Black Friday

Every year Southern Man swears a mighty oath that he will not go anywhere near a shopping mall on Black Friday. And every year his daughters beg and plead and whine and cajole and carry on until he gives in. Well, this year it was only eleven-year-old daughter (teen daughter hit the stores with her friends at 3:00 am) but she's a convincing whiner and so we went, briefly, to the local mall. A few observations:

• The mall was, of course, ridiculously crowded. We hopped a curb (easily done as we were in the big Nissan pickup) and parked in the grass at the very back of the (very large) parking lot with a bunch of other SUVs and pickups. We were glared at a bit by drivers of little city cars that couldn't negotiate the high curbs and were thus condemned to endless circling and hoping for a lucky break.


• Virtually all of the shoppers were women. The few men in appearance were either pushing strollers or carrying armloads of shopping bags. None looked particularly happy.


• The vendors were eager for business. Many called us over for free demos, hoping for a sale. In the food court we were treated to a few free samples while working our way to our desired eatery.

Eleven-year-old daughter spent her allowance on a stuffed animal and we ate at her favorite fast-food place. Now we're home for a Pirates of the Carribean marathon. It's a beautiful day outside - cold, but not windy - and Southern Man hopes to get out in it a bit more before nightfall.