Well, get this.
My wife is a nut for antiques. We routinelyhit all of the antique stores, thrift stores, yard sales, etc.... Well, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we go to the Salvation Army store to pick up this bitchin' chair my wife found. We pick it up and find out that on Friday (Black Friday) they have a 3 hour (6AM - 9AM) 75% off sale.
Now, my wife and I scout out some stuff. I really nice set of 6 oak dinette chairs, some books (leather bound for my office bookshelf), and some other small trinkets and stuff. We leave there Wednesday with this plan to show up at 5:30AM on Friday. Well, we get there at 5:25AM and we are 2nd in line. This really nice old lady is in front of us and we get to talkin'..........and yeah, wouldn't you know it.........she was there for the dinette chairs. We bull****ted with her until the store opened, we got the other things, I helped her put them into her mini-van and on the way out got the location of another Salvation Store in the next city having the same sale.
My wife and I say what the hell........We drive 20 minutes and find this place. Come to find out this is the main distribution center with a store in the front of the plant. We walk in..........there is a million people all over the place. My wife heads straight for the furniture and stuff looking for any gems. I'm grabbing a free donut and I catch something in my peripheral vision. I walk quickly over to it see the tag for $1,000.......compute the discount (75% off makes it $250), and start to really check this thing out.
It's a little worn and the paint is flaking in some areas. You can tell it is weathered and about 100 years old by the bottom carving of the date (1915). I start drooling and yell across the store to my wife. As she is making her way through the crowd I am bearhugging this thing into line. She meets me in line and her eyes got as big as baseballs. She says to me, "you've been looking for one of those for a long time now". I say, "Yep". I can barely control my satisfaction as I get up to the cashier. As I'm getting ready to break out a small wad of cash and pay for this thing, a store manager walks over to me and delivers a gut punch......."I'm sorry sir, but that was sold first thing this morning. A gentleman was waiting outside at 4:30AM for us to open. He bought it fair and square this morning when we opened."
Needless to say, I am not just completely saddened, but also a bit miffed. I look around and see the signs, "you buy it you take it.......no holds". I point to the sign and ask the manager what the deal is. He says, "Well, I understand what you are saying, but technically we are not holding it, the gentleman is still here. He is waiting for his wife to pick him up." Shocked, I ask the manager to point him out. I figure I can offer the guy and extra $50 and maybe steal this thing from him.
I walk up to this sweet old man and strike up a conversation with him. I offer him the extra $50 and even an extra Benji. But no dice. He says he's been looking for one of these forever. I bid the old guy a nice find and a farewell. As the old guy goes inside the store, and as I turn away, I catch the same minivan and the same old lady pulling in that beat us to the chairs. And then, right in front of my eyes, the old guy is helping a store employee carry his find out to THAT MINI-VAN.
His wife snaked us on the chairs, and he beat me to a rare and very valuable 6' hand carved, very flattering CIGAR STORE INDIAN.
Man, I did not know whether to cry or laugh. I just looked on in amazement as he loaded it into his mini-van and drove off. My wife saw this from inside the store and couldn't help but laugh.
Black Friday Sucks...........even at the Salvation Army!!
Still pissed off,
M. Gipson
