Behind the Headlines

By Stephanie Ariganello/stephaniea@monroenews.com

Just got back from some Black Friday shopping craziness. Mary Mary, the photographer, and I went out to capture the mood and drama of the morning. In the meantime, Shawna from MonroeParenting, has been checking in via phone calls to update us on her shopping experience.

First stop was Kohl’s where the doors were posted as opening at 4 a.m.. In a rare treat, and because everyone sang Jingle Bells so nicely, they opened the doors at 10 minutes until 4 a.m. Shawna, along with many others were out mere minutes later. Hot items: KitchenAid mixers for super cheap (with rebate). Toys were flying off the shelves. The only department not hopping, which was kind of a nice little respite: the men’s department.

Next over to Walmart where the doors were opening at 5 a.m. Line hoppers was the name of the game. Some people had been waiting forever there, and when the doors opened, there was a crush of people swarming from the fronts park of the parking lot, not lining up like good little shoppers should. The people at the front were Mad. That poor one employee - he was standing at the doors, trying to limit things a little. It wasn’t long before he lost total control. My favorite was a woman who had a shopping cart, talking on a cell phone. She was not maneuvering well and the cart was sideways, blocking people. It was a potential nightmare (think bottled waters of the Mississippi kind of pressure building behind her). The employee snagged the cart and admonished the woman, who didn’t even seem to blink and she continued talking.

The topper was the police cruiser, driving slowly past the line - just letting people know he was there. Nice. Happy Holidays!

More later.