That’s some “cite” you have there. Oooh a wiki, and a pretty poor one, at that. “Throughout history” only comprises 1872-present? Umm, OK. Then there’s the BIG RED ! “The inclusion or exclusion of items from this list, or length of this list is disputed.”
Maybe you should stick to your “Me too” posts; they’re quicker to skip over. Thanks.
Hell, why do you think it’s absurd? You’ve never worked retail, have you?
Good job. Nothing ever changes.
My first Christmas wish this year: May no one in this thread die such a pointless death. I’d expand it to “no one in the world” but I know that’s a lost cause.
Why would they be reluctant, though? It seems to me that it would be simple to determine high crime areas may need more security. Just on any given day, really.
As for stampedes, I don’t know if they could have predicted where that would have most likely taken place, due to the fact that stampedes don’t really tend to follow any pattern as far as where it is more likely to happen. Or do they?
Anyways, regarding BrainGlutton’s comment, I don’t really find this situation funny, because it just didn’t have the elements to tickle my funny bone. But I do not bar any topic at all from laughter. I may internalize that laughter in certain circumstances, but I find it weird that folks would judge others for finding humor in tragic situations.
It reminds me of how David Letterman got all mad at Howard Stern for cracking 9-11 jokes on the late show soon after the buildings came down in NY. Then, maybe some months later, I noticed that later Dave himself was cracking jokes! Is he alone the captain of when enough time has passed to make jokes about a tragedy?
Had I a working scanner I could link you to a Buster Brown comic from ~1904 of just such a thing but, alas, I do not.
Interesting take. I suppose there is no direct arbiter of “how long is long enough to make fun of people dying in a tragedy”, but for me, generally speaking, there’s at least a day or two of “if you can’t say something nice” before you resort to that.
But whatever. I find black humor quite funny too, but in this particular instance, against the background of where my country of America is at this point in time…I found it far more disturbing and relevant than funny.
But that’s just me.
Just a minor quibble with an otherwise helpful and interesting post, but I think it’s more accurate to say that the day after Thanksgiving has come to be known as “Black Friday” because retailers would have us believe that it was coined for the reason you mentioned. There’s no doubt that the “black ink” explanation is the most commonly understood by U.S. consumers familiar with the term, but the likely (and more logical) origin of the expression (used with reference to that Friday after Thanksgiving) in fact lies elsewhere.
– Tammi Terrell
This is the reason I try to avoid shopping at all after Thanksgiving- crazy mobs, traffic, and stupid greedy people. What I don’t understand is that this year, there was nothing ‘new’ out like Wii or PS3, and everything you could buy in the store on black Friday was available online (most with free delivery or in-store pickup) on Thanksgiving Day for the same price!
I’ve always assumed that the name was an ironic take on Black Tuesday/Monday/Thursday–a day of dread and fear.
Isn’t there an episode of I Love Lucy which has her battling over something like gloves during the Christmas shopping season? (I know I’ve seen that in a B&W movie/TV show from that era.)
Another commercial for them says, “we’re opening more aisles to make your shopping better or easier” or some such. (these are the 30 second bits online before episodes of House).
I can’t help but find them loaded at present.
Which makes me realize that it would’ve been more accurate of me to indicate instead that the “black ink” explanation has been the most commonly offered (e.g., by business writers, industry analysts, and retail representatives) whenever discussions of the origin of the term crop up in the popular press. (I’d like to think that more of us appreciate the “ironic take” of the moniker, but I do suspect that many U.S. consumers who’ve heard the phrase have probably already bought into the “back in the black” explanation.)
– Tammi Terrell
Give him a break. After all, he is a Cubs Fan, and they are not very bright to begin with.
I will say that “Black Friday” is always jarring to me because I associate such phrasing with “Black Tuesday” referring to the stock market crash in 1929.
But then I’m old enough to have seen I Love Lucy on its original run.
I think I harped on the wording too much when what I wanted to emphasize was Walmart’s overall attitude to these types of promotions. They seem to want to incite this frenzy of shopping by the way they promote it and by not taking any measures to control it. They could have handed out tickets for the front page items so that getting in first would not help you at all with those items. They could keep the store open all night and still have the advertised 5 AM sale; at the very least, there wouldn’t be the entrance stampede. They could have hired uniformed police officers to be on hand at the high-risk branches, which is something many nightclubs have been doing for as long as I can remember.
I’m not really saying Walmart should be held liable for this man’s death, but that they have failed in their responsibility to some degree. Yes, handing out tickets will mean that fewer people stick around for hours for the opening, which means fewer impulse buys and less profits, but it’s what a responsible company should do, especially when you know that a couple thousand people will be massing at your doors; that’s just common sense. Blame the fuckers who trampled the man to death, but also blame Walmart (albeit, quite a bit less) for being too cheap or foolish to implement better precautionary measures.
About the “blitz” thing-- Up until this year, and for at least 15 years back, all merchandise meant for sale on the day after Thanksgiving was marked “BLITZ” on it’s shipping label. This was done so it could be easily sorted from other freight that might come in on the same trailer, stuff that should be on the salesfloor right away.
Oddly, there are a lot of American Football terms used in the retail world with different meanings than the game. “Full zone defense” refers to picking shit up and putting it back where it goes on the shelf, for instance…
This year at Wal*Mart, blitz merchandise was actually shipped with a code phrase instead. Any package that came in with “HAPPYFEET08” or “PENGUINS” was meant for the Friday sale.
Yeah, we know.
Whoever the bozo who posted that sign was, they screwed up. “The line for our advertised sale items begins here.” is clearly what was meant.
I don’t think the crowd was really into reading signs when it went all went kerfuck, though.
Because nobody likes to be accused of racism.
Was that article just written for this news? Way to skip the actual topic of stampedes to rush into human stampedes. Here is the entry for elephants from the same author:
Nice potshot at Carol. Well played. You might still get your ass handed to you in a paper bag, but nice.
not only note the date but the opening “The bargain-counter rush has **long **been the subject of comedy”
I am not sure I am getting the reference in that article. They say it is because of the increased traffic, but why “black” Friday? Traffic left more smoke and soot, then? Black snow? Most customers were black in early 20C Philadelphia? Or just a general reference to the headache inducing rush?
ETA: And on the BrainGlutton humor thing. You may have found it funny, but you should have also read the general mood of the responders so far and known it wasn’t going to stick. Had it been an ugly flower-hat-wearing old lady that umbrellaed her way to the front of the line and then got trampled, I would have found it hilarious. An employee (a temp!), not funny at all.
Yeah, like if you were killed while hundreds of people stood around doing nothing. In your case, that might be funny. Stupid fucking dickhead asshole slapnut waste of skin that you seem to be…
It’s amazing that Carol Stream and I could agree on anything. That’s how awful you are, BG