Frozen Turkey Dinners and Free Black Friday Coffee

Nobody camped out in our parking lot or trampled others to get through our doors in the blackness of Friday morning, but it was a surprisingly busy Thanksgiving night. A lot of folks stopped by for wine, beer and cigarettes after the annual, national mastication -- several expressing exasperation with family but most in happy, if not drowsy, post-feast festive modes.

Some people stopped by for dinner.

There was a woman who bought a turkey frozen dinner, potato chips and a bottle of Pepsi on her EBT (food stamp) card. After paying, heating it up in the microwave and eating, I watched her go outside and dig through butts in the ashtray in search of remaining smokeable ones. I went out and gave her a few cigarettes.

"Thank you," she said.
"You're very welcome. Happy Thanksgiving."
"Thank you! You too!"

And off she went.

Soon after a guy pulled up in a new Humvee and broke a $100 bill to purchase a .99 cent Arizona Tea. 

There was a guy who came in for our "two hot dogs and a fountain drink" $3.00 special. He added a bag of Cheetos to it then stood at the back of the store and ate while seemingly staring at me the whole time. When he finally left I cleaned up all the Cheetos and other crumbs he had let fall around his feet and then I began making coffee, lots and lots of coffee.

Free coffee at our store all of Black Friday. Many people stopped by in the wee-darkness of early morning on their way to work at Walmart, Cabela's, Best Buy and other stores. None seemed thrilled about facing the madness, but free coffee cheered a few up. One guy smiled and gave me a "high-five for free coffee!" when I told him there was no charge. (It's the little things.)

One regular custumor was on his way to Home Depot, pretty excited about a special sale on tool boxes. A college student was on his way to purchase a computer at Best Buy. A cop came by in his squad car at 4:45 to fill up on gas and said things were getting pretty crazy at some of the box stores. Another cop stopped by for coffee on his way to assist Walmart with security. A regular customer who works in "asset protection" at Cabela's was dreading the day.     

Although I could sure use the money, and appreciate the time-and-a-half Holiday pay, I don't know why stores are open on Thanksgiving. I don't at all relate to or understand Black Friday. All symptoms of a sick society, the way I see it.

"Why don't people stay home with their families, be thankful and relax instead of venturing out to fight other people over special deals on stuff?" I asked a friend.
"Perhaps it's better to fight with strangers than to stay home and fight with family," he replied.