When I saw Walmart’s Black Friday flyer I thought of my cousin Father John. He used to comment on and laugh about the number of folks who would call him and ask what time is Midnight Mass. Here is the Walmart flyer noting that Black Friday started Thursday at 6 pm.
Other stores had similar Thursday starts. Here is Belk’s flyer noting a 4 pm Thursday start:.
Pat Guy was in Buzzy’s Country Store the other day and saw the Belk flyer on the counter. The 32″ T-V ad for $79 caught his eye.
He said, “I need a new T-V and that’s a good deal. I’m going to go there and get one.” I asked him “Are you serious? The sale starts at 4 o’clock on Thursday and they have limited quantities. Do you really think you’ll be able to get one?” Pat replied “Yeah, man. No problem I’m on it.”
As I watched the Skins and Cowboys game Thursday evening and saw a Black Friday commercial, I wondered how Pat had made out. So I called him around 5:30. He laughed and said that he did not go to Belk’s but, as we spoke, was on his way to Walmart because they were selling a 40″ T-V for $99. I wished him good luck and hung up.
About an hour later Pat called me back, said that he was successful and was on his way home with one of the 40 inchers. He described Walmart as crazy with lines, cops and shoppers all over the place. He said “There were only 3 T-V’s left when I got mine so I don’t know if there will be any there if you are trying to get one.”
Now it was my turn to laugh as I told him I’d have to pass on that one and that there was no way I would be heading to Walmart Black Thursday or not.
Later Thursday evening I caught Neil Diamond doing his thing on a PBS special. When I went looking for one of his videos I found this from a David Letterman appearance.