In the black?

Why oh why did I venture into Toys R' Us today? Because of a birthday girl. Jonathan is going to a party for a classmate tomorrow and we hadn't had a chance to pick up her gift until today. What a mistake.

As we pulled into the parking lot of the mostly vacant strip mall that Toys R' Us resides in, Dave and I knew we shouldn't have waited until the infamous Black Friday to go birthday present shopping. Then on the other hand we thought we would be getting a great deal on an otherwise overpriced toy or game. We would usually go to Walmart as they have most of the same merchandise that is popular with the kiddo's. But Walmart BF would have probably been a really bad idea.

We parked and actually got a pretty good spot so we were thinking that maybe the crowds have past and we were going to breeze through the store. (are you laughing at us yet?) As we entered the store we stopped for just a second to glance at the beginning of point disaster. With each step we took there were more and more piles of toys and games and action figures and whatever else had been tossed from a shelf to the floor. The end caps were loaded with "deals" that were not very good. It was obvious that anything they actually had with a reduced price, was already gone and the rest was just full priced merchandise that the stores had and probably hoping people would buy as well. But really, I have never seen such mayhem and disorder. Employees were telling customers that needed direction to a product that they had no idea where it was because everything was so misplaced. The price scanners on the wall were not working so there was no way you could tell the price of something unless you took it to a register. Some toys were out of boxes and you had to step over things just to keep from tripping over something else.

I saw the news about what was happening today in other areas. Some news so horrible it doesn't need to be repeated. And in other places reports of people getting a deal on a TV for over $400 off. Of course those people have been in line since Wednesday. And they really were too! Jonathan and I spent our day at Colour Me Mine and Barnes & Noble in Costa Mesa on Wednesday once I was off work. There is a Best Buy there and there they were. The people lining up for the sale that would happen 2 days later. Knowing they would be missing Thanksgiving they still put their tents up and waited. According to the news channel that was out there early this morning, people were taking shifts to be sure they wouldn't loose their place in line. I would never do that. Funny thing is, many of the same deals went online yesterday at 10pm Pacific. But then again, many things sold out FAST! I went on to Walmart.com last night at about 10:05 and the Motorola Blue Tooth ear thingy was already sold out. It was marked down to $18. See, that's a deal! Last year I did get in line at Walmart at about 4 am. It was fun and I got a few good deals. I probably would have done it again but truthfully I didn't have the money this year.

At Toys R Us we did finally end up with a game for the birthday girl. The original Mystery Date game. It wasn't marked down, not even a cent. But it's something she'll enjoy. So I wonder if the stores will actually be in the black after today?