UNITED STATES—Black Friday 2017 has come and gone avid shoppers. However, I want to recount for all of you how the Black Friday aka Black Thursday shopping experience was for me. Yes, it’s a tradition in my family which we’ve honored for like the past 20 years. So we are professors if you say of the importance of getting the deal and eliminating as much drama as possible. For starters, I worked like a mad dog most of this past week. I tell people all the time retail is a trying industry where there are plenty of ups and downs, plenty of highs and plenty of lows, but when you have a knack for customer service there isn’t much that throws you off.

The day kicked off Thursday afternoon, where me and my fellow family members planned our first stop at JC Penney. They had some reasonable deals, but it is becoming more and more frustrating with how chaotic things can be at this retail chain. For starters, they need to have someone police the line. I mean I cannot tell you how many people just jumped into line because they had family members already in line. There were plenty of people who were already in the line getting beyond frustrated to say the least.

For reasons I cannot fathom, the level of children at this establishment was alarming, mainly because so many of them were young as hell, some probably newborns. I’ve said this before and I will say it again: Black Friday is a day for the adults! Leave the kids at home! If you don’t have a sitter, than you shouldn’t be shopping it’s that plain and simple. There are way too many crowds and just utter chaos to have to worry about the wellbeing and safety of your child.

Don’t create unnecessary stress. My guess was correct, so many people thought by bringing their children they would get extra coupons to utilize for more merchandise. Man they were so wrong, and they were livid about it. I loved it, JC Penny was not having any of it, and it was glorious to see people attempt to get a one up to be greatly disappointed. The store was a mess within minutes because people were fighting for electronics, coats and so much more. We simply got the items we wanted got into checkout and was done within 20-30 minutes tops. Just the way that I like things to be, quick and fast!

Next stop was Macys, which didn’t open up till about an hour, so we decided to get in line early. And we were probably sixth in line and this time not too many people cut. There are those retailers that police the lines and those who don’t; Macy’s policed their lines America. The hot button item that every wanted was a major disappointment because the retailer was sold out of the product the day before! The place was utter chaos, I’ve never seen people run for items, and I don’t mean jog, I mean sprint, even up the escalator. I couldn’t deal with the madness, and exited the establishment without even get more than 1 item on my list.

With more retailers opening the doors it was time to split up to ensure we got the items on our list. I hit Best Buy, while my respective party hit Target. I will admit Best Buy was an absolute madhouse, but they were so organized. The line moved swiftly and fast. I mean people were chatting in line, helping people move items and just having a great time. It also didn’t hurt that I got almost every single item on my list from Best Buy, so did my party at Target. So Target and Best Buy, great job on ensuring customers are satisfied and that you were prepared for the madness at bay.

Now, Walmart was on the list, but as soon as we walked through the doors we saw the madness and did an immediate 360, it was not worth it America. Not by a long shot. So with most of the stores we wanted to hit off the list, we decided to travel to the outlet stores. Major, major mistake because I’ve been to this place before during Black Friday shopping weekend, but I’ve never and I mean NEVER seen anything like this. It was utter madness.

The outlet was so packed with guests, parking was a challenge, not to mention the fact that so many people were inside you could not even utilize your cell phone because no signal could be emitted. I mean I waited at the Coach store for nearly 90 minutes, and all I bought was a hat. Was it a great deal? Yes, was I stupid for doing it? Yes! They were beyond disorganized if you ask me and the fact that people were jumping in and out of line annoyed me to the core. I mean nearly every store inside this outlet mall, you had to wait in a line to get inside the store and then wait in another line to check out.

After seeing the madness, being on my feet for nearly 8 hours, I was done, completely done and ready to vacate. I was livid that I wasted gas and a trip for nothing, but if I had stayed I would have only become more frustrated and that is never a good thing people. So it was time to call it a night. So another Black Friday is in the books, I’m starting to learn something about myself: as I age my patience grows thin, I’m starting to think that is a direct result of people just not having the courtesy for other people. The word ‘excuse me’ is so underutilized and on this day there were so many occasions where I just wanted to shout that to so many people who have absolutely no home training whatsoever America!