Are you already out there?

Have you been standing in the lines outside Best Buy, CompUSA, WalMart, or Target since 11 last night? Waiting to buy that plasma TV for $199? Or how about that laptop for $99? Hmmmmm????

And if you were out there, was it worth the wait?

I have to ask because I was not out there. I drove by the lines of people, jumping up and down to keep warm, and I followed the streaming spotlights that swirled in the late night Thanksgiving sky. But I did not stand in the lines. I just…well, I just couldn’t do it.

This is the first year that I’ve noticed Black Friday creeping into Thanksgiving day, and I feel like the sanctity of that one Thursday in November has been tread upon, dirtied even, in a market’s effort to steal you away and say, Hey, buying these tvs really is more important than being with family.

I don’t know. I feel like I’m being old-fashioned about this, maybe even a little nostalgic. But I remember Thanksgiving as that moratorium on all things commercial. It was the calm day before the big storm hit, but at least we could count on that peace; at least we could move from one family’s home to another with relative safety that the streets were free of crazy shoppers or consumers with motives other than finding that elusive jar of cranberry sauce still on the shelves at the one store still open in town for such emergencies.

About a block from my house, CompUSA opened its doors last night at 8 p.m. for its special 8-till-midnight sale, and it worries me that next year it might be 6 to midnight, or what if they offer free turkey dinner to the first 100 people who are in line by noon to celebrate their doors opening at 3? I can just hear the promo ad now:

That’s right! CompUSA’s got your best interests in mind! Now you can get the best of both worlds! Bring the whole family and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner–on Us! It’s our gift to you as you join us in celebrating our first-ever Thanksgiving Dinner Day Sale, where you get a meal and $250 off your choice of plasma tv! This Thanksgiving, you can pass the pumpkin pie in Aisle 3, where we’ve got the NFL Tripleheader playing in stereo surround sound. Don’t miss this opportunity to be our guest and celebrate this most special day of the year–in Hi-Def! CompUSA: the company that brings families together!

And you know what else? Who in the world really gives plasma screens for christmas? I would bet a good chunk of money that many of those tvs that were bought last night and this morning have already been ripped free from their boxes and are being installed in time to watch this weekend’s NFL matchups.

So I ask you: Does CompUSA and the others have your best interests in mind, or theirs?

Silly question, I know.

One quick other thing before I run to CompUSA (just kidding…): Last night, over the best turkey dinner I’ve had since last Thanksgiving (go figure), I confessed to my friends that I have never, ever seen a James Bond movie. And so, the familial celebration continues today, as the Fam and I go over to another Fam’s house. The kids’ll watch Cars while we watch Bond, and I cannot wait for the experience.

Yeah, the movie will be great. But being with friends on this anything-but-black Friday is what makes this holiday great.

Enjoy your Friday, all! And be safe out there! It’s not going to be pretty!