[Banana]

Let us put aside our differences and unite in name of consumerism and commericalism;

Tis a special day, for us to be thankful for all cheap goodies manufactured by cheap labor in Asia and brought to us so we can toss away our slightly used, but perfectly usable stuff for something more "newer",

Tis day to showcase our wealth by spending obscure amounts of money and more especially, give our respect to those great credit companies who made all this possible,

It's time for us to reflect upon the bottom low bargains being offered everywhere and making it our vision to grab every one, and then some more.

It's when we bring our children along to witness most barbaric event of the year; shopping sprees. Roman gladiators would have been put to shame by sheer senseless and pointless bickering over whatever is hot on the block this season.

It's the time where our economy goes into a boom, propelled by largely imaginary and ficitious spending and buying, and leaving each of us with a that good, warm fuzzy feeling.


So, enjoy your 2nd day of Thanksgiving; and buy out the store!

Happy Black Friday to you all!

PS I think I figured out why stores put up holiday stuff before Thanksgiving; they don't want us to be in too thankful and grateful mood that we may lose interest in the whole consumerism and commericalism thing. Makes perfect sense, considering in that single day, retailers make more money than previous 3/4 year.

[torifile]

Hey, there's nothing wrong with a little good natured capitalism from time to time. I picked up a nice samsung 19" lcd for $200, a photo printer (hp 8450) for $100 and a (busted) scanner for $37. Not to mention 300 4x6 sheets of photo paper (@$3/50 sheets). I don't buy the crap they put out there for $7, but I don't mind getting some good deals on electronics.

[Wyatt]

I got a 256MB SD card for $13, a camera case and rechargable batteries (w/ charger) for my mom, a John Fogerty CD for my dad, and some stuff for my nieces. I managed to buy for all of them, my cat and myself for about $120. I was at work at 5 AM this morning, so I didn't get in on any of the ridiculous deals.

[Moogs]

In sunny, friendly Florida a 73 old woman almost got trampled to death because a bunch of greedy fucks, angry at a security guard for making them wait to get in to a store, went under the barriers and ran her over, stepping on her as they went. Sometimes people in this country make me want to puke. It seems most of the rampagers in the malls have lost ALL concept of what this season is about.

Who needs good will when you can shove people out of your way and buy things.

Fucks.

[Banana]

Seriously? Links?

I never actually saw any fights in my retailing days, but the hostility was so thick, you could cut a knife in it....

Mr. T, good for you. Since you're a psychologist, why don't you apply your newfound powers to help those shoppers channel their negative energy into something positive, like you know, buying something then giving it to someone who really needs it. That kind of stuff, you know?

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Banana Seriously? Links? I never actually saw any fights in my retailing days, but the hostility was so thick, you could cut a knife in it.... Mr. T, good for you. Since you're a psychologist, why don't you apply your newfound powers to help those shoppers channel their negative energy into something positive, like you know, buying something then giving it to someone who really needs it. That kind of stuff, you know?

Some people my parents worked with got assaulted while trying to unload Cabbage Patch Dolls back in the day. That's the worst violence my family's seen in a store (except that which I inflicted on my co-workers at my old job, hahaha )

[LudwigVan]

Originally Posted by Banana Seriously? Links? I never actually saw any fights in my retailing days, but the hostility was so thick, you could cut a knife in it....

One link among many. Matt Drudge has had this story and links to a couple other similar events plastered over his site all day long.

[Moogs]

Originally Posted by Banana Seriously? Links? I never actually saw any fights in my retailing days, but the hostility was so thick, you could cut a knife in it....

I cannot find the link in this morning's "edition" of the Chicago tribute, but that is where I saw the story last night. There's a few of these that you read about every year and I'm sure dozens more you don't.

The bottom line is many of these people in "mad rush" mode simply do not care about the people around them. They have to have some terrible tragedy befall them before they stop, think and give a damn about anything that's not on their personal agenda. You know, the one that starts with "me, myself and I".

[709]

Yeah, we had a Wal-Mart stampede here as well...with a few people trampled and a couple sent to the hospital. Funny thing, I was out of town and happened to be watching CNN when they reported on it. Pretty strange...

Idiots.

[Banana]

Guess Cabbage Patch dolls days wasn't a fluke after all.

Honestly I do wonder if retailers secretly are excited by this; after all, they want more money coming in, even if it amounts to people killing others so they can.... spend money....

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Banana Guess Cabbage Patch dolls days wasn't a fluke after all. Honestly I do wonder if retailers secretly are excited by this; after all, they want more money coming in, even if it amounts to people killing others so they can.... spend money....

Nah, nobody really wants to see people getting hurt. Paramedics and police just get in the way of people getting in the door. Speaking as a retailer myself, I can tell you that we do want people to come in and spend more money. We want the most amount of craziness, with the least amount of damae. Unfortunately, some retailers (i.e., Wal Mart, Best Buy) are having a hard time maximizing that dollar amount without causing some collateral damage.

[Moogs]

This is why I have not stepped foot in a mall during Christmas season over the last few years. Honestly, if I saw that happen to some old lady, what I would do next would surely land me in the clinker. I have no tolerance for scumbags like that. I'd have to pull a Murbot special on their ass... "Flaming Shopping Cart Head SLAM!!"

[hflomberg]

I went to CompUsa thursday night at 11:00 for their 12:00 midnight opening. The line was fairly long, but the people around me were pretty cool and the time went pretty fast. Then the doors opened.

I walked over to the hard drives. I know what it feels like to be in a Blender. A bunch of "people" were pushing and jostling each other. Now I'm a large man. Pushing me is not only ineffective, but when I push back I can be fairly dangerous.

I kept my cool and was able to get through the mess with only a few muttered warnings and the "Look" that I perfected when my kids were young.

I can only say that i thank G-d that I'm not allowed to carry a weapon!

Happy Thanksgiving

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by hflomberg I kept my cool and was able to get through the mess with only a few muttered warnings and the "Look" that I perfected when my kids were young.

Best thing in the world about being a big guy: It's easier to look scary.

[torifile]

My forays into rampant consumerism were largely uneventful. The crowd was mostly pleasant while waiting to get inside and, while there were episodes of quick motion to the "hot" items, it wasn't bad at all. The worst part of it was the checkout line. At Staples, I probably waited over an hour, all told. I did make it a point to avoid the crazy places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart (places I no longer shop anyway) because I've been to BB on BF and it's incredibly frustrating, even for someone as levelheaded as I am (most times).

[Trumpetman]

I didn't buy a thing but my wife bought $2,000 in new home appliances.

Nick

[bassplayinMacFiend]

There was no line at my son's doctor's office Friday morning. If my wife wasn't working and Ben didn't need to visit the doc I would've been watching / part of the craziness myself. Where I live, it doesn't seem that people are out for blood yet the day after Thanksgiving. You wanna see nutz? Go shopping during the last 14 days before Xmas. That's usually when you'll see grown men duking it out over a parking space.

[BuonRotto]

Today is supposedly "Black Monday" for online retailers, when they have their best deals.

Lucky for me that my brother in law, whom is the only person I have to shop for (we draw names), only wants a gift certificate from some boring store. Very unsentimental, I know, but frankly he isn't the kind of person who appreciate a thoughtful gift anyway. I'm done my Xmas shopping already.

Now I just have to hold off on buying anything for myself, and wait for the real sales after Xmas.

[murbot]

Man, I wish we'd pick names. It's scary how many damn gifts I have to buy every year. We are trying to go cheaper this year, but it's tough.

We got a parcel from my parents on the weekend, with a birthday present for one daughter, and Christmas presents for all of us. We opened ours up to see what they spent on us so we'd know what to buy them... last year they spent jack squat on all of us. We don't have the warmest relationship in the world.

I know it's bad, but at least I'm not going to overspend on them!

[BuonRotto]

Yeah, with three sisters, the 'rents, and the in-laws, it gets to be too expensive for anyone to get anything even remotely substantial for anyone else. Plus, it's hard for any of us to think of things we really want that aren't either too expensive ("hey, I could use a down payment on a house") or else they're too insignificant to ask for as a gift ("you can never have too much underwear"). After a couple of years of us exchanging CDs at Xmas, we went to this route, though it's not random because the pool is too small to ensure you get a different person each year, and we always set a cap on spending though we usually break it a little.

Of course, there's always a short straw to draw, my one brother in law for example, who is incapable of appreciating whatever it is you get him. But it usually works out well, and with the group being mostly women with two guys who actually like shopping for nice things, it can be fun to just go out with a focus on one person rather than hitting every store between here and Charlotte.

For birthdays, we often pool our resources to get something nicer rather than giving the person 5 t-shirts.