Thanksgiving night, lines out the door, why? Some deals are good, some are not worth it. Makes me wonder how many of these people actually would buy this stuff if it wasn’t on sale. One of my favorite things that I use to tell my husband when I buy something on sale is “it was 50% off, I saved you $20”. Of course he isn’t impressed and says “you could have saved me $20 if you didn’t buy it in the first place.” I don’t say that anymore. But I do admit I was in line Friday morning at 3:00 for a camcorder that I had talked myself into “needing” (60% off of original prices, it was a must have). As I stood there for two hours repeatedly asking myself why I was there with only five other people in line fighting to the death over the thirteen available camcorders, I was rather entertained by the Wal-Mart employees.

     As you walk into the store, you could feel the fear of the employees, as if it was the quiet before the storm. The store was mapped out. Each large sale item was marked by lettered balloon and two clueless employees. The balloons were spread across the store for flat screen televisions, Playstation 3, Blueray players, and this year’s popular item, a laptop on sale for $200. As I stood alone for the first hour in “line” for the most unpopular item manager after manager asked me what line I was standing in line for. They had no idea what was going on. Employees and managers even came up to me asking where the line for some desktop computer was. I was following their map and instructions that they didn’t even understand. The smaller sale items, such as movies, video games, and popular toys, were wrapped in plastic wrap and an employee guarded them like a hawk.

    Once the clock struck five the wild rumpus exploded. You could barely walk down the aisles and if you were pushing a shopping cart you were entering a death trap. Not to mention the frustrating older ladies that would stop and talk to their friends right in the middle of the traffic, while you stood behind them unable to move your cart around them as they talk about how many people are in the store.

    Something surprisingly impressive happened that day, something I never have seen and probably never will see again. Wal-Mart had all of their cash registers opened at the same time. Well done Wal-Mart!

    So next year as you are getting ready for the big sales I recommend Tyler TX Wal-Mart (especially on Troop hwy.) but make sure you know what you are doing because the employees are no help.