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I swore off Black Friday shopping many years ago. However, yesterday (Friday... BLACK Friday) I wasn't able to sleep (stress) in the early morning, so I just figured I might as well get up, kill time by giving Black Friday a shot.
My local BassPro was to open at 5AM, with "doorbuster" deals, and lots of ammo (my main objective). I arrived at 4:20AM, to an almost full parking lot. I found a space, and went to go stand in line.
The line of people waiting to get in started at the front door, of course... then wound down the sidewalk, past the restaurant, down the other sidewalk, out to the street, up the street, back into the parking lot again, back towards the store, and ALMOST to the front door again (I'm sure that the tail reached the front door within a few more minutes, as there was an infinitely long parade of vehicles attempting to get into the lot)... about a 1/2 mile of people.
I took my place at the tail, and stood in line for a few minutes. However, I soon heard BassPro employees, rolling around in golf carts, announcing over the megaphone that all ammo vouchers had been handed out, and that there would be no more ammo available. So I bailed... back home, empty- handed, by 530 AM.
(I do give kudos to BassPro for letting us know that the ammo would not be available: Of course, they want to get us inside the store to buy lots of OTHER items, too, but letting us know that the ammo was not available was a thoughtful gesture. Yes, it stopped me (and, from the looks of things, lots of other ammo seekers) from even entering the store, but it saved me a lot of wasted time, and I will express my gratitude by (A) returning to that store at some other time, and dropping some cash... and (B) by sharing the evidence with others that BassPro was willing to sacrifice people walking through the door in order to reduce frustration and wasted time for their customers.)
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