We news people are always looking for a new twist on the Black Friday story.  I mean, how many different ways can you tell a story about shopping?  This year’s new twist seems to be the hysteria over the Zhu-Zhu pet toys.  For those of you without kids, these are battery-operated hamsters that make little noises and move around.  You can even get a house, a ball and other accessories.  Just like a real hamster (without the mess).

I decided to dig deeper into this Zhu-Zhu issue, and took one of our news cameras to Toys R Us Thursday night.  The store opened at midnight with promises of $9.99 Zhu-Zhus to the first 100 customers.  At 8:30pm, there were about 20 people in line, most of them wanted a Zhu-Zhu.  When I returned at 11:50pm, the line wrapped around to the back of the building.  Three were easily 300-500 people in line!  We have a winner folks, these little Zhu-Zhus are the new Cabbage Patch Kids and Tickle Me Elmo from days gone by.

I was filled with the holiday spirit, talking to all the parents who had camped outside the toy store in hopes of snagging one of the prized toys.  That holiday spirit evaporated when the doors opened.  People who had just arrived slipped into the store through the EXIT, much to the chagrin of the shoppers who had waited in line for several hours.  Why do some people seem to think they can skirt the rules and simply cut in line? I managed to get a few of these people on camera.  Classy, very classy.

Of course, my hope was restored when I realized that tickets had been distributed to the first 100 people, guaranteeing them a Zhu-Zhu pet.  So those if those folks that tried to sneak in the back door thought they would swipe a Zhu-Zhu, instead they would only find an empty shelf.  It’s weird how karma works that way, isn’t it?

This whole Zhu-Zhu story really is the tale of the little guy hitting the big time.  I read in the newspaper this morning that the toy is produced by a company called Cepia, Inc. of St. Louis.  Amazingly, they have just 16 employees in the U.S., and 30 in China.  I may not be able to get a Zhu-Zhu for my boys this year, thankfully they haven’t asked for one.  But for a few minutes, I was part of the Black Friday excitement.  I still don’t think I would stand in line 6 hours for a toy or a laptop computer.  But for those of you who completed your mission without trampling another parent, my heartiest congratulations.  For those of you who try to cut in line…Bah Humbug!  Thanks for reading, Kelli