Capitalists gone wild! - OR - Never. EVER. again. (long)

The BBQ Pit
21

Wait a minute, how can you not have these in Britain? We’ve had that in Norway for 12 years at least. (Which is to say: they were around when I moved here, and that was 12 years ago.) Is there some sort of Technology-Proof Barrier across the North Sea somewhere? :confused:

The bad news for me is, I’m working retail this Christmas. (Yeah, I know, they didn’t draft me, I volunteered.) The good news is, we don’t have any equivalent to Black Friday here, so I only have to dread the last few days before Christmas. :eek: (And it’s in a curtain department, so it’s not like I’ll be dealing with fights over the last LoTR DVD…)

22

I’m wondering, after hearing about the no less than 3 fist fights that broke out at the local wal-mart, how long it’s going to be before someone gets killed.

I know that if I had things in my hands, and someone tried to grab them from me, I would break their wrist. That kind of rudeness is inexcusable.

23

In Britain, we can pay with our ATM card at the checkout, and have done so for ooh, 15 years or so.

However, we don’t have to key in our PIN. We just sign on the line.

France, on the other hand, has had the “key in your PIN on a little keypad” system for at least 10 years.

24

At many U.S. points of sale, you may do it either way: PIN or sign.

25

Happy Buy-Nothing Day!

26

Capitalists gone wild! Don’t miss the FOX special! People waiting in line for hours just to save pennies! Women get into catfights over the last pair of pantyhose! A guy goes berserk when the item he was looking for is not available! And the owners of the store laugh all the way to the bank! All this and more tonight in Capitalists gone wild! Only on FOX.

27

My SILs and my MIL went out yesterday. It was the first time we’d ever done it.

We got up at 4a, met at the house at 5a, and went on our way, headed to the 24 hour Wal-Mart. On the way we passed Toys R Us where the line was through the parking lot to the end of the road. There were a couple of cop cars there, I guess to keep everything in order.

We went into Wal-Mart, and I saw groups of people crowding in the aisles. I wondered if they were keeping certain parts of the store off limits until 6a, until I realized they were huddled around pallets of computers and DVD/VCR players and TV/VCR units and basketball hoops. The clerks were standing near the pallets, yelling at those who attempted to take the computers off before 6. I grabbed a couple of pairs of jeans for my son, backed away from the mob quickly, and found the girls I was shopping with and we stood at a safe distance, watching the mob. At 6a the plastic wrapping came off and pandemonium ensued. It was hilarious to watch. There was even a fist fight over in near the video games…I don’t know how that was resolved.

Then we headed to Big Lots, nice and quiet. Then on the the mall, where one women tried to cut ahead of us in line at the register at Sears. She grumbled profanities at the long wait as we pointed behind us, and I joked with the woman in front of us that if someone was stupid enough to go out shopping that day, they would have to be civil, remember the reason for the season, and have patience.

On to a nice lunch at Red Lobster, then to Target, but by then the mayhem was over. All in all we had a blast, and at one point I was laughing so hard I couldn’t walk and fell to my knees in the parking lot.

Tips we learned:

Borrow our husbands’ walkie talkies so we can talk to each other if we get separated.

Realize nothing is worth fighting a mob.

Go with someone you love and that you are friends with.

Get an early start, and don’t be afraid to have liquor at lunch.

28

Avalonion, I heard this story almost verbatim last night. A friend of mine went through the exact same thing at Best Buy yesterday morning as well.

There must be something about Toy Story 2. That was the one he had trouble finding as well. His words to describe the DVD bins was “like pigs at the trough”. Somebody found a copy for him, and then he found one for a lady who couldn’t find a spot at the bins. He swore he’d never do it again.

Afterwards, he went to Sears and said it was an absolute ghost town. Weird.

29

As Tansu said - we have always (it seems like always) been able to use our cards at stores - what I was surprised at was the way they are used in America - In britain we sign a little piece of paper, and the cashier deducts the money directly from our account.

30

Well, that’s what I usually do… I had heard about the nightmarish day-after-Thanksgiving shoppers, but never experienced them firsthand. It’s really something that can’t be fully understood until you just do it. Lesson learned, believe you me.

Lady Ice - I’m glad I’m not the only one who experiencced that. “Pigs at the trough” is the perfect metaphor for what I saw.

To be fair, last night wasn’t nearly so bad. Our elder daughters were at a slumber party, so we went out to dinner. We stopped by Toys ‘R’ Us first, to fill a couple of their requests. Toys ‘R’ Us was nearly dead (this was late evening), and the restaurant we went to was almost completely dead, which was a shock for a Friday night. Rather nice evening, especially as compared to the morning.

Lobsang and Tansu, in the US it’s about 50/50, depending on the store. Many stores still use the signature method, while others use PIN numbers for authorization. A few use both. :rolleyes: Best Buy has these ridiculous digital keypads that you have to press with a digital pen. They’re always finicky things. They either don’t work, or they’re too sensitive and punch in double numbers. A usability nightmare.

ivylass - I’m SO glad I didn’t go to Wal-Mart. Yeesh.

31

That has actually happened up here. It wasn’t connected to the shopping madhouse but it did happen in WEM on our Mad Shopping Day [sup]tm[/sup] known as Boxing Day. The day after Christmas. This is the best link to it that I’ve found.

It was shocking to hear of.

Personally I usually avoid the mad rush of Boxing Day as I never have any money to spend that day anyway. Or if I do go out it’s to spend my gift certificates and get as best a deal as I can to get the most out of them.

I remember last year I think it was I went to one of the smaller malls (no way was I going to brave WEM. My brother braves it every year though, but he’s a tough kid. Who strangely enough likes shopping, or at least is a bit of a mall rat). It wasn’t too bad at the mall I went to but still a bit of a madhouse. I got hungry so I ended up in the foodcourt (now THAT was insane!) and sitting there enjoying my meal all of a sudden there was this huge crash and the whole food court goes silent. Next thing that registers is some guy dressed in ratty clothing is standing up and yelling something about Jesus and capitalist pigs. He apparently tossed over a table to get everyone’s attention. Well it worked. Security ushered him out of there pretty quick.

32

See, here is one area in which it is a GOOD thing to be fairly poor, with low cash flow.
My Christmas shopping depends on my holiday tips, which roll in anywhere from Dec 1-Jan15, usually. I tell my kids they have a choice: a few presents NEAR Christmas (they go to their dad’s, so we have to celebrate early), or a lot of presents a week or so AFTER Christmas, when I can take advantage of post-season sales. They’re smart boys who understand how sales work, so they inevitably go for the after-season deals.
Since they don’t get home until the beginning of January, I can put off my shopping for a couple of weeks, get some good deals after the Dec. 27 rush, and have a nice, calm, quiet, gift exchange.
I delivered papers near the mall at 5a.m. on Black Friday, and there were cars in the lot already. [shudders]

33

Hello? amazon.com? Helloooooo!?!? Come on people!

34

LOBSANG, here in the States the procedure is different depending on whether you’re using a credit card or a debit card – debit card, key in your PIN just like an ATM; credit card, sign the slip. I have a card that can be used either way and I usually do the debit thing as it’s slightly faster.

And I’d poke my eyes out with a fork before I’d go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I love love love Christmas, and nothing wrecks the spirit of the season more quickly for me than the slightly-hysterical over-crowden grabby-ness the OP’er experienced. I’m with STOID – and how often does that happen? – I’d rather pay full price and keep my dignity, temper, and good mood.

But Happy Christmas season, y’all! I’m writing Christmas cards today. :slight_smile:

35

I braved Best Buy-atch a few years ago on Black Friday, when they had every single CD in the store on sale for $9.99. I got there shortly after the doors had opened at 7:00 AM and the crowd was already inside.

They had a particularly good deal on a DVD player, a $160 player for $79 or something like that. People were lined up for them at 3:30, so they came out and sold vouchers for them to keep them from sitting there all night. Problem was, they miscounted their players, and sold way too many vouchers; they had to give out some way more expensive DVD players (like $220) for the same price.

I shopped for maybe an hour and then stood in line with my stack o’ CDs (Christmas shopping for others? Pshaw.) for an hour and 45 minutes waiting to check out. It was actually kind of cool, since the line was made up of me and every other music geek in Lexington, so we compared purchases and traded concert stories the whole time. The line snaked through the music section, so we continued to shop as we waited.

One woman behind us was just LIVID. She just couldn’t BELIEVE this store, and how crowded it was, and why they didn’t open more lines (they were all open!), and why were all these people out, blah blah blah…she would not shut up about it. I finally looked back at her and said, “What the hell did you expect, exactly? Did you think you’d walk in, pick up your six copies of the new Backstreet Boys album, and waltz out through the express line?” She admitted that I had a point, and she actually shut up.

Bottom line: shopping on Black Friday can be fun, in the same way that a mosh pit can be fun. Anyone who expects to get any serious shopping done that day either lives in a cave or is an idiot.

(BB did have a fantastic deal on a KitchenAid mixer that I would like to have picked up for my mom, but I lacked the time, the energy, and the cattle prod to go get her one.)

Dr. J

36

Yesterday was my first time at the after Thanksgiving shopping. Also at Best Buy. I got there at twenty after five and was 70th or so in line. There must have been 600 or so by the time it opened. God, what a hoot. I can hardly wait for next year.

I glommed on to an 80 Gig hard drive, 245 Meg of ram, a 48X CD-RW, and 150 blank CDs for $60.

It was a mad house alright but I found the whole thing to be an amazing bit of previously unknown and unexperienced Americana.

The only downer was when a few jerks crowded to the head of the line when the door opened.

37

I actually had a good experience shopping the day after Thanksgiving. However, it was 12 years or so ago.

My dad and I were living in Iowa. We drove to the nearest Amtrack station, and took a train into Chicago. Then we went to Marshall Fields–mostly window shopping, but I think we did buy some gifts. All-in-all, it was a great day. I haven’t been shopping on “Black Friday” since.

38

Dear God, what possessed me to go to Walmart? Oh, yeah, a 27 inch panasonic TV for $150. It’s Jaime’s Christmas Present (and after the shit I went through today, his only Christmas Present.)
First, he wasn’t with me because he went to work (He agreed because hey, 1/2 day work, full day pay. Not bad.) So I went to Walmart just to see if there were any TVs left. There were. So I find a cart and pay for the TV…and oh, the story is so much longer. It took me 20 mins to find a cart, another ten to the get the TV and what happened next was beyong my worst nightmare… Suffice to say, if I nice lady with 2 daughters and an SUV hadn’t had stopped to help me, I’d still be stranded in the Parking Lot, staring at the car and the TV and crying.
Fortunately though, sometimes you can rely on the kindness of strangers.
Never again though, never again.

39

Personally - I LOOOVE shopping on Boxing Day (I’m in Canada too - no Black Friday).

The throngs of people. The fabulous deals. The adrenaline surge of a fabulous buy. I love, love LOVE it.

Ahhhh. I’m such a consumer.

40

Avalonian, I read through your OP and I didn’t find anything all that horrific. Basically you had a ton of people that all had the same idea you had: go shopping at Best Buy really early in the morning.
You found out there were lines to get into the store. Why? Because everyone had the same idea you had. It’s not a concert or LOTR, you said. Yet you got in line anyway. Why? You wanted those deals. Yet you seemed surprised others were of like mentality.
You found people hovering around a DVD bin. You compared them to animals. Yet you picked something out from that exact same bin. Sure, you found it right away which meant you didn’t have to waste time scrounging, but had you not, perhaps you too would have rooted through there looking for a deal. That others did only says one thing: they had the same idea you did.
Then you complain about the lines to checkout. You didn’t see all the people in line to get to the store? You didn’t see all the people picking things up at the store? You just decided that short lines were par for the course and ignored them. Then you got confused as to why the lines were long. Well I can answer why: everyone saw the short lines and…well…had the same idea you did.

Perhaps there was punching and shoving and yelling and cursing and someone opening fire with an AK-47 that, but I didn’t see any of that included. I just saw a rather tame result of what happens when too many people try to shop at the same time. Why did it happen? Again, all looking for bargains. All having the exact same idea you did.

This wasn’t an example of capitalism gone wild. It’s just capitalism, plain and simple.