The hardest thing is to take less when you can get more

The early morning winter temperature in San Diego was 43 Fahrenheit (6 degree Celsius). Anybody sane would snuggle up under two comforters in their warm bedroom with the heater on. I woke up at 4.40 am to fulfill the ritual - checkout the Black Friday sale of 2010! The day after Thanksgiving day is called Black Friday - I do not know why. On this day, a substantial subset of US human population, needless to say, their pets too, harry stores who throw open their doors as early as 4 am. While the stores give away many products at great prices, the ambiance outside is cold and dark; reminded me that thorns always accompanied roses!! And I speak of San Diego while I shudder thinking of Minneapolis.

Shivering, even after wearing 4 layers of clothes, I headed towards BestBuy. I faced an iffy situation upon reaching there - will I find a parking spot?! That parking lot which would regularly accommodate all customers in the front yard, today, had grown into the backyard and an adjacent construction site. Finally, the Gods smiled and I found one :) The happiness was short lived. The walk from the parking lot to the store entrance was not very different from a walk I took a while ago requesting the residents, of a very large slum of Bangalore, India, to bring their kids to the local government hospital for a periodic administration of polio drops! People had thrown a wide array of things - soda cans, bottles, bread, lettuce, slices of meat, bones, boxes containing food, comforters etc. Tissue paper and cigarette subs decorated the walkway in grotesque patterns. I saw a BestBuy employee in blue uniform cleaning the mess. The intolerable odor made the poor fellow cover his face and head as if he was cleaning nuclear waste. I could literally see him muttering to himself - no prizes for guessing that he was cursing those who created this job for him today.

Upon entry, I was paid in full. I was satisfied to see both doodling and focussed customers. The hoopla forced me to look at my watch - it was 5.30am!! Customers could be very broadly classified

1. Oily faces coupled with stubbles - do not mistake them for the fashionable sexy stubbles. These belong to the category of unshaven cheeks.
2. Uncombed and disheveled hair - needless to say, they had not bathed in the last 12 - 18 hours.
3. Grumpy and sleepy - as they were in the line the whole night.
4. et al. - ignore the well dressed and fresh minority.

Elaborate arrangements were made to serve customers as quickly as possible. The same store which regularly has one queue, today, had 4 separate serpentine queues - general electronics, TV and music systems, Computer and hardware components, Car audio and accessories. Droves of people thronged each queue with electronics goods. I was reminded of those days when people elsewhere in the world waited similarly for water and kerosene. I inquired a few things and left empty-handed - very rare to see someone without a blue BestBuy bag, that too early morning on Black Friday. Now the walkway was clean and the poor guy was quietly enjoying his clean surroundings - it would have been worse had he caught some terrible airborne disease due to the leftovers.

I saw a tent outside BestBuy where some people were sleeping!! I hope they got what they came looking for. It would be a comical tragedy to wait in the line all night long and doze off when the doors open!

Next stop - Target, Mira Mesa. On the outset, Target seemed torpid. I was so wrong. Here there were only two queues (electronics and general), but the number of addled guests in them outnumbered the total number in BestBuy!!! I counted until 40 in one queue and stopped (Thinking how jobless I am?); I saw a Nikon Coolpix for $79 but had neither the courage nor the patience to wait in the line. A few goofs were piling up their shopping carts with yogurt and toothpaste - I hope they had something worthwhile along with such frivolous trinket to compensate the long wait. I hope the purchases defy "He who buys what he does not need, steals from himself". 

A quick visit to Sears, UTC, marked the end of my Black Friday foray. I was tired and came back home without buying anything. I should be crazy to invest so much effort and not buy anything. Well, I had gone there to satiate my appetite of observing people (a dying art) and am happy I did it. I was very happy to see enthusiasts buy as if there were no tomorrow. 

News reports iterate "California is bankrupt though it has a high number of taxpayers and wealthy commercial establishments". What I saw there did not reflect the same. God bless America!

Aravind Bargur

Nov 26, 2010