It's the morning after Thanksgiving and even before the sun has risen, a dedicated group of shoppers are awake and getting ready to participate in the single craziest day of shopping of the year.
Some people are polite, making small talk with other freezing-cold shoppers around them. These nice people will continue to walk - not run - through each store, pick up their desired items, check out and leave.
But there are other shoppers who will glare at others waiting for stores to open. They do not talk - they have a plan and they will get each item on their list no matter what. As doors open, their elbows fly as they race around the store, snatch at items, snarl at the check-out people to hurry and run to the next store.
It is these people who clearly have not learned the rules of conduct, the proper etiquette of early post-Thanksgiving shopping, who make the experience miserable for everyone involved - from the other shoppers, to the store employees and even the overly-competitive shoppers themselves.
With some small rules, everyone can have an enjoyable or even exhilarating shopping experience.
Rule #1: No pushing, shoving, elbowing, kicking or any other form of abuse. If you are old enough to be up and shopping at 4 a.m. then you should be mature enough to play nicely with the other shoppers.
Rules #2: Stay to your right, especially if you have a cart. Pretend you are driving - would you veer in front of another car to get a better look at something? Doubtful. Look both ways, continue to follow rule No. 1 and carefully move over to get the item you want. Turn signals might not be a bad idea.
Rule #3: Be nice to the store employees. Do not yell at them or speak to them like they are stupid - these are the people who know where the extra items are stored. It would be a good idea to make friends with them.
Rule #4: Drive like a rational human being. This is not the day to pretend you are a racecar driver. There are a lot of cars and people in parking lots that are never large enough. Having to pay a large sum of money to take dents out of cars will put a damper on the holiday spirit.
Rule #5: If all else fails, think of how you would act if your grandmother were watching. Would you really ram your cart into someone, tell employees they are worthless and flip off other drivers if your dear Granny was watching?
By following these five simple rules, the post-Thanksgiving craziness will be as fun as it is supposed to be.
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