We don't West. Since it's so hard for me to get around and Christy's time outside of work is pretty full with taking care of things around here, I do most shopping online. I even order from some stores and have her just pick up.

I don't even think about it, the nearest shopping - in that context - would involve a 100 mile round-trip, but I really don't believe I'd leave the house for that madness if I lived right next door to a shopping center - hate to shop under the est circumstances. I generally shop by Internet, late night in my jammies is just great, and I don't have the pressure to commit, I can let my choise sit for a day or two and then make up my mind.

OMG no.............I even planned my weekly grocery shopping so I wouldn't have to go into town around black friday. My g'children got right up from the Thanksgiving table to head for the stores. They're young and consider it fun. argh. The mall opened its doors at four a.m. I also avoid the 'return' days after Christmas like the plague.

No way. Never have even when I lived in a big city, never would. I hate shopping and waiting in lines, haven't been to a mall in years, and here I would have to drive about 90 minutes in any direction to get to those kinds of stores. I do almost all of my holiday shopping online but besides toys for the kids, most of my gifts are things I made that actually mean something. Your chances of getting trampled, shot or pepper-sprayed go way down if you don't participate in that mania.

I also think it's just wrong to disrupt what should be time spent with family, especially for the workers at these stores. Retailers used to serve the needs of their customers and now people are letting the stores dictate to them. I refuse to participate and will shop when and how I decide. Which, for sure, won't be while I'm supposed to be asleep.

Then there is the return policy to consider. As of Christmas day, it will be too late to return almost anything bought on BF. If someone needs to return or exchange something from me, I want them to have a reasonable and comfortable amount of time to do so and method with which to do it without getting stuck in a half-day line.

Normally, I wouldn't go to a store anytime near T-day. This year, I forgot! I mean, I forgot about "black Friday" and the hordes of shoppers. So, as someone who a) doesn't like shopping, b) doesn't like crowds, and c)is totally turned off by big-company sales-push schlock [and d) has already finished all the gift shopping], I will say that in this area of both high-income yippies and low-income immigrants who can shop at convenient BIG malls as well as at smaller localized shopping centers... Friday was probably a bust if the stores expected aisles jammed with shoppers. Yes, there were a lot of shoppers, but no more than on the usual Friday mid-morning; yes, there were sales but of nothing I needed or wanted; yes, there were lines at the check-outs but no worse or longer or more time-consuming than usual; no, the parking lots were not jammed; no, the roads were not jammed; and no, I didn't buy what I was looking for -- DH always fusses about not knowing what to get (what's so forgettable about a gift card to a local bookstore?!), so I went home and wrote him a note saying what I wanted and where to find it. Beats getting a bright pink knitted hoodie (last year) when I don't wear pink, knits, or hoodies.