Past year's memories.... anyone have pics or stories?

[brinak2005]

Anyone have any pics or a fave story from last year they want to share?

 

The attached pic is one my friend took of me while we were sitting outside of Target last year. We forgot our blankets at home so she ran back to Walmart and grabbed some of those $3 blankets they had. I could have killed her for this pic, but we always have a blast while waiting out in the cold.

[tinkrbel]

I think this was a good idea and hope lots post. I know I spend at most a few hours waiting outside and don't bring anything but the necessities with me but still like to live precariously through others.

[starbeck96]

Last year's memories....

 

My friend and I got to our local Walmart around 10:30 pm. At around 1 AM we left and went to a town 45 minutes away and went to their Walmart (alot bigger than ours and an hour ahead). We got some of the stuff we wanted and then went to Target. I got the keyboard they had on sale and some DVD's and games. Then we left and went to another town (another 40 minutes away) and went to TRU. Then we went back to the other town and went to Old Navy and other stores. Yes, we do alot of driving on BF, but that is the downside to living in a small town.

 

Oh yeah, we did stop and eat before we went to TRU.

 

We always have such a good time when we go. There are no kids distracting us and we can have some great converstaions.

[mamat2011]

I dropped my daughter and her friend off at walmart to stand in line for her computer ; then my husband and I sat outside in front of target for our tv. then we ran back to walmart grabbed more stuff. ate at mcdonalds, ran around and went to several other stores went home napped; put up christmas tree our normal thanksgiving

[jaymacfla]

Two of our guys camping out in front of Dollar Tree. Edited September 20, 2011 by jaymacfla

[jaymacfla]

GottaDeal shirt from last year

[twilightcalm]

Two of our guys camping out in front of Dollar Tree.

What was in the Dollar Tree? Or was this a joke? I can't imagine anything in there to camp out for.

[brinak2005]

What was in the Dollar Tree? Or was this a joke? I can't imagine anything in there to camp out for.

Ok, I'm dying to know too. I'm assuming either this was a joke or the Dollar Tree was next door to Target or Best Buy or some other store...lol. What kind of BF deals would $ Tree have?....everything .50?

[TazErase]

Two of our guys camping out in front of Dollar Tree.

WoW!!! Lining up at Dollar Tree? 75% off... get the items for $.25? lol Seriously I never knew Dollar Tree to be a big draw on BF, lol

[speeddiva]

Staying up all night, in my jammies, ordering things off the internet while everyone else froze & fought the crowds

[TazErase]

One of the funniest memories I have from last year.... OK, I was first on line for Best Buy. A lady shows up at about 8pm Thursday night, goes to the front asking what her chances are of getting the $189 laptop. I told her there was no chance at all and she then gave me a sob story about her friend's mom that died and she wanted to cheer him up by getting him a laptop. Then she smiled at me and said I look like a nice guy and she knows I'll do the right thing... HELL YEAH, I didn't wait on line all this time to get a laptop for someone that shows up after the line has a few hundred people and try to guilt trip the first person in line. My whole point of being there was to get that laptop for my family. Yeah I'm a nice guy, but nothing stopped her from attempting to get there earlier and beat me on the line, of course that would just mean I have to get their earlier next year, lol.

[2chia]

Ok, I'm dying to know too. I'm assuming either this was a joke or the Dollar Tree was next door to Target or Best Buy or some other store...lol. What kind of BF deals would $ Tree have?....everything .50?

I was wondering the same thing. What is in the dollar tree that you MUST have ?!! Everything 50 cents ? That is a good one. I have a good chuckle over that one. Wait until I get to work tomorrow and tell my coworker about that.

[2chia]

One of the funniest memories I have from last year.... OK, I was first on line for Best Buy. A lady shows up at about 8pm Thursday night, goes to the front asking what her chances are of getting the $189 laptop. I told her there was no chance at all and she then gave me a sob story about her friend's mom that died and she wanted to cheer him up by getting him a laptop. Then she smiled at me and said I look like a nice guy and she knows I'll do the right thing... HELL YEAH, I didn't wait on line all this time to get a laptop for someone that shows up after the line has a few hundred people and try to guilt trip the first person in line. My whole point of being there was to get that laptop for my family. Yeah I'm a nice guy, but nothing stopped her from attempting to get there earlier and beat me on the line, of course that would just mean I have to get their earlier next year, lol.

I would have smiled if some guy pull that joke on me. I would have told him yes, I am a nice woman but NOT nice enough to let him cut in line.

[HansieDZ]

Two of our guys camping out in front of Dollar Tree.

PRICELESS!

Love.It.

[TazErase]

I would have smiled if some guy pull that joke on me. I would have told him yes, I am a nice woman but NOT nice enough to let him cut in line.

Nah she didn't want to cut, she wanted me to pick up a laptop (which everyone with me was intending to get for themselves) and let her buy it from me at cost. Bad enough if she wanted to cut, heck 1 person cutting, I'd still have gotten my laptop, but if you really want the item, you get on line early. If I had let her cut the line, or even a friend of mine, I'd be lynched by the crowds. I never hold spots or let people cut. As many of you know that would cause a riot in most locations, lol.

[brinak2005]

Nah she didn't want to cut, she wanted me to pick up a laptop (which everyone with me was intending to get for themselves) and let her buy it from me at cost. Bad enough if she wanted to cut, heck 1 person cutting, I'd still have gotten my laptop, but if you really want the item, you get on line early. If I had let her cut the line, or even a friend of mine, I'd be lynched by the crowds. I never hold spots or let people cut. As many of you know that would cause a riot in most locations, lol.

Yeah, my friend's husband wanted to jump in line with us a couple of years ago at TRU after we had waited in the cold for 3 hours!!! He thought we would let him slip in with us unnoticed....HA! To the back of the line he went!!

[jaymacfla]

Ok, I'll answer that one. Plenty! But it is not what was inside the store that they were after. It was the reaction of drive-bys that they were after, and the questions and comments they received was worth the price of admission. Oddly enough, the real trouble started when they returned to Best Buy with the tent, and others assumed that they were line cutting in the worst way, with a tent in tow!

[brinak2005]

Ok, I'll answer that one. Plenty! But it is not what was inside the store that they were after. It was the reaction of drive-bys that they were after, and the questions and comments they received was worth the price of admission. Oddly enough, the real trouble started when they returned to Best Buy with the tent, and others assumed that they were line cutting in the worst way, with a tent in tow!

OMG....I would have loved to see that in person....

[Elmck]

Some of my favorite memories from last year were:

 

My dad calling me from Walmart to tell me the latest updates and the deals he was getting.

My son-in-law taking my place in line at Best Buy to get the nook and a few other things so I could go to Kohls with my DD

My son being so excited to get a TV from Target for his in-laws

I am sure I will remember more later.

[drod58]

Last year me and my daughter were in line at Target. My daughter's husband was working the night shift and he went to Target to talk to us for a little while. He works for JCP&L the power light company and he parked this big ass truck in the middle of the parking lot. Then he walked toward us and said out loud, OK everybody can go home now there is no power at Target. OMG, everybody started to scream, then he said OH NO NO, I'm just joking. We were laughing so hard for about 10 mins. You have to see the look on people's face. That has been the funiest and best memory by far at Black Friday.

[brinak2005]

Last year me and my daughter were in line at Target. My daughter's husband was working the night shift and he went to Target to talk to us for a little while. He works for JCP&L the power light company and he parked this big ass truck in the middle of the parking lot. Then he walked toward us and said out loud, OK everybody can go home now there is no power at Target. OMG, everybody started to scream, then he said OH NO NO, I'm just joking. We were laughing so hard for about 10 mins. You have to see the look on people's face. That has been the funiest and best memory by far at Black Friday.

Lmao.....I could just imagine. I know if I had been waiting in line, in the cold for a while and someone said that to us, it wouldn't be pretty...lol. He's lucky he didn't get some type of heavy object thrown at his head!!!

[mgmckny]

Last years memories, sitting at Starbucks watching the ads and the people, trying to help Brad out with checking the online deals. Good times, got to hear other people's complaints, successes, etc, did some studying for my class and drank a lot of coffee... :) This year I might have to do some shopping, not sure yet.

[mamat2011]

We had sat outside all night in the bitter cold and when Target started to open the doors people tried to jump line but the staff blocked them at the door but then they came back a little further and tried again I thought the crowd was going to be in a huge fight my husband included

[jaymacfla]

We had sat outside all night in the bitter cold and when Target started to open the doors people tried to jump line but the staff blocked them at the door but then they came back a little further and tried again I thought the crowd was going to be in a huge fight my husband included

Sounds like the thin red line held!

[MusicMama]

Best memory is introducing friends to Panera Bread at 2:30 in the morning after hitting up the Disney Store and other outlets before heading to Target and Walmart. Worst memory is trying to navigate the "other" Walmart in town and nearly getting killed in the store and in the parking lot. Next best memory -- shopping with my daughter, because at 17 there's usually something better to do. But we've shopped together since she was 18 months old and I would be lost without her.

[leefamily23]

We leftthe house around 8pm-ish to get in line for TRU for their midnight sale. When we left it was in the low 50's upper 40's. Now we brought layers knowing it was going to get cold out. What we weren't preapred for (as they never called for it) was the hours and hours of downpouring rain and the drastic drop in the temps. By the time the store opened we were literally ankle deep in water at some points. To make matters worse, I wasn't even getting anything there. There was quite a few times I wanted to ditch, but I couldn't do that to my sister.

 

Finally around 1:30 am we got into the store. I don't know what it is about TRU, but they move like snails there and they could only let so many people in at a time (that part I understood). Anyhow, while waiting in line at TRU (for a little over 2 hours) I called dh woke him up in the middle of the night to bring us dry shoes, clothes and something warm to drink. There was no way I was going to be able to continue on. Our clothing, socks, sneakers, and winter coats were "ring them out soaked!!". I ruined my shoes, so that was a loss that made the bargains that much less worth it! My husband arrived, we were still stuck in line in the way back of the store. If you left the store you had to re-wait outside in the still long line, in the pouring rain. Thankfully my 18 yr old son had come w/ us and he went out to go get the stuff and wait in the car. When I finally got out there, I changed in the car (that was fun-- trying to get out of my soaking clothing with a bunch of people around).

 

TRU took so long going to Walmart was out of the question, and nothing else was open just yet. So, we then went and tried to sleep in the Target parking lot. Unfortunately that driving, downpouring rain made it impossible to wait outside again. Unfortunatley, we were done by 7am. That whole midnight opening threw us completely off and in all honesty it kinda ruined the whole experience. We used to leave around 3am, which allowed us to get a few hours sleep the night before. We always got the items we were looking for. We knew we weren't going to get that HOT electronic item that people camped out for. We weren't going to skip Thanksgiving (my mother would dis-own us for life if we did) to get some sleep.

 

We have gone every year for the last 18 years now, and I can honestly say that if they all do that midnight opening again this year, I won't be out there. I will stay home and order online. It will be kinda sad because it's tradition for my sister and I to go, but getting no sleep and then trying to stay up all night and shop all day just didn't work out and it ruined "our day" anyhow.

 

The other stand-out thing was that in the evening of BF, my husband and I always go back to this bit more rural Walmart. We usually pick up quite a few left over doorbuster items. Been doing that for years to. However, we hit up 2 last year and there was absolutely nothing left. That was just another let down.

[ohitsunshine]

You guys have great memories! I am sitting here thinking, I am not even sure what STATE I was in last year for BF! I can't remember if we were visiting family in VA or if we were home here in FL! That is terrible!

[Jen08]

Last year I stayed up all night for BF (over 24 hours straight). By 2am, i was sick as a dog. By 3:30am i was throwing up. I was over an hour from my house and was with my SIL and MIL so I couldn't just leave. I don't know how I got thru it, but I did. I eventually started feeling better but feeling so sick had drained alot of my energy and even though, I still did very good with getting alot of gifts, I had decided to never do that again. I will get a couple of hours of sleep this year and be at kohls at 3am when they open. I think alot of my sickness not only came from being up so long with no sleep but b/c I didn't eat any supper from being full from thanksgiving lunch. I drank a small cup of coffee at midnight and my brother gave me one of those small energy drinks. I only drank a swallow off of it b/c i thought it tasted nasty. I'm so excited for this year though. In fact, me and my kids have been watching some christmas shows on Netflix today already!

[Kibit13]

Last year I stayed up all night for BF (over 24 hours straight). By 2am, i was sick as a dog. By 3:30am i was throwing up. I was over an hour from my house and was with my SIL and MIL so I couldn't just leave. I don't know how I got thru it, but I did. I eventually started feeling better but feeling so sick had drained alot of my energy and even though, I still did very good with getting alot of gifts, I had decided to never do that again. I will get a couple of hours of sleep this year and be at kohls at 3am when they open. I think alot of my sickness not only came from being up so long with no sleep but b/c I didn't eat any supper from being full from thanksgiving lunch. I drank a small cup of coffee at midnight and my brother gave me one of those small energy drinks. I only drank a swallow off of it b/c i thought it tasted nasty. I'm so excited for this year though. In fact, me and my kids have been watching some christmas shows on Netflix today already!

Christmas shows!

 

This year pack some snacks. Nuts are always good because they have protein in them. Any snack with a good balance of protein and carbs should help keep your energy up. Lots of water too. Sometimes when we feel tired it's because we need hydration.

[Jen08]

Christmas shows!

 

This year pack some snacks. Nuts are always good because they have protein in them. Any snack with a good balance of protein and carbs should help keep your energy up. Lots of water too. Sometimes when we feel tired it's because we need hydration.

I'll be taking your advice and packing some snacks this year. I learned my lesson from last year, but I still don't see how some people go over 24 hours with no sleep and not get sick. I didn't think it would happen to me b/c it never crossed my mind but it did. I'll need alteast 2 hours of sleep before I get up and get going. I think nuts is a great idea. Maybe some pistachios...yum!