doodledee

What a weekend!

I got up at 3:30 in the morning on Friday, ready and willing to do my part to drive this jobless recovery further into positive territory; namely, standing in the cold and waiting to buy things. Ninety minutes later I found myself sipping a latte and waiting in a line of maybe 400 or so people in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart down in Eden Prairie. Nearly all of us were there in the hopes of securing one the greatest gifts bestowed onto the American public since universal health care: the $28 DVD player.

Sure, we could have just slept late and then shopped at home for better, cheaper stuff on Ebay, but would that have really been the 'right' thing to do? I for one say no. And so did many of my frozen brethren that chilly winter morning, as we stood in the dark, stamping our feet and cursing at the cold, because deep down we knew that if Wal-Mart's single day revenue didn't at least triple the annual GDP of East Timor that we may as well all pack our bags and move to Canada because the terrorists would finally have won.

Anyway, long story short, 10 minutes after the store opened I was thrown to the floor and trampled by a stampede of enraged shoppers. I don't remember much of it. I think I blacked out or something. News reports say that several people in the crowd actually thought about helping me, but found themselves paralyzed by the fear of not getting a discount DVD player and instead elected to simply keep pressing on. Can't say that I blame them. Have you ever seen one of those things play a movie? The clarity is *awesome*!

So I'm home now after two quick days in the hospital. Not too bad, considering. Thanks to everyone for the cards and candy and stuff.