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Violence mars Black Friday

I'm not gonna be a hypocrite. Technically I did buy something on black Friday. I went over to a employee owned store in a nearby smalltown and bought an item that was $10.00 less than it nomally is (something we needed).

The nearest outlet center had and estimated attendance of 60,000 and jammed up the nearby interstate. That's fine for people who don't mind the crowds. I don't think there was any violence there and I hope it stimulated the economy. Tommorrow we plan to attend the Ducks/Beavers civil war football game. Similar traffic jams and crowd size are expected there. I hope the crowd's not violent there either. We'll see. Crazed glazed eyed soccer moms and beered up football fans have their similarities, LOL. :lol:
 
Yes - snuggling together for warmth and sharing good laughter and company one second . . . and trampling and pepper spraying each other the next.

Seems to me that things are fine until they enter the storefront. Maybe they should just have a national camp-out for charity and spare the violence and drama. :)
 
Wow. Such a damn shock. Not:roll: Black Friday is proof that people in general suck and care more about stuff then their fellow mankind:( I also think anybody that goes out in this madness each year are nuts.
 
Fiddytree said:
While tragic, out of how many millions partaking in the event?
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The thuggery didn't occur in only one burg; it occurred in several. Not mine, at least so far as I know after reading the local news online, and I guess not in yours, insofar as you know. But I don't think this is the main point.
 
nota bene said:
The thuggery didn't occur in only one burg; it occurred in several. Not mine, at least so far as I know after reading the local news online, and I guess not in yours, insofar as you know. But I don't think this is the main point.
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That despite it being a great moment in the marketplace, during one of the best moments of the year, people become brutish thugs. I understand the point. I just find it horribly overstated and distorted considering the opportunity it affords families and friends. Then that some throw out the banner of materialism, as if they live that banal of an existence. Hogwash.
 
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Fiddytree said:
That despite it being a great moment in the marketplace, during one of the best moments of the year, people become brutish thugs. I understand the point. I just find it horribly overstated and distorted considering the opportunity it affords families and friends. Then that some throw out the banner of materialism, as if they live that banal of an existence. Hogwash.
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Well, apparently some do live that banal of an existence. Doesn't excuse the individual choice to be a thug--to attempt to take by violence what isn't yours out of some selfish notion that you are somehow more "deserving" than others and that your criminal ( or only boorish) behavior is somehow justified. It isn't.
 
Fiddytree said:
While tragic, out of how many millions partaking in the event?
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Don't you think this madness must stop at some point? It is every damn year. Enough is enough. But of course you are happy cause you got your goods without being tramped to DEATH! Enjoy your crap.
 
Risky Thicket said:
This is nothing but the lowest form of life. Pure and total human trash. It's embarrassing that the rest of the world sees this, but it is a large part of what America is these days.

I am sick and tired of seeing videos of gangs of kids fighting, of women fighting. I don't know people like that. I never have. How can anyone have so little respect for themselves to be involved in any of this crap? I truly do not understand it. But, hey that's America, all about the bling.
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There were always people like that...that have been doing the same things forever...whats changed is, there are cameras everywhere now and everyone has a cellphone and some carry two and 3 of them. Cops have always seen this kind of thing
 
Fiddytree said:
I stood around and conversed with nice people for two hours while in Best Buy, even though incredibly crowded. A ton of please and thank you's were exchanged, even though you could hardly move in the store. Smiles galore. Walmart was pleasant as hell. Not a peep here. All is quiet on the Northern front. We are pleasant folk. Thank you corporate America for providing a better leisurely lifestyle for me and my family.
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I didn't do any shopping, but you make a good point: the 99.9% of sales and events that went off without a hitch aren't exactly newsworthy. Just remember: even if you're one in a million, there's 1,200 people just like you in China. In an America with 152 million shoppers on Black Friday, even an incident rate of 0.01% would yield 15,000 events.
 
Risky Thicket said:
America is perhaps the only country on earth that lives to work rather than works to live. "Leisurely" is a fallacy except for a very few. But Corpgov is not doubt most pleased that you still buy into that leisurely load of caca.
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I guess you have never been to taiwan if you believe the US is the only country that is like that. Many people here think Americans are lazy.
 
I am completly disgusted with the commercialization of the holidays, especially Christmas. Are we truly just gauging our thankfulness of our friends, family and loved ones on how much we get them? And now Christmas decorations, songs, movies etc etc are now on and up BEFORE thanksgiving even?? As far as adults are concerned, its pretty damn hard to find that special thinking of you gift at midnight with a 50% off that the mobs are pepper spraying each other to get to. Or maybe its now what we have to go thru to get it is how we gauge how much someone means to us??
 
Kali said:
Don't you think this madness must stop at some point? It is every damn year. Enough is enough. But of course you are happy cause you got your goods without being tramped to DEATH! Enjoy your crap.
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I will enjoy my crap very much, especially when I give it to people who wanted something to ease their troubles.
 
Kali said:
Don't you think this madness must stop at some point? It is every damn year. Enough is enough. But of course you are happy cause you got your goods without being tramped to DEATH! Enjoy your crap.
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How would you stop it?
 
pbrauer said:
This is what corporate America has wrought.
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No, it's what consumers have wrought. Nobody would be selling like this if people weren't buying.
 
Josie said:
How would you stop it?
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I've often wondered why stores don't say:

62" TV's $2.00 -- two every hour by lottery from 4 AM to closing. Must be present to purchase.
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...or some-such. The idea that their store policies are causing people to riot...to get trampled...to pepper spray :)rofl) is really over the top, imo.
 
This rampant materialism is one reason that after our kids were grown and on their own, we stopped doing the Christmas thing. Our kids and grandkids lived all over the country, so every year I had to get dozens upon dozens of gifts purchased, packaged and mailed. It cost a small fortune, we weren't getting any younger, and one day we realized that out of 50 gifts we'd sent, we only got one thank you. We rarely got any gifts in return, although that didn't bother us much. It was the lack of appreciation and the fact that we were expected to jump through these hoops that got to us. So we stopped.

It really was a relief. Husby and I don't exchange gifts either. What's the point? He knows what he needs and what he wants throughout the year, and he buys it. Same with me. No need to get all histrionic with guessing games that turn out to be Boxing Day returns. It has been decades since we did anything to celebrate Christmas beyond put up a pretty tree and drive around with friends to look at Christmas lights. We're much happier now that we're out of the "Christmas stuff, your-gift-was-better-than-my-gift" business. :)
 
Fiddytree said:
I will enjoy my crap very much, especially when I give it to people who wanted something to ease their troubles.
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I'm with you on this Fiddy even though I didn't go Black Friday shopping. I love to give at Christmas. I love to find "something to ease their troubles" or that makes a child smile. It makes the time, effort and lines at the store worth it.
 
Yeah.. I am sure the family of this man thinks it was worth it. Not.


"Family and friends were stunned by the loss of a West Virginia man who died while shopping on Black Friday as fellow bargain hunters reportedly walked around — and even over — the man’s body. "
U.S. News - Report: Shoppers unfazed as man dies at Target


I also wanna say that a lot of this stuff ends up on E-Bay. Not all of these folks are there in hopes of snagging a toy for their little kids. Lots of these greedy shoppers go just to try to get the hottest toy of the year that sell out and what do they do with it? They slap those suckers up on E-bay for jacked up prices cause they know some parents will pay the higher prices when they cannot find these items in stores. :(
 
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Kali said:
Yeah.. I am sure the family of this man thinks it was worth it. Not.


"Family and friends were stunned by the loss of a West Virginia man who died while shopping on Black Friday as fellow bargain hunters reportedly walked around — and even over — the man’s body. "
U.S. News - Report: Shoppers unfazed as man dies at Target
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Kali, I understand the point you are making. Crowds can bring out the worst in people and sometimes the best, but, as with the OWS protests, I cannot allow a handful of bad incidents to color the event.
 
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Gina said:
I'm with you on this Fiddy even though I didn't go Black Friday shopping. I love to give at Christmas. I love to find "something to ease their troubles" or that makes a child smile. It makes the time, effort and lines at the store worth it.
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I agree with this. One of my very favorite parts of the holiday season is selecting "angels" whose parents might not have enough money for Christmas and finding gifts for them. I do this for some of my students throughout the year, but there's just something special about Christmas day opening up a present that you never thought you could have. I was a kid like that once, so I want to give as much as I can now that I have more than I ever had before.
 
Kali said:
Yeah.. I am sure the family of this man thinks it was worth it. Not.


"Family and friends were stunned by the loss of a West Virginia man who died while shopping on Black Friday as fellow bargain hunters reportedly walked around — and even over — the man’s body. "
U.S. News - Report: Shoppers unfazed as man dies at Target


I also wanna say that a lot of this stuff ends up on E-Bay. Not all of these folks are there in hopes of snagging a toy for their little kids. Lots of these greedy shoppers go just to try to get the hottest toy of the year that sell out and what do they do with it? They slap those suckers up on E-bay for jacked up prices cause they know some parents will pay the higher prices when they cannot find these items in stores. :(
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What is your solution to this problem?
 
Kali said:
Yeah.. I am sure the family of this man thinks it was worth it. Not.


"Family and friends were stunned by the loss of a West Virginia man who died while shopping on Black Friday as fellow bargain hunters reportedly walked around — and even over — the man’s body. "
U.S. News - Report: Shoppers unfazed as man dies at Target


I also wanna say that a lot of this stuff ends up on E-Bay. Not all of these folks are there in hopes of snagging a toy for their little kids. Lots of these greedy shoppers go just to try to get the hottest toy of the year that sell out and what do they do with it? They slap those suckers up on E-bay for jacked up prices cause they know some parents will pay the higher prices when they cannot find these items in stores. :(
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Do you want to discount the happiness it might bring to countless families in rough times such as these? Gifts that come cheap and deliver happiness to children, parents, relatives, and friends is well worth the lines and the sometimes bitter cold.

The loss of life is immensely tragic. The beating and mugging of shoppers is heartless and brutal. But for every one of those instances, there are many more times pleasant transactions, and plenty more smiling faces and tender hearts.
 
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