So, I never had the privilege (or maybe I was just raised normally?) of going Black Friday shopping as a kid. I was always told I couldn't go because people were getting my Christmas presents, so I couldn't see anything. Now, I get to make the choice for myself, and I finally decided to venture out in the late night hours of Thursday, full of turkey and way too many mashed potatoes.

First, It was a lot less crowded than I thought it would be. I went to the mall that's nearby, and on a normal day it can get pretty stuff really fast. But me and my boyfriend got the mall a good fifteen minutes after it opened, and there was some pretty nice space in the walkways. Every time I had thought about Black Friday (and from what I've heard/seen) is that people literally crawl over one another to get the item before the other person. What I saw was a starkly different picture. here were definitely people, but I could still walk freely in between people or around a group.

In the stores however, it was a bit different. Then it was a lot of people in a smaller space, which did get pretty annoying pretty fast. I'm not a fan of being in a crowd of people, something about being surrounded makes my blood boil, so I tend to stay away (and for some reason I thought Black Friday would be fun?). I only went into three stores, but three was enough for me to quickly get over the Black Friday spirit. Waiting in line for 20 minutes so that I can save 20 dollars on clothes is not worth it in my book. I'll probably hold off until Cyber Monday next year or just get whatever Black Friday deals are online that will save me the irritation.

Now, I'm not trying to sound rude but Black Friday was not all it was cracked up to be. I didn't see too many "great" deals going on for things other than drones and washing machines. When I was growing up, Black Friday used to be huge savings on TV's clothes, shoes, phones, computers, kitchen appliances, almost anything. This year, though, I was a bit disappointed that everything that had been hyped up was really kind of the everyday deals. I managed to score a pretty good deal on clothing, but that was really the extent.

My overall first experience was okay, but I was expecting it to be better and worse all at the same time. I'm not sure how crowded things can get where you are, but it wasn't too bad for me, so I say if you are capable of handling lots of people, go out and try your hand at Black Friday. If you're looking for some crazy good deals, I would either hit the online sales or wait until Cyber Monday to score on bigger items. Either way, its a great way to get a start on (or close out) your holiday shopping needs!