Back in the days before technology, the origins of Black Friday began without an I-phone in hand.  It lasted only 24 hours and had everything to do with real deals, if you were willing to pay the price.  That price consisted of crowds and ridiculous hours.  I participated a couple of times and secured two very important members of our family…Orson Derrick and Cedric Jesse.  They were Cabbage Patch Kids and were the only “dolls” my boys ever adopted.  They were pretty much part of the family, moving on only when their dads left home, but back to Black Friday…

I was sitting in Alice’s Beauty Shop when the conversation turned to Black Fridays back in the day.  I learned Alice was committed to the concept and she had some stories to tell.  She usually started her experience on Thursday afternoon right after the turkey was cleared away.  They did the midnight shopping at participating stores, had breakfast and were first in line for the Friday morning door crashing, which was a literal thing.  Delpha was with Alice one year when Kmart unlocked the doors, and Delpha got run over by a crazy woman pushing a cart like it was a bulldozer.  It was a hit-and-run crash leaving Delpha to be gathered up by one of the Kmart employees, whom she said was very nice.  That was Delpha’s last door-crashing Black Friday!

On another Black Friday, Alice was looking for Cabbage Patch Kids and got to the display only to find the Kids had all been adopted.  That year there was a rule, one Kid per customer.   Alice, being the sharp shopper she was, noticed one man with three Kids in his arms.  She asked him if he had a person for each Kid, to which he replied, “Nope, just looking for my wife so she can choose the one she wants.  Then the other two will go back.”  Well, this was a stroke of luck!  Alice asked if she could have one of the rejects.  He told her to follow him, they would find his wife, and then Alice could have one of the left-over Kids.  The store was crowded, and Alice didn’t want to lose him, so she grabbed his coat tail and away they went looking for the wife.  Rod had accompanied Alice that year and looked up just in time to see his wife go by hanging on to the coat of some stranger who was carrying three Cabbage Patch Kids!  Alice got her Kid!

Her stories included people stealing items out of her cart, and the fun breakfasts they had while waiting for the stores to open Friday morning.  You had to take the good along with the bad during this much anticipated annual event.  After listening, I figured Black Friday was a little like childbirth, a real strain for a while, but by the time it rolled around again you’d forgotten the pain and focused only on the result!  For us, that was Orson and Cedric.  And they helped us enjoy the Good Life!