There are all kinds of reasons why I am not a good candidate for getting up at 4:30 a.m. to shop. Some of them include:

1. I am the exact opposite of a morning person.

2. I hate cold weather.

3. I have no patience for lines and crowds and traffic.

4. I have never bought into this whole idea of Black Friday and all of its capitalistic, get-out-of-my-way-or-I'll-get-you-out-of-my-way nonsense. In fact, I've never participated in Black Friday, not even once, in all of my nearly 33 years.

5. I had four glasses of red wine last night after the Thanksgiving feast.

Yet, somehow, I found myself rising at 4:17 a.m. today for the sole purpose of getting a Perfect Pillow and a reversible microfiber down-alternative comforter at Herberger's.

It is now 6:10 a.m., and all I have to say is, simply, "I rock."

By 5:45 a.m., I had not only gotten two Perfect Pillows and two reversible microfiber down-alternative comforters and managed to not only purchase them but actually get them out of the store and back to my car, which was parked about 16 miles away, but I also had in my hand one extra-large mocha and a bagel sandwich and was on my way to work.

Freaky Friday, indeed.

Backing up now: I pulled into the Herberger's parking lot at exactly 4:55 a.m., five minutes before the store opened. The line of people outside the store forked into two single-file rows of obviously crazy people (the temperature was 16 degrees at the time, and none of them had particularly warm coats on). But as the doors opened and no one started running, pushing or calling anyone names, I started to think, "Hey, this isn't so bad. We're all in this together."

That's when I turned the corner and saw another line - to get up the escalator to the home department. I felt a pang of survival-of-the-fittest rage rise up in me, especially when, upon arriving on the second floor, I saw throngs of people who already had stacks of Perfect Pillows and reversible microfiber down-alternative comforters in their arms. Apparently a lot of other people saw the ad in Thursday's paper, too.

I managed to push the rage back down and remind myself that this really wasn't THAT big of a deal.

In fact, I managed to actually smile and laugh and chit-chat with people as I found my way through the crowd to the pillows and the comforters. I managed to actually (almost) enjoy myself despite the fact that by the time I dragged (literally, dragged) two bags of pillows and comforters out of the store, I had seen the very ugly side of several people.

I didn't get upset because I saw that the majority of people remembered to bring their decency that morning along with their wallets and shopping lists.

That decency, however, apparently does not translate when people are inside their cars. The trip out of the parking lot nearly got me killed/put me in a fit of uncontrollable rage.

But I made it out alive, and now I'm at work with my mocha and my bagel sandwich and my Perfect Pillows and reversible microfiber down-alternative comforters in my trunk, and life is good. I got $480 worth of items for $95. I can't say I'll ever do this again, but then I haven't seen the ads for next year yet.

And how was your Black Friday?