Happy New Year! I have so many things I want to write about but haven’t yet. I also have to do that meme I do every year…watch for that by the end of the week.

I’m sure you’ve been wondering if I was crazy enough to embark on a Boxing Day adventure again in 2009. 2008 was my first time engaging in hardcore Boxing Day activities, and my siblings and I had quite the chilly adventure. My sister (who had come along for the ride last year) vowed never to do it again, and she was a woman of her word. Brother #1 had to work later in the day so the thought of waiting outside in the cold for 4-6 hours did not appeal to him. Brother #2 went back and forth on the matter but in the end he opted out, leaving me alone to get my heart’s desires: a flat screen television and a KitchenAid stand mixer. I was actually disappointed that Brother #2 bailed on me but I projected a nonchalant attitude.

My parents, especially my father, thought I was insane for leaving their home to line up in the freezing cold for five or six hours in order to save a couple hundred dollars, but they don’t realize how devoted I am to saving money, even at the cost of wasting time, losing sleep and risking being laughed at by all friends who found out how I spent the first six hours of December 26.

A family friend shared Christmas dinner with us, so I volunteered to drive her home when she was ready, which was around 11pm. My plan was to go directly to the electronics store after dropping her off at home because I was worried that all the people who arrived after us last year who were surprised to see us lined up already would come earlier. I dressed for the weather and brought extra blankets and scarves. I also had a chair like last year. I had music too: that and adrenaline kept me going last year. However, I had forgotten my earphones so I had to return to my parents’ place to get it and while I was there I got some water and another blanket that my mom pushed on me.

I arrived at the lineup around 11:50pm on Christmas night. There were seven people ahead of me. Two of them were the girlfriends of men who wanted the television I wanted. These ladies were there for moral support. I sort of hope my conscience never pricks me enough to make me leave my warm and cosy bed and stand out in the cold. As usual, the people in line were friendly, and we talked about what we planned to buy and our previous Boxing Day experiences. There was one mildly obnoxious guy who was third in the line. Everything that came out of his mouth made me want to tell him to shut up. I have no patience for braggarts and know-it-alls and he definitely fit into that category.

Since the first 13 or 14 of us wanted the television, we tried to guess how many were available at the special price. I thought there’d be 20, but some thought there’d be only ten, so I felt pretty confident that I’d get one, as long as I raced to the appropriate section once the doors opened. I moaned about how unfair it was that I couldn’t somehow grab the KitchenAid mixer on my way to the televisions and get both items on my list. I think people who line up should be guaranteed at least one of the items on their list, so they can run for the other items once the store opens.

Around 3 o’clock in the morning, a staff member who looked like he knew what was going on approached the doors to the store, so we were able to ask questions regarding quantities, which he didn’t answer, but he did give us some good news: a ticket system for the big ticket items would be instituted, so if you got a ticket you were guaranteed that item. And better, they’d start handing out tickets around 4:00am.They were definitely more organized, and I was able to get a ticket for both the television and the mixer. It was a relief. They also allowed two of us to use the bathrooms in the store, which was awesome because I got to warm up and look around for where the items I wanted were kept. I didn’t see either item. A friend of mine showed up around 3:30am so it was nice to catch up with him.

At 6:00am the doors opened and we all rushed in. The lineups were crazy but they had removed all shopping carts from the store which resulted in fewer traffic jams, but at the same time it would have been nice to have a place to put the dvd, dvd player and cds that I picked up. By the time I got to the car with the television (which had to be picked up in a different section of the store), over an hour had passed. Seven hours of freezing rain had done the car no favours: it took me nearly 25 minutes to scrape off the ice that had frozen over the entire car. I actually broke my scraper during the process.

Would I do it again? I don’t think I’ll have to. I have all the big ticket items that I want. All I need is an external hard drive and I’ll risk showing up just before the store opens on Boxing Day this year to pick that up.

Filed under: Adventure by jummy