Yarn FRENZY and the madness of crowds.

Well, I am a wimp.
DD and I arose earlier than absolutely necessary to go to our LYS's annual SALE at 8 am this morning. I wish I'd taken my camera instead of my credit card. The Woolie Ewe is in a strip shopping plaza. Usually most of the cars parked are nearest the large Supermarket on the East side. This morning ALL the spaces on the North side were full, and spill over filled the East and West sides as far as one could see. TWE is probably about 1000 sq feet... and every available square foot had a person in it. (And some of us take up MORE than one square foot.) It was mobbed. We were met by a temp worker handing out white trash bags so we could buy a LOT. Women (mostly, with a few gay male knitters and even fewer straight male knitters), hollered for felting Cascade, Noreyu, Debbie Bliss and lobbed skeins with accuracy rivaling Shaq and Kobe, or Peyton (if you're a football fan). Alas, we went home empty handed because DD had a schedule to follow... driving to Austin for a New Year's Eve party... I don't know if or how the check out procedure could have been streamlined. But the process involved getting a "ticket" which itemized your purchases and prices... handwritten. then you had to go through another line to actually pay. I think it allowed for the experienced clerks to work quickly at the pricing end, and the less experienced ones to key in adding machine figures and collect the money. I don't believe that getting there AT 8 am would have made any difference as I hear one woman who said she'd gotten there at 6 :30 am and was number 35....already....
DD and I agreed that if you knew you were going to make a big projects, it would be worth getting the 30% reduction in price. But for us, who still tend to felt bags, knit mittens and hats, we'd rather pay as we go and avoid the mayhem.
To those who went and prevailed, Hat's of to you!