When did shopping become a contact sport?

[ikojo]

Complete with trash talking and everything.
I was watching CNN (Conservative Network News) and they had a short report about a woman getting trampled at a Wal-Mart as she bent down to reach for a cheap DVD player.
They also showed a woman grabbing another woman around the neck when she thought this woman had cut in a long line of shoppers as a Toys R Us opened for business.
There was also some trash talk going on at a Wal-Mart in California as it opened for business early Friday morning.

This is really, really sad that people are so consumed with materialism that they feel compelled to attack one another over stuff.

In today's New York Times there is a picture of a family from Elizabeth, NJ stuffing their car with toys.

It boggles my mind that people got up early just to spend money. Some of my co-workers on Wednesday spend part of the day going over the ads and planning their strategies about SHOPPING on Friday.

I only wish people took their political leaders, local and national, as seriously as they do their conspicious consumption.

[RC]

1. Christmas is coming and all good Christians

must max out their credit cards on the cheap junk so their families can have a Merry and Happy Christmas. Tahellwithyou, iwant mine N O W!

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Wouldn't that be nice?

I only wish people took their political leaders, local and national, as seriously as they do their conspicious consumption.

We're screwed up, and I don't know why, other than to blame it on the willing ignorance a significant portion of the US as they've bought into the whole "buy your happiness" bullshit paradigm, and let their egos get in the way.

After being in NYC, and shopping at the more upscale kind of stores, I have to say there's a big difference between the people who shop at WalMart, KMart, and others, and the people who shop at Bergdorf, Saks, and Tiffanys.

Some things just need to be bought at KMart, but I hate going there because people ARE obnoxious, and do get vicious if they think yo've butted in front, or grabbed something they wanted. It's really, really sad.

[BiggJawn]

3. And who invented "Black Friday"???

I heard that they call the friday after turkey day "Black Friday" because "Years ago", merchants hoped that they did so well in sales that they could put the red ink away and start keeping the books in black ink. In 46 years of trodding this green earth under my feet, this is the FIRST time I ever heard of this.

Excuse me, but this sounds like so much-I'm sorry-pure bullshit. A complete fabrication of a NEW "Hallmark Holiday" designed to make people think that it's traditional to go out and run yourself into debt the day after Thanksgiving.

And I could just imagine the howling of the shareholders if an outfit like Fanny-Mae or State Farm Insurance told its stockholders "We're hoping for a good "Black Friday" to bring in the dividend for this year..."

I think the whole "red ink into black" faery tale is PR-bullshit....

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. In retail it has been called black friday by low-level employess

for at least 30 years, probably longer.
This year is the first time I have heard it used in the media.

[ikojo]

6. I would think that retail workers call it black Friday

because of the long hours and impossible and rude customers.

I cannot imagine working retail, especially during the "holiday" season when people are supposed to be full of cheer.

Yeah right.

I think it was FDR who moved Thanksgiving at the insistence of the big retailers. They wanted a longer holiday shopping season:

http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/096720-3549-021.html

"Even the calendar was conspiring against prosperity because in 1939, as in FDR's first year in office, 1933, November had five Thursdays, and Thanksgiving was to fall on the 30th. So FDR moved Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November to the fourth.

But in 1939, many of the nation's larger merchants -- the National Retail Dry Goods Association, the presidents of Gimbel Brothers and Lord & Taylor -- asked FDR for relief from the fact that in 1939, Thanksgiving would arrive so late -- Nov. 30 -- that it would injure the economy by delaying the start of Christmas shopping.

However, the class struggle erupted, pitting smaller merchants against the larger merchants. The proprietor of Arnold's Men's Shop in Brooklyn wrote to urge FDR to allow the later Thanksgiving: "If the large department stores are overcrowded during the shorter shopping period before Christmas, the overflow will come, naturally, to the neighborhood store. . . . We have waited many years for a late Thanksgiving to give us an advantage over the large stores."

[MojoKrunch]

9. It may in fact be bull.

But I know that for many *retail* businesses, the holidy shopping season pays for the rest of the year.
Many stores run in the red for 9-10 months out of the year just to reap it all back during ConsumptionTime.

And I could just imagine the howling of the shareholders if an outfit like Fanny-Mae or State Farm Insurance told its stockholders "We're hoping for a good "Black Friday" to bring in the dividend for this year..."
I think the whole "red ink into black" faery tale is PR-bullshit....
LOL
Dude, you're right, but Fanny-Mae and State Farm isn't *retail*.

I mean, you don't see those guys offering "deals" on Black Friday, do ya?
Those stockholders would in fact be pissed.

But the truth is the Black Friday "deals" are pretty much a scam.
Oh, if you were looking to buy *that specific toy* and they still had one when you got there, and you collected all of the coupons and mailed in all of the rebates, yea, you would get a decent deal.
But it wouldn't be an *amazing* deal, ya know?
You have to wait for inventory clearance sales for that sort of thing.

Or hang out at FatWallet.com to see the pros in action.
:D

Mojo

[gristy]

5. I rarely shop at Walmart

JC Penny and Sears have all I need. Great stores.

[RC]

8. J. C. Penny, ok.

Sears, no. Used to work there. I learned how they did business. I was to honest to make a living there.

[MojoKrunch]

12. I found out just a few months ago that Sears now carries

cheaper Chinese made tools.
Amazing.

I bought a $12 set of *three* tin-snips after finding the little "cheap tools" display rather than the $20 *single* Craftsman tin-snip.
WTF?
Yea, the Craftsman set came with a lifetime warrenty, but I'm not going to be using these things *that* much.
It's almost like they've become a boutique tool dealer.
Unreal.

I have no idea how their hardware depts make money.

Mojo

[ikojo]

15. Sears may not have a good rep when it comes to clothes

but their reputation on appliances is a good one. The same with tools. It used to be that if one bought an appliance at Sears it was meant to last for many years.

Don't know what it is now.

FYI: I have a friend who has an ancestor who ordered his home from the Sears catalog back in the early 1900s. The home came to him and he built it according to the instructions. Cool.

[MojoKrunch]

7. I just say the "replay" of that on ESPN.

Amazing what the sheeple will do when confronting one another in the shearing chute, isn't it?

My girlfriend tried to do the 6am shopping thing and just as the last 50 people were in line to get the extra 15% off coupon from the department store, someone swiped the remaining coupons and everyone else was SOL.
With no management in the store so early, no one was there to do anything about it... people were pissed.
She wandered around the store for a while, just to see if there was something she wanted and was really taken with how crappy the deals were(she's a deal-sniffing machine) and realized just what a huge scam the entire day was.

It would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.

I only wish people took their political leaders, local and national, as seriously as they do their conspicious consumption.
That would be a refreshing change wouldn't it?
And all that effort to buy a little bit of transitory happiness.

Mojo

[RC]

10. Can I steal this for my posts too?

I only wish people took their political leaders, local and national, as seriously as they do their conspicious consumption. Mojo

Huh, Huh, can I? Huh, can I? :7

[ikojo]

17. Go ahead..you flatter me by wanting to use it...

As Jerry Garcia used to say when asked about allowing people to tape Grateful Dead concerts...he basically said that the words belonged to the fans after he was done singing....

Thanks for the compliment Mojo!

[liberalmuse]

11. I was one of the sheeple...

last year. I stood in line for 3 hours to get my friend a dvd player I could afford (39 bucks). Actually, this was the line just to pay for it. Luckily, I did not have to go into the crowd to get to the dvd players. They were all gone when I got to the store, but some kind person handed me one because they decided they didn't want it.

My friend has done many kind things for me, so I thought this was the least I could do since she really, really wanted a dvd player and was recovering from surgery and bed-ridden. Anyway, that is the one and only time I will ever be a part of the Black Friday rat race.

[ikojo]

13. An update to the trampled woman at Wal-Mart

Seems she was knocked down and trampled upon. As a result she went into seizures and had to be airlifted to a hospital.

Oy vey! I think the report said she was trying to buy a DVD player for her mom.

To think Radio Shack also had cheap DVD players but I doubt people trampled one another there.

[liberalmuse]

19. What a sad commentary.

I hope she makes a full recovery. It just isn't worth it! They have local news reports on this every year, and a couple years ago, a woman shopping at Wal-Mart recieved scratches that drew blood from another woman shopper (done on purpose) as they were reaching for the same item.

I haven't been in a Wal-Mart for years, but I remember feeling like cattle shopping there. What a grotesque set up. I'm not surprised the herd stampeded.

[BiggJawn]

14. Overheard: "I waited in line at BestBuy for THREE hours this morning..."

My comment: "how much is your time worth? I would have had to save at LEAST $75 to make it worth it to me...."

One mass-merchandiser was selling a PDA (not a fancy one, the "entry-level" Palm) for $40. I thought 1: The store is gonna be a madhouse...2: I'll bet they have 2 of the damn things and no "rain checks"...3: Do I really NEED the damn thing?

I stayed home.

[ikojo]

16. This is EXACTLY how I think of it...I don't get many days

off from my job (approx 11 paid holidays a year). The thought of getting up EARLY on a DAY OFF to SHOP...oy vey...it straightens my hair (and I have very curly hair).

Would these same people get up early to excercise their right and OBILIGATION to VOTE? I doubt it.

People have time to shop but when asked about voting or any political activity, they claim not to have time.

[liberalmuse]

22. You've made a good point there in your last sentence...

People will wait for hours in line at a crowded store to get a couple dollar discount on one item, but don't seem to find the time to wait 20 minutes or so every couple years in order to participate in their democracy. I think it's sad where our values lie. For instance, I'd much rather have someone make me a card or just do something nice like make me a cup of tea than have them punching it out with others at the local discount store for some soulless piece of plastic and metal.

[ikojo]

23. What else is sad about people claiming not to have time to vote

is that in many states, companies are required to GIVE three hours of paid time off for voting if one's work schedule is such that the polls are closed after one gets off of work.

I know there are many more complicated reasons people choose not to vote but claiming not to have time is lame in light of the planning that goes into shopping in this country.

[Peace_2_Everyone]

18. Around here it’s also called “blitz day”

Over the years I have heard of crazy greed driven actions on blitz day but with our troops in dieing daily this year seems harsher.
I heard it was crazy at the local Wal-Mart especially over those $29 DVD players that normally sell for $42! All this fuss for a $13 savings, on a product that was specially built for just this day.

I expect the failure rate on these units to be as high as last years blitz day Symphonic TVs. You can be assured the “deals” on next years blitz products are already in the works, and profit from quantity far exceeds any concern for quality of product.

Silly me I was worried about a terrorist attack on this very busy shopping day.

Here’s a link to the Woman Knocked unconscious at Wal-Mart (Orange City Florida)
http://www.local6.com/news/2670095/detail.html

[SheilaT]

20. My sister and I have a

short standing (last three or four years) tradition of going shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Yesterday she picked me up at 7:30am, we went to a locally owned place for breakfast, where her husband joined us and we ran into another friend, a man who owns a sewing machine dealership. Had a great time chatting and fueling up for the day.

Let's see, our shopping frenzy resulted in a sweater for me, a pair of shoes for her, some books for each of us from a new age bookstore, some jewelry for each of us (nothing expensive here, $5 and $10 items), a few other items for her daughters and a niece of ours,lunch at another locally owned place. Mostly we were having a good time being together, chatting about things that matter to us. We've both come to the point where we're really scaling back on Christmas. Our collective children are just about grown and there's no need for lots of stuff.

I'm not even going to decorate. I didn't last year, and everyone in this household was fine with it. We did a small exchange of gifts on Christmas morning, I fixed a nice dinner, and we just sat around and enjoyed ourselves.

I feel like we're doing the holiday on our terms, not the department stores' terms. We're not a religious family, but for the sincere and committed Christians out there, I suppose that shifting the emphasis to the religious meaning would be highly satisfying.

[BiggJawn]

21. My girlfriend has the same tradition...LONG standing, though...

Her, her mom and her sister used to get together around 5 AM, have breakfast, then hit the stores all day long, have lunch, dinner, "do stuff" and she gets home around 2AM the next morning.
This year, they didn't get started until late, her sister was an hour late, didn't want to go to anyplace except WalMart and the Mall, got into a "high-level" cel-phone conference with "the menfolk at home" about what TV set she was supposed to buy (they guys couldn't tear themselves away from the play-station or something and do their own shopping?)then the TV wouldn't fit in the car, so back home for the van ("can you get me another bag of chips while you're here?") and .....

Anyway, my GF gets home about 8PM, just crushed. Another "family tradition" down the tubes.....

Xmas, Bah, Humbug!