HAHA!! I recognize those purple boxes! I just mentioned the waffle irons in another thread. I was at Walmart at that time, but had no idea it was such a big thing until just now. I got to the waffle irons about 3 minutes after they became available so I guess I missed the real craziness. There were about 5 left when I got there.
I actually joked to people while waiting in our line for the xbox that no one would never stand around for hours and wait for a $2.47 waffle iron. Come for a big ticket item and maybe get one of those on the way out? Sure, but that’s about it. Looks like I was wrong! Now I know why they were looking at me like I was crazy.
As for redeeming qualities… I saw several people helping each other. For example, a woman was there to get her daughter a Cinderella doll, which would be her only Christmas present, but there was only one near the top of the pallet while the others were buried beneath Tianas and Ariels. A man and I who were closer to the pallet got the Cinderella for her. He said his daughter was 2 and wouldn’t know the difference, so he took an Ariel instead.