Senior Jose Tapia has a family tradition. Every Black Friday he and his family camp out in front of stores until they open so they can get in first and experience the craziness and celebrate Tapia’s birthday. We spoke to Tapia about his 9 years of experience doing this:

Eagle’s Eye: What have you gotten in the past for being so early?

Jose Tapia: “We’ve gotten two iPhone watches, three Beats, two Xbox’s, two Playstations, a bunch of games for each, three flat screen TVs, a guitar, and a keyboard.”

EE: Who else goes with you?

JT: “Usually, it’s always my close family mom, little brother, and big brother but my aunt’s and uncle’s usually come and use Black Friday as an excuse to come together as a family and celebrate my birthday.”EE: How early do you get up

JT: “Weirdly enough we actually don’t wake up that early. We usually go to Wal-Mart or Target by 7 a.m., but somehow wherever we go my family and me are always first except one or two times when we were second. Dumb luck runs in the family.”EE: How do you plan for this

JT: “As for planning things out we usually either look for things we want, compare prices and go to the best one, but at one point we just went to Target and decided when we were in line. In my family, we just love the violence and craziness of Black Friday it’s just so pleasant. The number one thing we always bring is a chair — the ones that retract — but we are not as crazy enough to bring a tent.”

EE: What stores were your favorite

JT: “The majority of the time, it’s usually either Target or Walmart but recently Walmart has been doing a really bad job during Black Friday so Target has been the go to place.”

EE: What have you gotten for being early

JT: “We got a free TV combined with a interview for a radio station, but it was a one time random thing. But every single time, because it’s my birthday my family lets me go first in Target they basically line up and applaud when I walk in because I’m first. It’s weird but at the same time kinda fun since I’m going down the store while riding the cart and everyone clapping on both sides.”

EE: How often do you go/ When/why did you start doing this

JT: “We go every year at first for the savings, but now as a tradition that we really enjoy or like a family outing. But you know the fighting, screaming and running, which is my favorite part. But we usually are the first to leave as well, too, and then comes another tradition of it being like somewhere between 12 or 11 and we go to IHOP where we finish my birthday.”