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Outside Best Buy, two women already wait for Black Friday TV

The friends have been sitting outside a Best Buy in California for a week. All to get a $199 TV more than two weeks from now.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read

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The line outside the Best Buy in Beaumont, Calif., has started to form. ABC 7 screenshot by CNET

It's a tradition as vital to the vibrancy of our culture as the selfie stick, the all-you-can-eat buffet, or insults tossed at the in-laws at the holiday dinner table.

Yes, we are again in the season when someone sits for weeks outside a store to buy an absurdly cheap gadget.

In this case, the blessed store is a Best Buy in Beaumont, Calif. As originally reported by Patch, Vicky Torres and Juanita Salas (referred to as Juanita Alva by some media outlets) took up residence on November 5.

Their logic was impeccable. As Torres told Patch: "We could have started later, but then we wouldn't be sure to get first in line."

The ecstasy of a bargain has to be preceded by the certainty of obtaining it. Now that they are first in line, they know joy will be theirs. The object of that joy is a 50-inch HD TV for $199.

As ABC 7 reports, they are wrapped up like Russian women in the fields during a nasty snowstorm. They are taking turns to stay the night, so that unscrupulous raiders don't pilfer their spot.

Naturally, Best Buy is delighted they're there. Its Best Buy News Twitter feed gloried in the excitement they're creating for the brand.

It's tempting, though, to think that this is merely another tiny reality show, with a cast of people who just want publicity.

However, Salas'/Alva's husband told ABC 7: "The point is to get the sales, because everybody's on a fixed income. We don't have that kind of money to splurge."

Torres said that some people do call them crazy. But again Salas'/Alva's husband offered a sanguine perspective: "They say they're crazy, but then they come and ask us can you save a spot in line, or can you do this for us? We're not here for that. We're just here to get our stuff and that's it."

One can only hope that when the doors to gadget heaven open, the two ladies aren't swamped by larger and more aggressive bodies, rushing toward their own electronic nirvana.