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Black Friday Thoughts - 11/28/2013 11:36:43 PM   
lloydirving


Posts: 35
Joined: 11/28/2013
Status: offline 		I can understand the idea of getting great deals. Black Friday if I remember correctly, was the last day for shops to sell as much inventory as they could so when they did their taxes, it would be as low as possible. It makes sense too, limited supplies, they drop it one day to maximize their sales, first come first served.

Many stores are now hoarding, and people are getting crazier. With Walmart and many places now making people work on Thanksgiving, it's frustrating. Like Paparazzi, I can't blame a business on bad practices, but on the consumers themselves. If people wouldn't do it, then businesses wouldn't do it. I miss hearing about the days when businesses closed on Sunday. All it took was one store realizing that people wanted to shop, and they all stayed open.

Just feel frustrated watching lines of people standing for hours waiting on an item. I rarely even want gifts anymore. Just time with the people I love. I am sure this has been reiterated time and time again over decades, just annoying.

Perhaps I am being to harsh, or not harsh enough. I can't say I'm a better person, but I'm a lot cozier right now at home wrapped in a blanket enjoying hot chocolate in a cabin in alaska instead of waiting outside Toys-R-us all night.

Just thoughts.
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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 6:52:29 AM   
MsMJAY


Posts: 515
Joined: 3/17/2013
Status: offline 		The black Friday victim reports are already pouring in. Instagram and FB are being lit up with video clips of people fighting and beating up each other to get to televisions, toasters and other bargains.

No you are not being too harsh. (just honest) Neither you nor I are better than any of those people. People simply want what they want. To some people it is important to get bargains. Some friends have actually told me they enjoy the excitement of shopping on black Friday. Its not that I don't love a good bargain. I am just not up to the fighting and stress that goes along with it. So I stay home where its safe and let the brave and the strong have the black Friday deals. If not for the violence it probably would be a lot of fun with that many people out shopping at one time.

I just hope no one gets shot or trampled to death this year.

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 7:57:30 AM   
njlauren


Posts: 1577
Joined: 10/1/2011
Status: offline 		Personally I find it mind boggling, but then again I have never been of that mindset that it is worth fighting for that 'incredible bargain'. To me it is kind of sad, to be honest, while I respect people's rights to do as they wish and I understand some people love the thrill of the chase or doing something different, I also find it a perversion in many ways, and not in a good way. The holiday season, whether religious or not, was supposed to be about a magical time of year, of getting together with people and celebrating and good tidings, it has been turned more and more into a season of angst over the right gift or making that incredible killing on black Friday. I think quite honestly it is pathetic stores open on Thanksgiving, I realize they are trying to extend the shopping season and make money, but I also think it is a sign of how much the mighty god of the dollar has taken over everything, or maybe it reflects desperation, that to make it they need to stay open as many days as possible to have hope of making it.

About the only thing I have been tempted to do was go to a local high end shopping mall (Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, etc) during this time and watch these women dressed in high end fashion, driving Benzes and Lexus SUV's, cat fighting over parking spaces, now that would be holiday entertainment...but I think I'll stick to "a Charlie Brown Christmas" and such and shed some tears and laughter, too:)

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 8:34:24 AM   
ChatteParfaitt


Posts: 6562
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From: The t'aint of the Midwest -- Indiana
Status: offline 		FR:

I refuse to shop on Black Friday, in person or online, in the grocery store or anywhere else.



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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 9:02:26 AM   
DesFIP


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From: Apple County NY
Status: offline 		If I get any energy I may go down to the farm market and buy some apples.

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 10:14:26 AM   
Missokyst


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I don't do black friday, or stockholders Thursday. Both my girls work retail so my holiday has also been postponed. I gotta say I saw the rampant consumerism coming decades ago. For the poor on a limited income it makes sense. I recall wishing I had done the black friday thing after paying well over full price to get my girls a certain item for xmas. On the friday deals it would have only been 20.00.. I ended up paying 150.00 each because I did not shop the deals. So, for people out buying it makes sense. And it makes sense for the wealthy end of the stockholder pile. The faster you open the faster they will shop. And you have an additional day to get the stubborn shopper.

But for me, it is just one more day of greed. I don't need to contribute to that.


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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 10:34:32 AM   
kiwisub12


Posts: 4742
Joined: 1/11/2006
Status: offline 		I flatly refused to shop Thanksgiving day. There is no bargain good enough to justify making people work.

and today, I went to Hancocks, a local fabric store to buy a floor and a table Ott light for $70 - and while I was there bought 16 yards of Kona cotton fabric to make a Hawaiian quilt, and some fabric in a colour chosen by my sweetie - so I have a colour base to work with for the quilt I shall make for him.

Best $200 I've spent in a while .

as for going anywhere near Walmart, Bass ProShop or the mall - not if god himself came down and commanded me. I refuse to even entertain the idea.

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 10:54:09 AM   
tammystarm


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Joined: 7/26/2006
Status: offline 		Arturas and I purchased all of Christmas at Amazon in five seconds at black Friday prices. Course I did "shop" Amazon for several weeks putting them in my shopping basket whenever I had a moment. "This is the only way to shop, he said as he clicked the checkout button after reviewing all the items. They will all be here by the 5th and ship for free! Walmart? Are they still open? :)

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 11:12:12 AM   
Arturas


Posts: 3245
Status: offline 		Yes! I love buying Christmas presents on Black Friday using just a remote control, my trusty wireless mouse! Xmas? Click! Done!

Arturas

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 11:21:16 AM   
kalikshama


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Joined: 8/8/2010
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quote:

On the friday deals it would have only been 20.00.. I ended up paying 150.00 each because I did not shop the deals.


Don't be so sure. Many of the crazy low prices advertised have only a few items per store and you'd only get it if you were willing to camp out in line for the store to open.

One Thanksgiving afternoon in Florida I saw people waiting in line for a Best Buy's midnight opening.
/smh/

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 11:24:37 AM   
kalikshama


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quote:

Black Friday if I remember correctly, was the last day for shops to sell as much inventory as they could so when they did their taxes, it would be as low as possible.


The second explanation is the one with which I am familiar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%28shopping%29

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.[5][6] Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975.

Later an alternative explanation was made: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss ("in the red") from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or "in the black".[5][7]

For large retail chains like Walmart, their net income is positive starting from January 1, and Black Friday can boost their year to date net profit from $14 billion to $19 billion.[citation needed]

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 12:30:41 PM   
LookieNoNookie


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Joined: 8/9/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: kalikshama

quote:

Black Friday if I remember correctly, was the last day for shops to sell as much inventory as they could so when they did their taxes, it would be as low as possible.


The second explanation is the one with which I am familiar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%28shopping%29

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.[5][6] Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975.

Later an alternative explanation was made: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss ("in the red") from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or "in the black".[5][7]

For large retail chains like Walmart, their net income is positive starting from January 1, and Black Friday can boost their year to date net profit from $14 billion to $19 billion.[citation needed]


Both of those are correct, the first one is more believable but, the concept did originate on the East Coast.

There's one other....most of the retail outlets start putting out goods on the floor about 2 weeks prior, wrapped in black plastic with signs "do not open until______"....but the police one has more logic behind it.

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 12:42:07 PM   
Marc2b


Posts: 6660
Joined: 8/7/2006
Status: offline 		Isn't in interesting (and kind of sad) that people are willing to spend three days camping out in freezing weather in order to get a good deal on a set of steak knives but howl with indignation at the thought of having to spend three hours on the computer in order to get health insurance?

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 1:13:49 PM   
subfever


Posts: 2895
Joined: 5/22/2004
Status: offline 		FR

Has anyone else noticed that Black Friday campers supporting the system are left alone by the authorities far more so than protest campers voicing opposition to the system?

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 1:47:46 PM   
OsideGirl


Posts: 14441
Joined: 7/1/2005
From: United States
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: kiwisub12

I flatly refused to shop Thanksgiving day. There is no bargain good enough to justify making people work.


So, we should also close down hotels, airlines, gas stations, etc....because there are a whole lot of people that work on Thanksgiving Day.

We did our usual, which was to go to Home Depot to get our tree and see if they have any interesting yard decorations. (We got Snoopy on his doghouse). We went to Coscto (which was pretty empty) to buy toilet paper, paper towels, coffee and a deep dish pizza. And a trip to Party City to get wall mural that looks like brick for our Santa house. Oh, and an iced latte from our local coffee house.

Tomorrow is small business Saturday and it's something I look forward to. Last year we found a shop that upcycles and got a killer wine stopper made from an old porcelain faucet handle.

A tidbit: In the travel industry, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is known as "Black Wednesday". It's the busiest travel day of the entire year and most hellacious day for us.


< Message edited by OsideGirl -- 11/29/2013 1:51:02 PM >

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 6:07:22 PM   
MistressDarkArt


Posts: 5178
Status: offline 		Huck gets restless and likes to keep moving, so he braved Target last night for a $200 40" TV that would have been perfect for my living room while I finished digesting my turkey and kept the home fires burning. He texted me a pic of the line going around the building and I said, 'don't bother' but he was on a mission. Of course by the time he got inside, there were none left and he walked out empty handed. He said everyone was very polite and well-behaved.

Today we went to our local Ace Hardware for a super-duper drill on sale. Again, everyone relaxed and casual. Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday and we will support our local retailers. Everybody got a piece of our pie, except Target, who doesn't need it. I got a huge list of honey-do's knocked off with that drill, and Huck got drilled as a sincere thank you for his service.

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 6:24:47 PM   
Shininglight23


Posts: 1336
Status: offline 		My thoughts on Black Friday...



In all honesty...I'm not opposed to people shopping on Black Friday and I don't feel sympathy for people who work it... I just don't like to partake in it.

Allie

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 7:05:33 PM   
Moonlightmaddnes


Posts: 958
Joined: 6/4/2012
Status: offline 		It can get nuts but I think mostly people are just fine. I have braved the insanity before and while crowded people were as polite as usual just more of them.

My husband has to get up insanely early on Friday and go in, he is a manager at Lowes and black Friday is a mandatory work day for everyone.

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 7:47:08 PM   
LittleGirlHeart


Posts: 1427
Joined: 4/4/2013
Status: offline 		I refuse to do black friday. my mom was saying well maybe we could go to the mall after thanksgiving, cuz i do wanna go back to the mall, and we didn't know when we could do it and i was like nooooooooooooooooo you do not , not not not wanna be anywhere near the malls and popular shops on black friday.

i will do it online if i have money.


That being said, I do not care if any one else wants to. it's not my place.

< Message edited by LittleGirlHeart -- 11/29/2013 8:06:55 PM >

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RE: Black Friday Thoughts - 11/29/2013 8:02:48 PM   
LadyPact


Posts: 32566
Status: offline 		Well, I'll be damned.

First, welcome to the boards, fellow Alaskan. It does get mighty cold up here, and black Friday or not, I spent My own time today curled up under a blanket watching a movie. Selfish of Me, perhaps, but I actually shopped for most of the family before the Thanksgiving holiday, when the temperatures were still above freezing. As for the rest, I'll be quite content to finish in December, looking at the Christmas lights as I go by.


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