I try to avoid doing insane things so as not to appear completely crazy. On the day after Thanksgiving, I left no doubt about my sanity because I did a most insane thing. No doubt about it, I am completely crazy. I went into Wal-Mart and Best Buy on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year.

I was worried about a recession until Friday. Everyone in Central Texas was in Wal-Mart, Best Buy or Target. I hope all these folks were spending real money rather than charging everything. It would have been nice if the Wall Street Barons could have been there to see the action, the stock market may have gone up a couple of thousand points. The way most of the folks looked, I’m pretty sure the bulk of the purchases were charged. This only means they will default on their payments and I will be paying for the stuff when the bailout for the credit card companies is approved.

It’s absolutely frightening and very dangerous to be out in the stores shopping on Black Friday. People line up in the middle of the night waiting for the doors to open and surge into the store like a tidal wave engulfing the stuff on sale. In New York, a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death. That doesn’t surprise me at all. It was probably the poor old guy who stands at the door to greet the customers. This is usually a very senior citizen who is frail, senile and moves like a tortoise. There is another one of these folks at the exit door who is supposed to make sure you are not stealing anything. A shoplifter can walk past most of these poor folks with half the store of stolen merchandise in a convoy of shopping carts. Wal-Mart should hire retired professional football players armed with machine guns for these jobs.

Black Friday means that the stores should be in the black after the day’s sales. I’m sure they will have a positive figure on the number of sales but profit may be another thing. They had to slash prices to attract the customers this year and the price reductions may cut into the profit margin. The amount of stolen merchandise should also impact the profit margin.

Anyway, I’m most concerned about my sanity for even daring venture off the porch on a Black Friday. At least, I’m thankful to be back on the porch alive and without injury. I’m also happy that the recession must be over.