Black Friday this year took place on November 24th, in the bitter cold, centering around the two hit stores in Presque Isle, Walmart and JCPenney. Black Friday in Presque Isle, or anywhere for that matter, ranges on the level of craziness. Some people are determined to get the good deals and will stand in the cold for hours on end, some go just to watch the craziness, others go later in the day, while some don’t go out at all.

At Presque Isle High School, our students and faculty braved the cold to get the deal, while others…didn’t. For senior Libbee Currie, Black Friday shopping isn’t her cup of tea. “God, that’s friggin scary. I mean like, there are so many stories and articles about people getting hurt on Black Friday. That, and it involves people – I don’t like people. I stay home and sleep.” That’s the case for junior Torey Levesque as well. “I stayed home and slept.” Some people don’t see the worth in standing in long lines and the bitter cold just to save a little bit of money on Christmas shopping.

Senior Skyler Ellis went to JCPenney first, followed by Walmart and then Tim Hortons to wait out the time until Bath and Body Works opened at 5 a.m. with a group of students who were involved in the school play. She didn’t quite make it until 5 a.m. “I fell asleep in Tim Hortons around 2:30 a.m., and some random dude woke me up, and I was really mad.” Sophomore Colby Bonville wasn’t going for any of the big sales either. Instead, “I went just to look. There were a lot of people.”

Senior Sarah Craig had to skip out on the early morning Black Friday shopping to get sleep before going to work at JCPenney, “I worked ten hours, 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.” She dealt with the craziness from the other side of the register. “There was this one lady who left all of her stuff on the counter for me to put away because everything took so long.”

The new Early Childhood Education teacher, Laura Hunter, went for the full Black Friday shopping experience. She got to Walmart at approximately 12:05 a.m. just after the doors had opened. “There were five of us; we divided and conquered to get what we wanted.” She hit the sporting section, clothing and toys before meeting up with the other members of her party. “Then we headed to the dreaded checkout. We left Walmart at 12:44 a.m. That’s pretty good- thirty-nine minutes in the store. I’m impressed.” Following her Walmart adventure, Hunter went to Winnie’s and was home around 2:15 a.m. She slept until 5:45 a.m. and went to Tractor Supply in search of John Deere toys. “Then I went back to Walmart for round two,” followed by Dunkin Donuts for donut day at her house, then to the mall to wait in line for Polar Express tickets, then to JCPenney. “I shopped a little more, then called it quits at about 11:15 and went home and waited for Cyber Monday.”

Some of our students went all in for the madness and others didn’t go in at all, rather valuing their sleep and comfort in their own homes. Our faculty on the other hand, like Laura Hunter went all out, hitting a majority of the stores offering sales to get a good deal and a head start on her Christmas shopping.