My step mother goes midnight shopping every year. I went with her last year, due to a temporary lapse of sanity. It had been weeks since I'd been out of the house due to medical reasons and I thought well, it was something to do.
The stores were almost too packed to move. Getting anywhere took forever, and while most folks were generally nice, it got really pushy around some of the bigger displays. We left shortly after witnessing a fist fight over bed sheets.... Yeah.
That said, as insanely crowded as it was and as ridiculous as some people were behaving, it wasn't an angry, frenzied mob. The vast majority of folks were laughing, talking, and helping one another out. There was just a lot of them.
I'm opting out this year, though, despite her efforts to convince me to join her again. I didn't hate the experience, but I have no need to go and large crowds are difficult to navigate and a little intimidating when you have no peripheral vision.
