Black Friday

Sarah’s life was simple with few conveniences. She never bothered people, as she learned at an early age not to miss any opportunity to keep quiet. Her politeness excelled beyond the average person; making each one crossing her path thankful they had met.
Her one joy in life came from a single day of splurging on herself after Thanksgiving. All year long she would save her change until two days prior to the event when she would exchange her coins at the bank for several crisp twenty-dollar bills.

This year was especially exciting as she finally tossed out her VHS player and looked forward to purchasing a new DVD player; during the same year when many families decided to upgrade to Blu-Ray. She was as pleased as could be with her decision and was thankful DVD players came down in price, well below the funds she had accumulated, allowing her to purchase several of her favorite movies.

With Wal-Mart’s advertisements suggesting that every family could save a minimum of $3,000 each year, Sarah set off to her favorite shopping haunt. She thought about carefully strolling through the shopping experience and milking the moment for everything it was worth, but understood the impossibility with it being Black Friday. Sarah knew she would have to move quickly to get what she came for and determined to celebrate afterwards at a local coffee shop near her home.

Sarah arrived an hour before the store opened in hopes of positioning herself to make a quick in and out move. Unfortunately, the line was as long as the width of the store with several packing up their lawn chairs from the night before. Sarah was amazed at the number of fanatic shoppers and wondered how many would think she too was an extremist for arriving early.

The thought of Christmas really hadn’t kicked in, as she was focused on pampering herself, but a smile slowly formed when she heard the Salvation Army bell start to ring. Christmas music, a featured sales item, played over the outdoor loudspeakers and everyone in line was energized. It was then that Sarah decided her annual splurge was more of a private Christmas gift for herself than just a purchasing spree.

The doors opened and the line moved quickly. Within a matter of moments Sarah entered the doors and glanced back to see several hundred more shoppers desiring entrance. She was thankful she had endured the hour of chilly weather for her early entry and turned to focus her eyes on the sign reading “Electronics”. The race had begun.

The DVD player she was intent on buying was in a big stack in the middle of the isle. The stack had already been eaten away, leaving only 11 left by the time Sarah reached out for hers. She pulled it back and hugged it close to her chest. Success.

Getting into the checkout line proved to be a challenge. There was a constant flow of people on her left pressing past as they entered the store. Others squeezed by her right side as they snuck into other lines a few feet away. Anxiety rose within her as she clutched her DVD player tightly and was battered back and forth in the stream of bodies. Her grip slipped and she grabbed under the DVD player to stabilize her hold, but it was too late as another body leaned into her.

Losing her balance, Sarah fell to the floor. A foot dropping down pinched her arm. Sarah winced as a heel of a boot scraped across her back. A clump of her hair tore out; snagged by running shoes. Another lady stumbled and stopped her fall by dropping her knee into Sarah’s back. The lady bounced up as a man lifted her by the arm, shifting the crowd directly into Sarah’s path.

The trampling was painful and her cries for help were drowned in the charge of people cheering as they entered the store. Sarah’s side felt like it was split open as a pointed toe boot cracked into her ribs. Her pain was so intense that she curled up in a little ball. She reached her hand upwards, only to have it smacked down from the bustling unaware crowd.

Two people stumbled over Sarah, causing a separation of the crowds. People came to a stand still when they realized that a woman was lying bruised on the floor. Sarah reached up and a man tried to lift her. Cries of agony erupted as pain shot through her ribs. The man released his grip and Sarah recoiled back into a ball. A pool of blood formed on her torn scalp and slowly dripped down her face and onto the floor.

The paramedics arrived and lifted her onto a stretcher, revealing a damaged DVD player lying on the floor with blood soaked into its box. The paramedic placed a large gauze pad onto Sarah’s lacerated stomach. Tears welled in her eyes knowing that her dreams for the day ended sharply.

Sarah watched every shopper as she was wheeled to the ambulance. She noted that not one had a smile revealing an inner Christmas joy. Did the holiday shopping rush turn everyone’s Christmas joy into a grab it and claim it free for all? Sarah sighed, knowing that her peace was worth far more than watching a movie on a device that would soon be obsolete due to the next generation technology.

The ambulance doors closed, cutting off the sounds of holiday shopping. Sarah lay quietly on the stretcher and wondered why fighting for the sales was a part of her holiday tradition. She silently vowed to think about Christ well before Christmas Eve in order to keep a healthy holiday perspective. As for her DVD player, she decided to try again in January after everyone’s shopping hunger was satisfied.

Copyright © 2009 By CJ Powers
All Rights Reserved.