Bring On the Crowds

On most days, I'm thankful that one of Wisconsin's largest malls is right down the road. It comes in handy -- especially when you forget it's your friend's birthday and you'll be seeing him/her later that day. A last minute gift is never more than minutes away.

But then the weekend before Thanksgiving arrives and so do the people. What was once a quick in-and-out shopping trip now takes an hour or more as I circle the parking lot for a spot, battle through the crowded aisles, and endure the lines at the check out.

The reports are saying that Black Friday traffic was up, but that shopper numbers dwindled as the weekend continued. This surprised me considering the mall parking lot was jammed Friday through Sunday. Even driving by at 6:30 Sunday night, the lot was still pretty full. I expect the story to stay the same for the weekends leading up to Christmas and shortly after.

As for me, to beat out the crowds, I might just have to participate in America's newest holiday shopping tradition: Cyber Monday.