"Black Friday" madness is underway in Alexandria, as well as other regional centers across the Midwest and big cities around the U.S.

According to a report from my mom, who I talked to at 5:45am on Friday morning, it was "worse than she ever could have imagined" as she stood in the lobby of Target in Alexandria. The lines wrapped to the back of the store. She was not one of the hardy folks who stood in line hours before the 5am opening of their doors. Every item she wanted, with the exception of one toy, was all "picked over" according to her.

She was looking forward to Herberger's at the Viking Plaza - a friend in Alexandria called her and said things looked much more promising over there.

Out in the Target parking lot, my mom added that a couple crazy drivers flew out of the lot, nearly hitting another car - sort of the behavior that I would expect on a Black Friday. She was a "Black Friday rookie" - and after just her experience at Target, she went way thoroughly un-impressed by the behavior of people!

Zoom southwest to Willmar, my sister was able to get approximately 6 of the 30 items she had on a list at Target. She went over to the Super-Walmart and reported that the parking lot there was full of cars. Her last stop was the Kandi Shopping Mall further to the north in the Willmar business district.

Even farther southwest to Hutchinson, my girlfriend got in line at Target there at 3:30am. About 50 people were in front of her. She was able to get "most" of the items she wanted, and the lines there were just as deep as they were at Target in Alexandria.

I'm glad there's women out there who'll go through the chore of being in the midst of such madness. This guy sure has no desire to partake in it! Give me the quiet shopping district of a Hoffman or Glenwood ANY day!