So Thanksgiving is a holiday that is well known. Even in Ireland. So I was pretty pumped about experiencing this for myself. From what I had heard it had something to do with pilgrims, food and football. And this wasn't far off. Before preparations, one should watch the Macy's day parade. I can honestly tell you that while I was watching this I felt like I was on some sort of hallucinatory drug. This had to be one of thee most eccentric things I have ever seen. Preparations began with preparing food. Similar to Christmas dinner back home. A turkey was prepared along with vegetables and then dessert which would follow. So far it seemed sweet and traditional. The Americans are all about the sweet potato's at this holiday. At school they served sweet potato's with marshmallows on top (its actually good ...believe me). I had also observed that pumpkins are a huge deal here. Americans embrace the pumpkin. I feel I had eaten my body weight before I even reached dessert. It was great ;) After the meal and some clearing up, it appeared tradition to watch a game of American football. Apparently pilgrims, Indians and being thankful are directly related to American football. I can say with the greatest confidence that I had no idea what was going on. It seemed that if soccer and rugby had a baby and insisted that it wear as much safety gear as possible it would be called American football. It seemed peculiar that it is disallowed that a player is forbidden to touch another players helmet but is perfectly allowed to pull his hair. This game was followed by a movie and then by another game of American football. This in my eyes was opportunity for napping. After eating such a large volume of food it seemed only natural that one should sleep through a game that one had no idea about. But this napping was in fact crucial to what was about to follow.
After napping, we grabbed some left overs and mentally prepared ourselves for what was about to occur. We were going "Black Friday" shopping. Our first stop? Walmart. Yes the very store America is known for. Like a true American I pulled on pajama bottoms and a t-shirt before heading out to this store. We left the house at 9pm that night. Coming up to this event, booklets are sent to houses all over the area explaining what amazing deals are in store for them. This clearly motivated people and got them pumped. This also made them crazy since they knew they had to get these deals. This would cause them to go to extreme lengths in order to ensure they would get the purchase they desired. This was evident when pulling into Walmart. The parking lot was already filled. The parking lots all around it were already filled. Eventually we would find a parking space around 200 yards from the store. When we got down there we seen around a dozen cop cars sitting outside the store. This was a warning sign that I paid no attention to. When we got in the store the aisles were filled with items, people were standing next to them with one or both of their hands on the item. Since you were only allowed to pick up the items at 10 o'clock you could only claim them. This was made incredibly clear. 10 o'clock was welcomed with screams from around the store. This was when people unleashed their fury. Fights broke out. Shouting was heard. People were everywhere.
I was in charge of the cart. When going Black Friday shopping it is wise to travel in packs. Safety in numbers. Also it is wise that the minute you enter the store you should send one of your members straight to the line for check out since by the time they actually get to the check out you will have done all you shopping in that store. It was at Walmart I realized the true wrath of Mothers doing Christmas shopping for their children. Living by the motto of "Trust no one" and "every woman for themselves". This became obvious when women would leap over boxes prepared to kill for a $15 mini kitchen for their child. Once 12 o'clock midnight would hit the TV's would be on sale at Walmart. TV customers are the top dogs of Black Friday shopping. They mean business. These people have most likely camped out all day in Walmart with their lawn chairs in the aisle (this is true, seen it with my own two eyes). These people know what they are after and will stop at nothing to get it. Trick is that one should try to escape before this breaks out or should simply be out of the way. I have grown up in a country where I have been in bomb scares, I have witnessed riots and other violent acts. But I can tell you that none of that came close to what I witnessed that night in Walmart. Other deals would then open at later intervals throughout the night in different stores. After Walmart we would head to Kohl's. The queue would be of phenomenal length. We sent one of our members into the line while the rest of us raged through the store fully trained from the last experience. This was of course a lot more civilized than Walmart. But still the "trust no one" mind frame remained. After this we would go to Meijer, their bargains would be available at 4 o'clock (am). These were surrounded by caution tape. They knew what they were doing. At 4 the caution tape would be cut and Mothers would leap over to their chosen item, catapulting themselves over boxes and various other Mothers in order for their prize. I remember witnessing a certain Mother jump over to the Angry birds board games, throw herself over the box, take a couple for herself and then continue to throw the rest out to other Mothers. It was truly inspiring.
After this would be a Chik-Fil-A visit. We were running low on fuel and were beginning to head into an auto-pilot state of mind. I can honestly tell you that I remember little after Chik-Fil-A. We went to other stores, but of course when we entered it was obvious that the tornado of people had already struck and recovery was in operation. We would return home and get into bed at 7.30 am in the morning. I realized the craziness of this when we were driving home and the sun was rising. Waking up the next morning at 11.30 am was surreal. We wondered if it really happened. I would imagine this is what a hangover would have been like. We weren't quite sure of what had happened the night before and what we seemed to remember seemed too crazy to accept as truth.
It will take me a year to get over what occurred that night. No wonder Black Friday only comes around once a year. Overall, I had a great thanksgiving! It was a great holiday which I cannot wait to go home and tell the Irish folk all about. Happy Holidays! :D
