Shopping.1a

At the dawn of one of the most frantic shopping days of the year, a mother on Friday offered this seemingly un-maternal sentence at an area toy store: "We need to find the brats."

Nearby, another woman asked this peculiar question: "Is this the mighty beans aisle?"

And, perhaps most puzzling, was this statement from a disheveled young father: "My son just has to have Hulk hands."

To the uninitiated, the language of the Black Friday shoppers seems like a series of non sequiturs. But a quick translation clears things up -- Bratz are trendy new dolls said to have "a passion for fashion"; Mighty Beanz are oval-shaped toys that can do tricks and flips; and Hulk Hands are electronic, noise-making fists that kids can slip on to pretend to be the ill-tempered green monster.

The language is only one of the idiosyncrasies of the army of shoppers that flocked to area retailers on the day after Thanksgiving -- called "black Friday" because merchants hope it pushes their financial statements into the black. The day marks one of the busiest shopping events of the year and is the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

"I had to leave home at four in the morning," said Joann Luttrell of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., who drove to Cape Girardeau to take advantage of plentiful bargains. "I've got to get my son and daughter a Game Boy Advance."

Pat Rosanna of Jackson was in the line at Toys "R" Us shortly before the store's early opening time of 5 a.m. to get her grandson a toy Hummer that opens up to become a race track. She was further back in line than she would have liked and chastised herself for it.

"I probably waited too long," she said. "I should have got here sooner."

Shop before sleep

Many of Friday's shoppers were like Luttrell and Rosanna, sacrificing sleep to line up at stores hours before they opened, often in the chilly temperatures before dawn. Others had mapped out their routes to stores and listed Christmas gifts they wanted to buy. Some even used words like "fun," and "tradition" and "well worth it."

Chris Scherer of Oran, Mo., had a two-pronged approach. He dropped his wife off at Kmart before 6 and then raced to Toys "R" Us to get the Hulk Hands for his son.

But for Scherer, it's about more than just getting a toy.

"We do this every year and it's fun," he said.

Shirley Carter of Jackson was the first in line at Famous Barr at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park. Carter got there at 4:30 in the morning. Eventually the line stretched more than 300 people long, reaching from the store all the way back to Center Court.

Carter and nine other family members who joined here -- some from as far as Puxico, Mo. -- said they don't mind wall-to-wall shoppers that lead to incredibly long waits, at least not enough to forego discounts and free promotional gifts, like a snow globe at J.C. Penney or a 15-percent off gift card that was offered at Famous.

One in her group, Teresa Burns of Puxico, said her husband said she was crazy. To her mind, she's thoughtful.

"This is my Christmas present to him -- saving him money," she said.

Karen Broussard of Jackson was a bit further back in the line -- 121st to be exact. She knew because her friend counted while she saved their place in line. Broussard said it was not an act in futility, because there are only 300 discount gift cards and they wanted to make sure they were going to get one.

"We've got a strategy," she said. "You've got to plan."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137