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SHOPPING SHOULD BE AN OLYMPIC EVENT!

The day after Thanksgiving is considered to be the biggest shopping day of the year. It's also known as Black Friday. That's probably because thousands of people come out to stand in long lines wrapping themselves around building in the dead of night, ready to swarm upon the stores the minute the lights go on and the announcement over the PA system blares "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines." Bodies lunge forward, elbows turn outward, fanny packs are firmly adjusted,shopping bags and sales advertisements are grasped firmly in hand. The annual Olympic Event is about to begin!

As the clock strikes 5:00 AM, the doors swing open and the crowds of people begin to overtake the once quiet, deserted stores and malls throughout the world. Sales representatives and cashiers braces themselves against the walls and counters, holding on tightly while the people are pushing and shoving, and heaving and grunting as they make their way through the endless racks of sales and clearance tables.

I carried the torch with the best of them. I wore my best jogging suit, sturdy elbow pads, and heaviest sneakers with a sweatband around my forehead to keep the perspiration at bay. My fists were clenched as I headed for the men's department with the sales advertisement in my hand. I quickly selected two 100 percent Merino wool sweaters. What a victory to begin my annual shopping ritual! Just because I lived in Miami and the fact that we would need to make a trip to Montana so my husband could wear them made no difference. I succeeded in snapping up my first bargain of the day! Ah what a smell of sweet success I felt as I wiped away the perspiration from my brow.

Standing in front of the cashier with my purchase I took out two twenty-dollar bills. With a stunned look the cashier said, "You need two photo ID's if you are going to pay with cash. And you need to step over to the customer service windown to get a cash identification card if you don't have one. Oh, one more thing. . .one piece of your identification must be your passport. You know one can never be too careful these days."

"It's CASH! What do I need identification for?" I replied in a huff. This cashier was wasting my most valuable shopping time and I was behind on getting to my next sale. My throat was beginning to tighten and so were my fists.

"Plastic is our main form of payment. Cash is the exception so if you don't have the Cash Identification Card, your passport along with another photo

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