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big fan.” She took a camera out of her bag. “I can’t believe my husband is in the TV line missing this! Will you take a picture with me so I can show him I met you?”
    â€œOf course,” I said.
    She was about to hand the camera off to Mr. Piggledy when Frank appeared beside me. “How about I do the honors?”
    â€œFrank Finance?” she said handing him the camera and swinging her arm around my shoulder. “OMG! I never expected to see you tonight! Aren’t you two—”
    Before I could pull him aside, look into the whites of his eyes, and confirm my suspicion—that he truly had been taken over by a kinder, gentler, more faithful being from a different dimension—Frank’s cell phone chirped the theme song to the old seventies sitcom All in the Family .
    â€œLooks like my mom needs me for something or another,” he said, answering the call.
    â€œAnd I need Maddie.” Anastasia appeared beside us. “We’re done getting shopper feedback and I have to take a quick potty break. Can you go with the cameraman so he can get tape of you in the voucher redemption line?”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œI’ll be right there and we’ll move on to interview folks loading goodies into their cars.”
    The next thing I knew, Anastasia had taken off toward the restrooms, Frank had joined his family, and I was being filmed pretending to wait for my purchases at merchandise pickup.
    Resisting the urge to smile.
    Feeling more hopeful about my career and future than I’d been since before …
    A loud, booming crash echoed across the store.

    9 . E.g., check in via smartphone when you get to wherever you’re shopping. Some stores have extra discounts just for mobile shoppers. Also, the all-important Black Friday is a bonanza for bargain shoppers, but no deal is worth carrying a balance on your credits cards until this time next year. Spend wisely!
    10 . If you shop with a posse of friends or like-minded shoppers, you can split up the store, guard carts, save places in line, etc. And then enjoy a post-shop powwow or brunch to show off your finds and compare your deals.
    11 . Many retailers have turned Black Friday bargains into a scavenger hunt of sorts, situating their best deals in seemingly random spots around the store. Video games may be hiding near car seats. A bin of $2 shirts could be over by hair care. If you can, check out stores ahead of time so you know where everything is.
    12 . Check to see if there is a Quick Response (QR) code to scan with your smartphone when you get to wherever you are shopping. Some stores offer extra discounts just for mobile shoppers.

three
    â€œCouldn’t be an earthquake,” the woman behind me said. “Could it?”
    â€œThis isn’t California,” her husband said. “Something fell.”
    â€œSomething really heavy,” the guy behind him added.
    The merchandise fulfillment clerk picked up his phone. “What’s going on out there? My counter just shook like there was an explosion or something.”
    Anastasia appeared in the open doorway and beckoned the cameraman and me. “Follow me and keep the camera rolling!”
    â€œWhat happened?” I asked, maneuvering around the people in line and trailing her through the open double doors and back into the store proper.
    â€œThey’re saying a pallet slipped,” she said, circumnavigating the horde of shoppers blocking the middle thoroughfare of the store by taking a sharp right into an aisle of strollers. “Off one of the upper shelves.”
    â€œWhere?” I asked, as we made a left and started down the picture frame aisle.
    â€œEverywhere,” Anastasia said.
    I figured she had to be referring to the onlookers blocking the ends of every aisle we’d entered, until I veered around a cracked, upended Hamilton Beach toaster.
    And a Black & Decker.
    â€œA pallet of toasters?”
    My breath