It's not easy shopping the day after Thanksgiving

To the Editor:

It's now been more then a week since we all gathered around our tables to enjoy Thanksgiving Day. A time to gather with friends and family and reflect on all the blessings we have to be thankful for.

Along with Thanksgiving Day, comes a very popular event in many households. No, it's not the fight between Uncle Bubba & Cousin Harley on who is going to carve the turkey (although this has been somewhat entertaining in the years past in our home).

The event I'm talking about is the "Day After Thanksgiving Sale." It's a family tradition in our home to bring all the papers with the sale ads and see where all the great deals are. I have found to have a successful shopping experience, one must carefully plan for your outing. I "tried" to go shopping once on the day after Thanksgiving. The key word here is tried. My friends, I'm here to tell you this is not just for anyone and it is not to be taken lightly. I survived. Not all do. Much like hunters who plan, prepare, and scout to get the big 12-point buck; shoppers too, must do much planning and preparation.

You don't just luck into the sale of a $29 DVD player or a bag of tube socks for $2.99. No sir. You must plan every step.

I have a sister (to protect her identity I'm just using her first name, middle initial and city in which she resides). Peggy S. whom lives in Bloomfield. You see, she is one of those who goes all out for this special day. She is the leader of a … let's call it a "shoppers group." This group meets every Thanksgiving evening and orchestrates the master plan of attack for the next day. Since the deals are so many and the shoppers are so few; each group is given a specific amount of stores to go to between the hours of 5 and 10. Each group buys at each store for the other groups. This way no one misses out on any of the great deals. This works out great … unless you are not part of the group, in which case you just get run over and have to end up buying the only items left on the sale racks. Usually a pack of 144 AA batteries or 3-variety popcorn tin.

I would like to close by saying this. If you happen to survive the shopping part you still have to survive the parking lot. This is not a pretty place to be. All rules and traffic laws, as we know them, are completely ignored from the hours of 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving.

Jody Todd

Linton