There are always those “extreme” Black Friday shoppers. Standing out in the freezing cold hours before the store opens, bundled up or camping out, and just waiting for the store to open so they can get some crazy awesome deal.

Then there is that one lucky person who no one knows how they got to be the first in line. How does it feel to be the first in line at that one giant retail store? Junior Josh Elam knows.

Elam arrived at Best Buy at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday for a 42 inch Sharp TV on sale for $200. He was prepared for more than 24 hours of waiting until the store opened at midnight on Thursday. Crazy? Maybe. But it is rewarding when you are the first in line.

“I was actually pretty shocked to be the first in line but it feels great not having to worry about if I’m gonna get the TV or not,” said Elam.

Lucky for him when he got in line when he did too, because the bulk of people started coming at 11. And with temperatures below 50, they come prepared to wait.

“It’s been really cold,” said Elam, “with not much to do, other than sleep.”

Again, those extreme Black Friday shoppers come for that amazing deal that is too hard to pass up. Especially when the TV he got was originally priced at around $600.

Elam has never gone Black Friday shopping before, which makes it pretty impressive to slam a front row seat. His plan was simple enough, he “wanted to see what all the hype was about.” And of course get a sweet deal on a flat screen.

Elam had help of course. His father was there and his brother Jake came along now and then. They took turns standing in line while the others went home eat or run to Wal-Mart to use the bathroom.

This was their Thanksgiving, running home for food and coming back to wait in line on their camping chairs.

But in the end the TV, Elam says, is for him. “I’ve been the one sitting in line for most of the time,” said Elam, “Jake just came along to help an hour ago.”

And wait he did. After midnight, Elam went home with his shiny new TV, and the first one to get it.

“Now I need to get a job so that I can pay for it!” Elam said.

So like the many others in line for Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or Target, their excruciating wait results in whatever bargain they have been waiting for. To those extreme Black Friday shoppers, this means a lot.  

Related articles

• Sharp elbows: Shoppers scuffle on Black Thursday (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Black Friday Shoppers Spending ‘About Same’ as 2010 (boston.com)