Ok is violence at Black Friday increasing

[nadinbrzezinski]

or is this just increased reporting? It seems to me that it is up from last year. I mean brawls, fights, guns and food cond... er pepper spray.

If it is going up, and not just increased reporting... it is not good.

If this is just more reporting... well, we have been trained well.

[krispos42]

1. I'd like to note...

...that the RW raises a hue and cry about how much the OWS activists are costing cities, but don't seem to care a whit about how much these insane Black Friday and Gray Thursday sales costs cities in terms of extra law enforcement and court costs.

You see, the insane shopper riots make corporations richer, so OF COURSE it's okay for those costs to be carried by the cities.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Yup we noted that yesterday

it is ok to camp out at Fry's, but not ok to demand a better society.

[krispos42]

9. Also true! n/t

[NYC_SKP]

3. Yes.

Peoples' very presence at these events is largely a manifestation of a form of mass-hysteria (with apologies for the association that can be drawn from the root word for "hysteria").

What else can explain why people would go on the most crowded and dangerous day of the year to fight huge crowds and no parking and long lines just to buy a lot of electronic shit like xBoxes and big screen teevees that they'll use to further self-hynotise into an ever deepening state of shopping zombie-hood?

:shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Well I needed to go pick up

a replacement handle for the bathroom... and to my shock and surprise the parking lot was half empty and I could not tell if this was black friday.

Now driving by the mall though... CRAZEE

[NYC_SKP]

7. I might go by my local family-owned Ace Hardware to pick up something.

I can't think of anything I need, but just as a statement of support for Charlie and son Mike.

A dying breed.

:cry:

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Yup I think it is going up

[johnd83]

6. As a country we are addicted to status symbols

which these days is cheap crap made in China. Until we break that mentality there is not much that can be done about wall street.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Well there is that... but that is a social animal thing

it is we need to change the status symbols from X-Boxes and DVDs to... other things... and I am at a loss as to how.

[johnd83]

13. I am not really sure how either

A start would be to stop worshiping celebrities. I don't think they are really any happier than middle class people.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. no they are not

[Broderick]

10. It's indicative of the consumer nation we have become in my opinion

Everyone wants what they think everyone else has, and the energy spent getting it seems to be becoming more and more. I don't participate in the folly of Black Friday, and its limited lost leaders driving hysteria and angst for those whipped up by having "things". This is not, in my opinion again, because of needs. This is merely because of wants. It is not driven by economic disparity, but more from media driven commercialism and greed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Alas this is also pushed as national policy

When this period of US history is over, I am betting our descendants will shake their heads in desbelief

[Broderick]

14. You got that right about it being national policy

The media stories have created a genuine positive build up to the "black friday" commercialism even. It is hailed as a lexicon of American values in a positive light. Consumerism and greed are celebrated. Heck, one could include the whole Christmas phenomenon into it.

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. "Shop as usuall...and no panic buying." -negativland

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Hubby and I were joking about Tasers

and bam, MSNBC has a story involving them too...

So far all incidents at wally worlds... I guess riot gear is the appropriate clothing for wallmart shoppers.

[Missy Vixen]

17. The retailers must believe it adds that extra amount of "adventure" to the shopping experience

At this point, the only people who think sleeping outside for days in front of Best Buy or showing up at 10 PM on Thanksgiving night for a $10 coffee maker are those who either can't afford gifts any other way, or those who think they're seen as "winning" by getting something the cheapest.

Today's reports are especially alarming, at least to me. Fifteen people pepper sprayed by another shopper. A grandfather trying to help his grandson, in the midst of being trampled, thrown to a cement floor by cops because he stuck a video game in the waistband of his pants to get a hand free. This stuff isn't funny. One would think after the trampling death a couple of years back at a Wal-Mart, they'd take security and their business practices a little more seriously, but it doesn't seem to help. The resulting damage award must not have been big enough. Maybe Wal-Mart thinks it's a fraction of their profits, so they don't give a shit.

I had a meeting this morning at a local business. I drove past Bellevue Square, the busiest (and most luxurious,) mall in Western Washington at 10 a.m. I expected a traffic nightmare. THERE WAS NO LINE AT ALL in front of the parking structures, and very little traffic, period. If I were a retailer right now, that would scare the hell out of me. Bellevue is full of well-heeled shoppers - in other words, they're either not interested, or Buy Nothing Day is working better than anyone dreamed.

The only way Black Friday will change is when shoppers decide they've had enough of retailers who think their safety is an afterthought to a "bargain", IMHO.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Or go shopping in this get up

Sans police of course.