I Survived Black Friday – Now, I Have to Make it Through Gray Saturday
I have to start this post by making it abundantly clear – I HATE SHOPPING! And, by that, I don’t mean just Black Friday, although it has a special place on my list of things I detest, but shopping any time. When I need to buy something, if I can’t find it on the Internet, I make a list, research the stores that have what I need at the price I’m willing to pay, go to the store, enter, buy, and get the hell out as fast as I can.
Having said that, this year, my wife finally discovered Black Friday, and wanted to know what all the hype was about. All day on Thanksgiving, she threatened to wake me up at oh-dark-thirty Friday and drag me to the nearest shopping mall to join the mob. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well Thursday night, and the lobster, turkey, and all the other goodies I wolfed down had nothing to do with it.
I got up yesterday at my usual time, 6:30, and made my breakfast. As usual, I tippy-toed around the house, hoping I wouldn’t wake my better half up; she likes to sleep in and hates eating breakfast except on weekends. At 10:30, her usual wake-up time, I breathed a sigh of relief when she got up, did her shower and makeup, and plunked herself down in front of the TV with a cup of coffee to catch her favorite Korean soap opera. At noon, she pried herself away long enough to make two bowls of noodles for our lunch, and went back to the afternoon news shows. Never a word about Black Friday shopping; could I be that lucky, I wondered.
I didn’t really relax until six in the evening. All day, she’d not said a word about going shopping, and it was now time for her favorite evening shows to start. No way she misses them unless the house is on fire, and even then I wonder.
But, we went to bed last night, and not once did she say anything about shopping. So, I was able to get a bit of writing done – starting the editing phase of my NaNoWriMo entry, which is a lot of work and requires the ability to focus. Of course, now I have to worry about whether or not she’ll decide to see what’s left on the shelves the day after Black Friday – a day I’ve taken to calling Gray Saturday for the somber mood of everyone who went through the torture yesterday, and the appearance of the stores with shelves nearly bare from the scourge of locust-like shoppers yesterday.
I’m a bit happier, though, after looking at the sky. It’s a grey day here in suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. The wind blew hard last night, dumping tons of leaves on our recently raked lawn, so instead of shopping, I’ll get my afternoon exercise moving leaves from the grass to the tree line behind our house. That I don’t mind; it’s a good way to stretch the muscles after sitting here at the computer for several hours, and it’ll set me up for a late night writing session. I might start my new Chronicle of Pip of Pandara book tonight. Or, maybe I’ll do some more sketches for planned projects. What I won’t be doing, folks, is shopping.
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Charles Ray's Ramblings 
November 24, 2012 at 4:36 pm
I think you should dance a jig, but that is just me. 😉 Great post.
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November 24, 2012 at 4:51 pm
Thank you, dear lady; I considered dancing, but it’s too cold outside, and there’s too much clutter in my office. 🙂
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November 26, 2012 at 1:02 am
Funny post! At least you didn’t venture out into the madness… 🙂
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