November 27, this year’s Black Friday started early on Thanksgiving and its lines a week earlier. It was around November 20 when some lines had started to form. Many stores on Thanksgiving were open at 6 p.m., requiring many employees to come to work on the holiday. Despite Wal-Mart’s Black Friday deals starting online at 3 a.m. November 26, many shoppers still chose to brave the stores in person.

With online sales becoming more popular, the mobs dominating stores on Black Friday were smaller than average this year. Of course, there was that chaos that marks Black Friday as the most dangerous day to be out shopping. Many stores were filled to the brim wit fighting customers who wouldn’t let each other at the item they were looking for. This would include both verbal and physical violence.

Some customers didn’t want to waste their time and energy chasing limited store offers that might be gone before they can even reach them. For these customers, online shopping on Black Friday is a must. If that fails, you can do it the old-fashioned way, going toe-to-toe with another customer for that $125 32-inch flatscreen TV. In my opinion, it’s not worth fighting through the crowds or waiting in line for days to have some limited special offer instead of spending the holiday with my family.