Black Friday: the day I have always spent cleaning my room and doing homework, maybe reading a nice book; anything but leave the house. But this year, I am taking a chance and stepping outside to see what all of the commotion is about.

8:00am
I roll out of bed to prepare to do the unthinkable. I belt my jeans to prevent anyone from trying to pants me while dashing to a cheap frozen chicken (that is what Black Friday shoppers do, right?) and zip up my boots. I put on my very pocket-y jacket vest, which will provide protection and secure storage. Now I am ready.

9:19am

It’s raining when I sit down in my car. I take note that there is no crowd of people outside of my house. For some illogical reason, I expected that upon leaving my house, I would be faced with crowds of people attempting to grab me and pull me down to be trampled while they rush to stacks of free microphones.

I start my car and slide in a Nine Inch Nails CD to put me in a properly aggressive mood. As I start to drive down the road, I turn on my most defensive driving. It’s a good thing, too. I quickly learn that Black Friday is a scary day to be on the road, especially when it is pouring rain.

9:24am

Once I have my car parked safely behind Bed Bath and Beyond, I go through my checklist.

Wallet? Check.

Cell phone? Check.

Dignity? Not for long.

The people I pass on the Forum sidewalk surprise me. Not a single person runs out of a store yelling, “I JUST SAVED 38 DOLLARS AND 23 CENTS AND GOT A FREE MACBOOK WHILE SHOPPING AT URBAN OUTFITTERS!” On the contrary, they all look quite gloomy, and I don’t see anyone’s eyes as they pass by, as all are looking that their feet.

Once I enter Bed Bath and Beyond, a surprisingly cheery looking employee hands me a “20% off entire purchase” coupon. I thank her and continue to the candle section to pick out a candle for my mother.

There are some determined looking shoppers that I dodge on my way through the thin aisles, but the store is not crammed to its maximum with shoppers, as I expected it would be. Maybe I missed the morning rush.

The candle section looks fairly normal. The aisles are stacked with a plethora of scents and a multitude of brand names and candle styles. The one unusual thing is the empty end cap, the display at an end of an aisle. At one point, it held an assortment of holiday candles with especially heavily discounted prices for Black Friday. There are very few signs of the candles that had once been on that end cap, aside from the signs pointing out that particular sale. I grab a little box of pine-scented tea light candles, the last one on the self.

On my way to the check out, I observe an elderly couple deciding to “buy one for each of the grandchildren” when looking at some containers that are on sale. I also observe a team of two pulling and pushing a large cart with them. One is talking while the other furiously jabs numbers into a calculator, I assume calculating how much money they are about to throw at a rushed Bed Bath and Beyond employee.

I make it to an empty cash register and place my little green box on the counter.

After the typical hellos, will-that-be-all-for-you-today, and gift receipt offer, she tells me the total of my purchase ($6.47 and $4.00 saved).

“Was it busier this morning?” I ask.

To my surprise, she tells me that it has been about the same all day and that there wasn’t a huge morning rush.

Later that day:

At H&M (a clothes store that is scary to shop in on any day of the year), the sales seem to be only on overstocked items and things that couldn’t be sold for $40 dollars, like a full rack of size small tan sweaters and a few left over summer shirts.

I grab a button down shirt that is hanging on a clearance self. It is already pretty inexpensive, thanks to Bangladesh, and there is an additional 50 percent off for Black Friday. I find a warm knitted sweater-type thing that my sister would like and mentally prepare to spend a third of my last paycheck on a gift for my sister.

After I complete my purchase, I remember that I know how to knit and have been knitting gifts for my sister for the past four years. An expensive knitted sweater suddenly seems unnecessary, when I could easily knit a nice hat or sweater for my sister at home. By the time I am at home, I remember that I know how to sew, and have plenty of fabric and old shirts at home to sew into clothes for myself. Black Friday makes people forget that not everything needs to be bought.

Saving $4.00 on a box of candles my mother will like made sense to me, but looking back, everything beyond that just seems silly. If I need something, I am happy to save some money. Money takes a lot of time to earn, especially as a senior in high school working for minimum wage, soon to be a Ramen Noodle college student obsessing over student loans. If I need something, it makes sense to buy it on sale, but it doesn’t make sense to me to go spend the day shopping for things I don’t need, like smart phones, televisions, and clothes I can make myself.

And I just want to say, it never makes sense to shove other people. I am so glad nobody shoved me while I was out this past Friday. Shoving is something people shouldn’t do to other people. Word.