This Thanksgiving break was one of many bad decisions for me: from the three pieces of pumpkin pie to Black Friday shopping in New York City, I’ve got a lot of regrets.

Shopaholics like myself might be salivating at the thought of Black Friday bargain shopping in the fashion capital of the United States, and understandably so. Scoring deals at Zara and Topshop is enough to make any zealous shopper’s pulse quicken.

But I can assure you that’s not the case in NYC. First, let’s remember the ungodly amount of tourists that flock to the city year round. Multiply that by ten, and you’ve got the Black Friday crowd. The only difference here is that these people aren’t naïve, fanny-pack wielding tourists, but the hardened locals. These people are of a totally different breed: they will knock you down for a discounted purse without thinking twice about it.

I can truthfully say I’ve never been touched so many times than on Black Friday in New York (this admission ushers in a whole new set of issues, but that’s for another article). I had three women stalking me like a vulture for a necklace at JCrew, and one crazed woman actually snatched a scarf out of my hands at Anthropologie.

Plus, nothing that I bought was even remotely attractive, a phenomenon I refer to as “The NYC effect.” Year after year I buy horribly unattractive items in the city simply because I’m there and am inspired by the edgy chicness of the locals.

Are gold leather pants “edgy chic?” No, my friends, they are not. Nor do they make me look like Beyonce, as the flamboyant H&M employee told me they did. But I bought them because I was there and inspired by the glamour of the city, only to return home and have my grandma ask if I was trying to look like an Oscar.

All in all, was it worth it? Yes and no. Breaking a sweat while shopping and beings groped by foreign strangers was definitely not, but being in the big apple is never a bad thing, especially during the holidays.

I guess the lesson here is to save your sanity, rather than your wallet, on Black Friday. I’m beginning to think the former is more important.