Shop 'til you drop

WALKING to work yesterday I couldn’t help but feel like I was involved in a particularly dramatic scene from the latest Hunger Games movie.

My decision to divert from the usual daily route to the studio, and wander through Fashion Valley mall was a tad silly on reflection.

Black Friday?

Tsk. More like ‘black and blue’ Friday.

Americans do love their contact sports but wow.

Check out this video taken yesterday in Texas...

During the course of yesterday's national shopping holiday a few shoppers got punched and bundled over; someone got stabbed; someone got shot; and someone actually got stun-gunned… I mean, TASERED… by a female shopper.

How does someone actually come to the decision when leaving their house that they need to bring something like that when they’re going shopping.

I mean, keys – check; purse – check; 3,800K volt stun gun – check…

Er… tis is not the season to be ‘jolly?’ Peace on earth and all that jazz?
Anyway, yesterday morning on my way to work here in San Diego I forgot it was ‘Black Friday’.

That was until I was met by a scene akin to The Walking Dead.

“Hey look at THAT guy jumping the line…” one infuriated guy shouted in my direction as I criss-crossed through the sheer hordes of eager-eyed bargain hunters in the mall.

“I’m not queuing, I’m trying to get to bloody WORK!” I replied with desperation now distinct in my voice.

I almost felt the need to shout that I just wanted to “survive”.

Shopping at any other time of the year is one thing. But shopping on Black Friday here… there’s a fevered intensity bordering on insanity.
People line up outside these stores for days. Literally DAYS. Some have tents. I even saw one with a generator so he could cook meals.

And I’m told that the ‘holiday season’ deals here run almost daily up until Christmas.

Joy. Maybe I’ll stop by a local sports store and stock up on some NFL padding and a helmet.

During these sales people seemed to line up outside every store in the country.

Sony, Gap, Zara, Macy’s… these I kind of understand.

But Target?! Everything’s so cheap in that store any way, staff must have been literally handing out free stuff.

Sure there are deals to be had but is it really worth risking your life over?

I always find that most of the things I actually want to buy are never on offer in any case. Typical.

It’s also impossible to drive anywhere around these malls because of the traffic.

By the time I got home to the apartment last night, I wanted to walk in the door, lock it, and declare to Jacky: “do NOT go outside”.

Here’s an idea for bargain-hunters. Instead of shaving years of your life through stress dealing with the craziness, why not just shop online?

The deals are the same, most stores boast free delivery, and there’s less of a chance of being attacked by a woman with a frikkin stun gun.
If you need any more reason to lose faith in humanity check out these stories: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jordanzakarin/17-black-friday-stories-that-will-make-you-lose-faith-in-hum.

So yes… Thanksgiving.

It was my – and ‘our’ – first Thanksgiving in the States.

I can tell you that the level of excitement was not really shared by me, an Englishman, or my wife, a Mexican.

My only real link is that the Pilgrim Fathers left from my home city of Plymouth.

Judging by the conversations I’ve had, I think I actually know more about what Thanksgiving is, than most Americans.

“Turkey” seems to be the most popular answer when you ask someone here what ‘Thanksgiving’ is all about.

Interesting answer.

"Football," too.

“Family”, is the answer which seems to come in a close third.

It made me miss my mum and dad, and the weekly Sunday roast.

We roasted some veggies and some chicken.

Veggie-tastic

Oh, and ate an apple pie donated as a Thanksgiving gift by a Mexican friend of ours.

And I skyped ma and pa.

Good enough right?

Personally the occasion did make me feel thankful for everything I have here, and at home in the UK.

And now, sitting here in the apartment I’m also thankful for a decent Wi-Fi signal to allow me to shop from the safe confines of home.

Be nice to each other America.

@tristan_nichols