Closing thoughts on holiday shopping

Several of you have asked what I was doing at Wal-Mart at 5a on Friday. Well, I'll tell you. My brother-in-law Ted is a deal hound and he was headed out bright and early -- 4:30. It just so happened that I flew to SLC from PHL the day before so I was still on east coast time. 4:30 MT = 6:30 ET. No problem. I was also curious to see what all the fuss was about. And lastly, I was secretly hoping to find some DEALS DEALS DEALS!!!

So in answer to Ryan's questions, I started as observer, but was not able to maintain a professional journalistic distance. Largely because I am neither professional, nor a journalist. I was sucked into the excitement of the chase. Though, thankfully, not as much as the lady in the photo above. She was really into it. I think she bought 30 LCD photo frames. Crazy lady. I bought one. I even picked up a Nintendo DS (Red) that I'll probably take back because I really don't want the boy to have a Nintendo DS. Ted and I also went to Target, Kohl's and Smith's Marketplace. Don't let the word get out too far, but Smith's Marketplace is where "it" is at. Abundant product, good deals, light crowds and free doughnut holes and hot chocolate. 

Lastly, I'm still trying to process what it means that a Wal-Mart employee was killed by overzealous shoppers. As exciting as the experience was, the people I observed were very kind and civil. I don't like to think that I am part of a system (a remote, distant part) that placed selfishness above human life. Very sad. Do you think anything will change next year? Will we remember what we did on Black Friday 2008?