I admit it: I am a Black Friday shopper. I go out the day after Thanksgiving and join the masses of people who are looking for Black Friday deals on televisions and electronics and other things they couldn’t possibly need that badly to get them out of bed and waiting in the cold (This is Michigan, remember) at four a.m.

But how is this tradition? Today, we did a very traditional Thanksgiving meal – roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and my mom’s amazing stuffing. Tomorrow morning, my mom will pick me up at seven in the morning, and we’ll go Black Friday shopping in search of deals, but mostly to put a big dent in our shopping lists.

There often aren’t any sales that are so amazing that I need to be a doorbuster (and those yearly news stories showing how someone got trampled for a laptop kind of scare me), however, I usually stumble over something I never knew I wanted to get for someone. And frankly, I love to people watch.

Though there are some shoppers who behave badly – and there should be no portable electronic device worthy of getting violent with other shoppers! – I usually end up meeting some really nice people while standing in really long lines. We go out expecting long lines and big crowds, so we’re never overwhelmed or shocked.

 
I realize we could probably find Black Friday online dealsand shop from the comfort of the couch in jammies. Paying shipping would probably offset the money we’d spend on gas circling the mall parking lot twelve times looking for a place to park. But we did it last year. And the year before that. And the previous year. We’ll probably do it again next year. As whacky as it may be, I really like our day after Thanksgiving tradition.

Do you go shopping on Black Friday? What kinds of deals or sales are you hoping to find this year?