11/13/12
Hundreds of Walnut Creek, California residents lined up early Friday morning in front of Macy’s, on the corner of South Main and Mt. Diablo Boulevard, to kick start the most important day of the holiday season.
Paula Brown, 50-year resident of Walnut Creek, claimed to have arrived at the store “just about when the sun went down” the night before Thanksgiving day. When asked if she regrets not having enjoyed the early evening feast with her family the previous day, Brown pauses to explain: “There are certain times in a woman’s life when she needs to make certain sacrifices. Today is a big day, and I knew that to really ‘carpe diem’, I’d have to skip the dinner. I’m not getting any younger and my hips aren’t getting any smaller, either.” When asked if she will have another chance to see her newborn grandson before her eldest son, Robert Brown, flies his family back to Philadelphia, Paula says that the mother and son were “on for Skype” later that evening. “Walnut Creek is great! I myself don’t have an iPad yet, but the Apple store is only two doors down and Reggie’s been saving my spot when I need to check my e-mail,” Brown states, winking at the woman standing behind her in line.
Another Walnut Creek resident, Steve Lowe, 32, says that he has been enjoying the holiday tradition despite its being the one year anniversary of a serious hospitalization. “My buddies told me to cool it this year and keep it on the down-low; just no jumping through any glass doors,” laughs Lowe, rubbing one of several pink scars on his face, “but I told ‘em I wouldn’t make ‘em any promises”. Sources say this time last year, Lowe consumed “eleven or so” Coors Light at the local sports bar, started a fight with 79-year old Patrick Kerkhoff (sources are unclear as to what the fight was about), charged at Kerkhoff, and ended up breaking through the glass door of Hallmark when Kerkhoff rolled his wheelchair forward. “It’s a good day to celebrate”, states Lowe, biting into a Slim Jim.
Macy’s predicts a 65% increase in sales today, which calculates the department store’s net earnings to be exponentially higher than the funds available to all K-12 schools in the Mount Diablo Unified School District. While Macy’s has declined to comment on their monetary growth, many patrons are excited to hear that their favorite department store is thriving financially. “This time of year really brings everyone together”, says Katie Sullivan, 17. “I’m reminded that my parents care, like, so much about me when I open up a gift from them. I’m actually here today to get ideas for a wish list. This truly is the happiest time of the year.” No commentary followed, as chaos broke out abruptly and crowds fought to flock into the department store.
A Testament of Defeat 