black friday shoppingAre you one of those people who gets up at the crack of dawn on Black Friday and races to the stores to score as many holiday deals as you can -- even if you were up super-late on Thanksgiving?

I'll be the first to admit that Black Friday just isn't my thing, mainly because I can't take the lines or the crowds. But some people are pretty passionate about starting their holiday shopping before their turkey even has time to digest -- and that's why plenty of people are freaking out over the fact that Walmart is starting Black Friday on Thursday this year. Yes, Thursday, as in Thanksgiving, as in one of the only days out of the year that is reserved solely for spending quality time with family and friends. (WTF?)

Ok, so before you totally panic, it's not like they're opening their doors at 7:00 a.m. or anything that extreme. Black Friday at Walmart will officially kick off at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, you know, right about the time that most parents are trying to get their kids into bed for the night. (Isn't that convenient?)

You're probably thinking to yourself, well, I guess it's not really that big of a deal, because there are plenty of other places I can shop for holiday gifts than Walmart before the early birds beat me to the deals at 8:00 p.m. Right?

WRONG. Guess who else has joined the party? Toys R' Us. (Toys R' freakin' Us!!) Um, call me crazy, but given the fact that probably 99.99 percent of people who shop at Toys R' Us on Black Friday are parents -- doesn't opening during the dreaded "witching hour" seem kind of biased and unfair? I mean, moms have cooked and cleaned all day, and stuffed themselves so full of carbs, gravy, and assorted baked goods that their pants don't fit -- and now there's a chance that they may not be able to find everything on their kids' wish lists because they're not ready to get their shop on at 8:00 p.m.?!? (I smell a conspiracy here.)

As of today, it doesn't look like any other major retail chains have hopped on the 8:00 p.m. Thursday bandwagon. But something tells me that once more stores realize they're going to miss out on four good hours of people rushing through their doors who are DYING to fork their money over -- they'll probably wind up doing the whole Black Thursday thing too. Stay tuned.

Are you a Black Friday shopper? If so, do the Thursday store openings bother you, and will you head out early to shop?

 

Image via Beth Rankin/Flickr