Currently Listening Cold Roses By Ryan Adams & the Cardinals Come Pick Me Up see related

I swore to myself that I would never do this again.

I swore that nothing was worth the assault, the degradation, the stress of a 28 year old man fighting with both older and younger women over toys.

I swore that nothing in heaven or hell could drag me back into the abyss of Black Friday.

I was wrong.

Wal-mart has made my life miserable two years in a row now with their incredible deals on black friday morn.  Last year was my first outing, in a vain quest for a digital camera.  With my brother-in-law by my side, I underestimated what I was up against.  By the time I fought my way to electronics, I could understand the incredulous looks I got from the cashier as he explained that the cameras had been gone within 5 minutes of the start of the sale.  I eventually got a more expensive camera at Target. 

This year, it was the potent combination of Power Wheels and Dora.  My daughter looks at those power wheel cars everytime we are in a store with a mixture of desire and awe, and I've always told her they are way too expensive.  But this year we happened to see the Dora VW bug for less than half the normal cost of a power wheels.  Thus, I was awake at 3:30 a.m., and my wife and I were at Walmart by 4:20, waiting to claim our prize.

This year, I was successful.  The car sits in the garage, under some blankets, until I put it together Christmas eve.  The experience was a lot more peaceful this time through a combination of better planning, earlier arrival at the store, and choosing a more remote Wal-mart that is in a more undeveloped area.  All the same, fights were breaking out in the aisles over HDTVs, and I had to guard my place in line from antsy parents waiting to get at that car.

I'd like to say that this was the last year, but my daughter is at that age now, and I'm pretty sure this is now an annual excursion.