So the inevitable finally occurred; this year, retail outlets opened on Thanksgiving so that consumer-whores were able to overspend for the holiday season.

I shouldn’t call it the “holiday season” because it’s really Christmas and New Years. Seems everyone has really forgotten the reason why we buy gifts, why we get off of work, and why we “spread the holiday spirit.” Instead, everyone is more concerned with buying their Christmas gifts over a month in advance. This year, I started seeing decorations go up right after Halloween (very appropriate). In fact, the city of Plano put up their tree the week after. It’s only a matter of time before Black Friday becomes “Black October 30th” and then “Black Sunday” (day before Labor Day). Eventually, people will lose sight enough that we have miniature “shopping holidays” all throughout the year to celebrate a non-religious holiday. I find it ironic that people refuse to celebrate Christmas for what it is because they don’t believe, but they will be damned if they have to work or not give gifts out. My house does not celebrate Christmas until December; we do not focus on gift giving, we do not worry about putting up decorations, we do not worry about throwing large parties. We celebrate Christmas when it is Christmas to show our respects for the birth of Christ (whether you believe in him or now, it is still his birthday).

Anyways, the wife and I decided to go pick up a few deals today for ourselves. We stopped by Staples and Target (walking distance from our house) first and they were not very busy. Then we went to Fry’s to see if they had X-Files DVDs on sale (they didn’t). Our last stop was at Circuit City and it will likely be the last time I shop there. I picked up the Shield and had to wait for an hour and a half because the morons that run that store decided that the 3-4 checkout locations would be plenty for the Black Friday Mob (TM). Fry’s took a whopping 3 minutes. Circuit City, you just lost a customer who loves the items you sell.

Anyways, we didn’t buy any gifts but found that my Dad would want the Shield Season 1 box set since he’s mentioned it maybe 10 times. Two birds, one stone. Without further ado, here’s the loot we swindled:

• Batman Begins (Target): $4
• Elf (Target): $6
• Simpsons Season 4 (Target): $16
• Seinfeld Volume 1 (Target): $20
• Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire (Target): $4
• Monk Season 1 (Fry’s): $12
• The Shield Season 1 (Circuit City): $18
• SanDisk 1G SD Flash card (Staples): $15
• Charmed Season 1 (Circuit City): $18
• Pirates of the Caribbean (Target): $6

Some of you who know me in real life are probably thinking that I’ve lost my mind. In fact, in the last several months, we have gone legitimate. I only buy CDs and DVDs (at least I’m patient and smart about it); I do not contribute to the growing bootlegging issue in our counterculture.

Considering some of those normally retail for twice what we bought them for, we did pretty good. Best part: no rebates, no rain-checks, no camping out overnight, and only one bad store experience (due to management incompetence). Maybe in 2 or three weeks, I might start shopping for gifts, but we’re in no hurry.