WastedDay.

My husband and I have big dreams of heading to Europe in the spring. We are wishing and hoping and praying that it actually works out. We have asked for our necessities for christmas and have done our research on what is needed and required for doing a two to three week backpacking trip through Europe.

I sent the Christmas list to my mom and a few minutes later I received an email about a store closing in London that had up to 73% off and specialized in outdoor and travel equipment. I checked out the website and did some price comparison and figured if the equipment was on sale it would be worth checking out. The next day my mom brought the flyer in for me to check out and I knew I must go. A 35L backpack, half price! I was excited.

My husband and I then got into planning mode. We tried to figure out when I should hit up the sale. What made the most sense money wise, would the pay off be better then the loss. The options were I call in sick for work and then head to the store, get there before it opens and know that if they have what I want on sale, I am going to get the best price and get what I want. Or, wait until after work, drive the hour and a half to the store and hope they have what I am looking for and that I can find it in an hour before the store closed.

Our hopes were to save about a hundred dollars per backpack (they retail for about $260) and then if we considered the other items on our wish list the days savings were in the hundreds. So after much contemplation, I called in sick and was off to London. I got to the store a half hour ahead of time and the line was already down the street, around the corner and down the street again. This made me excited because clearly it must be a good sale. People were excited.

I stood in line for over two hours before getting into the store. My toes were numb (I did not dress to stand outside for two hours), my snacks were in the car, my phone was almost dead and my patience were wearing thin.

I do not think my excitement could have dropped any faster then when I got into the store. The sales were TERRIBLE! 15% off most items. Backpacks only 20$ off. It was heart breaking. I found a few ok finds as I knew what the price was for the item online, but I was disappointed  I wasted not only a day of work, but also three hours of my life I cannot get back.

The experience taught me something however, I am never calling in sick again, unless I am actually sick. There were news crews there and people taking pictures so I felt guilty and feared getting caught. It was not worth it and now that I think of it, I don't know what is worth calling in sick for other then an emergency and being sick. I am never again wasting it to go shopping. On the other hand however, I would have been left wondering if I had been there earlier if I would have gotten a better deal, so for that I am happy.

Everything about today is eating at me. I am stressed and upset and exhausted from being so stressed and upset. So that was my terrible day and advice on never skipping work.