A Community of Deal Seekers

This morning I woke up at 2:53 am to go to Old Navy to get a free Flip UltraHD Video camera! All I had to do was to show up early (the store opened at 4 am), spend $25, and then I would get the camera for free! Regular price on amazon.ca is $159.00, but on sale for $99.00. Check out the camera by clicking on the image.

The catch? There were only limited quantities.

So right after I woke up in the morning, I went with my father in law (he’s visiting for the Christmas season) and drove off to Old Navy. To my surprise, there were already tons of people there. So I quickly parked and rushed into line. It was quite exhilarating as others were also parking and rushing to line up as well!

Just as I got into the line, people started shouting to my father in law and I, “You’re number 28 and you’re number 29!” I thought it was a bit odd that they were numbering us, so when I asked why that mattered, they told me that there were only 30 cameras available for the first 30 customers!

WHOA!! Just as they said that, probably 3-5 people lined up behind us.

During the next hour, while I was all bundled up in the -10 degree Celsius Edmonton weather (and that’s warm for Edmonton), I struck up conversation with those next to me in line. The funniest thing was the impromptu sense of community that formed outside of Old Navy at 3 am, while a motley crew of dedicated deal seekers were waiting to get a free video camera. We talked about everything ranging from the weather, sports, work, and the value of deals and spending our money. It was quite interesting while I continued to lose feeling in my toes.

As people kept on lining up behind us (there were probably 60-70 people by 3:40 am), one of the other “deal seekers” up at the front decided to walk back and tell everyone that there were only 30 cameras available for the first 30 customers and that (pointing to us) we were the last according to his rough guestimate.

The response? Disbelief, anger, frustration, and attitude – all directed to the nice individual who wanted to spare everyone from their misery early by telling them they weren’t going to get the camera.

Now don’t you think, after that, people would have just left? No’p. Not at all. Everyone stayed. And good that they did.

When they opened the doors, they told everyone you had to be 18 and older and also they were only giving away one per family. The result? A few lucky people behind us got the camera, while a few disappointed teenagers didn’t.

The moral of the story? Deals are pretty sweet and community naturally forms wherever we go. Why? Because we’re human and we all crave community.