Red Saturday

They call the Friday following Thanksgiving Black Friday because for some stores, it is the day they finally find their bookkeepers using black ink.

I have never taken part in the madness of Black Friday shopping before and this year was no different. But, my husband feels he cannot get into the Christmas spirit without at least one visit to a busy mall. There is something about the hustle and bustle, the sounds of choirs, the smell of pine boughs and the ring of cash registers, that sends visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. Without this annual ritual, his wallet stays firmly anchored in his back pocket.

Today is Saturday after Black Friday and it was "go to the mall day" for us. Not too bad I thought, everyone seemed to be staying home, maybe recovering from Friday's shopping with sore feet. Maybe finishing off the leftovers. Anyway, traffic was light on every road we took. We were able to park two spaces from the door of Macy's.

The mall was quiet. Customers were walking at a leisurely pace or sitting on benches, and most of the stores had no lines leading to the registers. You could walk right past the LINE STARTS HERE signs and ropes and get immediate check-out. There was no Christmas music. The only scent was near the cosmetics counters. The trees were not only artificial, they were so covered with ornaments the green wasn't visable.

We did buy something for our daughter's father-in-law and priced a few other gifts we had been discussing. But we weren't exactly burdened with packages. After trekking from one end of the mall to the other my new shoes had me limping and I was thrilled when my husband said he would go get the car and bring it to the nearest entrance.

Me? I can hardly wait for Monday... Cyber Monday that is. I am warming up my fingers right now! See you on eBay!