don't mean to end on a downer, but to open eyes to the fact that we don't need anything as badly as we think we do. We'll survive without a new game system or a new wardrobe (that one hits me close to home).

Here’s a holiday challenge; do something to better the world this holiday season. There are so many opportunities. There’s the Nashville Rescue Mission (or your local shelter), Angel Tree programs from the Salvation Army, and lots of other charities that I can’t think of at the moment. Now, it’s not a command or anything, just a suggestion. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!