Black Friday: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

When most people go home for the Thanksgiving holiday break it is a time for rest and relaxation. Not for me! Some folks celebrate the day of Christmas, but I, celebrate the day of Black Friday.

If you've never heard of Black Friday it is the day after Thanksgiving in which many retail stores have outrageous sales. You can find sales on everything, from American Eagle to Best Buy.

I, like most men, generally hate malls; there is no way in hell you will find me in a mall especially on Black Friday. I am a bit of an "electronics" maniac, I have to have everything, and everything has to be up to date. Add a huge sale on top of that, and you can see that I, and my Visa, have a major problem.

Things start the day of Thanksgiving when all of the advertisements are in the newspaper. Thanksgiving morning is spent vigorously looking through the paper finding the ads, while spending quality time with the family. I have my red pen out and am scouting out the goods.

Later on in the day I begin to receive requests from family members, those folks who are not as crazy as me, but want the good prices. Unfortunately for them, I charge on commission.... And not the sale price!

To give you an idea of some of the sales, you may find a laptop retailing for $2,500 on sale for $400. The key to this is that you still have to pay the $2,500, but you get the money back in the form of a rebate. The companies will try to screw you any way possible in the rebate process. Fill them out immediately, make plenty of copies before mailing, and most importantly follow the instructions. This isn't something you can do while watching the 49er game. And often times there are multiple rebates per item, sometimes two or three.

On Thursday night, stomach bulging of Turkey and Pumpkin Pie, I begin the adventure. Black Friday is not just a day or event, it is an athletic sport. You have to outrun and outthink hundreds of "crazy" people like myself. Typically Best Buy as the best deals, this is where I have gone in years past. Around midnight I pack up a blanket, chair, plenty of coffee, and my iPod.