Well I did it, Black Friday I mean.....

[gimmethesimplelife]

This year I did something I have never done before - I went to an opening of a store at midnight Friday night for it's Black Friday sale. (Target) I went with the idea of getting a set of Corelle dishes for my mom whose been wanting a set, and the four season of Mad Men (on sale for 7.99, absolutely incredible). I went with our tenant who has a car, and we arrived right as the place opened, it was amazing to me how long the line was. We left for twenty minutes, and when we came back, the line was gone, absorbed into the store, and I very quickly found Mad Men and nabbed the last of the Corelle. Long lines awaited me at the checkout but I got through it in ten minutes flat. This is not something I'd want to do again anytime soon but I have to say it did not go too bad.....And I'm liking the prices I paid for these two things. Rob almost done with Christmas!!!!

[Mrs. Hermit]

My young'uns in need of clothes (all in sizes that are hard to thrift) raided the sales last night. They were hoping to snag some of the really good deals that made new clothes the same price as those at the thrift stores here.

[creaker]

At least you got to do it safely - I read someone in CA took a lesson from the Occupy movement and pepper sprayed shoppers so she could get in first. She got in and out before the police arrived.

[gimmethesimplelife]

At least you got to do it safely - I read someone in CA took a lesson from the Occupy movement and pepper sprayed shoppers so she could get in first. She got in and out before the police arrived.Amazing, I just don't get it but amazing, and not in a good kind of way. Where I was in Phoenix everything was very orderly, there was no pushing and shoving, people seemed to be in sane spirits, and I definitely noticed a lot of security and a lot of employees all over the place. I was impressed at how well the situation went and how things were handled by Target store personnel.

[loosechickens]

"At least you got to do it safely - I read someone in CA took a lesson from the Occupy movement and pepper sprayed shoppers so she could get in first. She got in and out before the police arrived". (creaker),

well, we should probably clarify that a bit to "a lesson from the police use of pepper spray on members of the Occupy movement", so it doesn't look as though the Occupy people were the one's spraying, but........

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gnP4lNWq7GNim9MPpqvajINVGVZw?docId=1054bb0d4 514486298f6d82bdcf18881

hard to know if this act represents some Fox News viewer who took Megan Kelly at her word that pepper spray was, after all, only a food item, or just another example of crazed materialism and greed in action......but hard to think somebody would do that.....of course it was hard to think that police would deliberately spray heavy duty law enforcement strength concentration pepper spray into the faces of peaceful protesters, too, sending several to the hospital with chemical burns on their face, but it happened.

Sometimes I really DO think our society is going to H*ll in a handbasket, although probably not for the reasons that most of the people who think that believe......

edited to add this: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57331293/big-biz-some-black-eyes-on-black-friday/

ye gods.........

[gimmethesimplelife]

Loosechickens, I was just on another site that I visit on a regular basis, the economic collapse blog, and today they had video of the the craziness around the country with Black Friday sales - some of it is some pretty scary stuff. Gotta say I did not experience anything like that at all, the Target I went to was very orderly and calm. But I do agree that some of the video that's being shown re shoppers on Black Friday makes me wonder where we are headed as a society.....What if there is a serious, I mean really serious worse than we have now economic contraction - are people going to ban together and help one another or are they going to act like the video footage or even worse? Rob

[Tiam]

I've done it once or twice. NOT worth for me.

[peggy]

I never shop on black Friday, but dang it all, I forgot to get the tarps to cover the wood, and it looks like rain. so i picked the tiniest, local hardware store in town. No black Friday crowds there.!thumbsup!

[redfox]

I spent the day splitting and stacking firewood, hauling chips for garden path mulch, and standing around in the SUN! In Seattle!!! My DH cleaned out the rest of the garden beds, and tomorrow we shovel zoo doo onto them. Then we had yummy leftovers while sitting by the fire, listening to jazz.

I feel incredibly wealthy.

[loosechickens]

We watched the news tonight, Rob, and I found myself thinking the same thing.....somehow, if our economic situation should ever devolve into a true, new Great Depression, somehow I don't think people will be as docile as they were the last time.....somehow, I suspect it will be more violence, with guns, pepper spray and wholesale looting, because I just can't picture our society today, just "accepting" it. I hope I'm wrong, because I'd like to think we would have more community, not less...........

what struck me, watching all the video of the various shopping frenzies, was that almost all the stuff that people were frantically elbowing each other to get was stuff that nobody really needs, and most of us here wouldn't even want.....video games, big screen tvs, other electronics type stuff......was really kind of sad, somehow, watching those faces as the people scrambled to get the stuff.

I almost felt as I've felt sometimes in Third World countries when tourists would throw coins into a group of desperately poor children, and watch them scramble and knock each other out of the way to get the treasure.

And in these cases, the scramble was for stuff that folks have been conditioned to want, but things that are mostly good at continuing the "want more, more, more" meem that our consumer society sells. All those big screen TVs going into homes where they can stoke ever more and more desperate desires for the shiny objects being advertised.

It just made me sad. And very, very glad that I was in my cozy little RV all day, feeling no need whatsoever to go out and get anything at all.

[Alan]

In an entitlement society, we should't be too surprised to see people acting this way.

[maribeth]

The only deal I really wanted was a sewing machine table -- I had been looking at it for some time, and today it was 60% off plus another 25% off coupon. I also impulse bought a cake carrier after worrying about a cake sliding around in the back of our truck all the way to Thanksgiving dinner.

The place was crowded, but actually the lines were short. The craziest thing I saw was someone with two carts full of about 100 wooden birdhouses, talking loudly on the cell phone to someone who I gathered was at another Joann Fabrics buying even more birdhouses.

[ApatheticNoMore]

But I do agree that some of the video that's being shown re shoppers on Black Friday makes me wonder where we are headed as a society.....What if there is a serious, I mean really serious worse than we have now economic contraction - are people going to ban together and help one another or are they going to act like the video footage or even worse?

The people I know who try hardest to build community and so on are more likely to honor "buy nothing day" than do black friday. But anyway whether or not they go to a black friday sale (and there are worse sins afterall), the main point is there are people who do get it, the importance of working together etc., but they won't make the sensationalists videos (or yea probably even be in the background of them). I've often thought finding and building with such people is the best chance to moderate the bad outcomes of a SHTF scenario (at least there will be some experience working together etc..). I mean I don't know if those who write doomer blogs are actually involved in anything at all or just like to point out how screwed up the world is (yes we know) but ......

[gimmethesimplelife]

I spent the day splitting and stacking firewood, hauling chips for garden path mulch, and standing around in the SUN! In Seattle!!! My DH cleaned out the rest of the garden beds, and tomorrow we shovel zoo doo onto them. Then we had yummy leftovers while sitting by the fire, listening to jazz.

I feel incredibly wealthy.Sounds like a wonderful day!

[Karma]

I usually just stay home but I had a large group of men playing cards at my house so I snuck out. I went downtown to see what local shop owners were up to, lovely! No long lines or fighting, I ended up visiting with friends at a little health food store.

[creaker]

In an entitlement society, we should't be too surprised to see people acting this way.

If you mean them thinking being Black Friday shoppers entitles them to act this way, I agree. But I think it's much more out and out competition, "you snooze you lose" mentality, than entitlement.

To be fair, there are many, many people who do the Black Friday thing, go out together as a tradition, have fun and like it. And don't behave like a bunch of starving dogs thrown a bone.

[puglogic]

In a capitalist society pouring billions of dollars into convincing the public they are Less Than without this product or that, saturating every aspect of our lives, hundreds of marketing messages per person each and every day, we shouldn't be too surprised to see people acting this way.

Black Friday makes me want to throw up every year.

[gimmethesimplelife]

In a capitalist society pouring billions of dollars into convincing the public they are Less Than without this product or that, saturating every aspect of our lives, hundreds of marketing messages per person each and every day, we shouldn't be too surprised to see people acting this way.

Black Friday makes me want to throw up every year.What makes me ill is that so many buy into these marketing messages and don't seem to question anything - I just don't get this as I questioned almost everything from a very young age onwards. And something else that makes me feel kinda down is that although I paid cash for my $25.99 in purchases plus tax, I saw cart after cart after cart loaded with electronics - more debt for the masses? For things we really don't need anyway.....I just feel like after the economic shocks of the past few years people might think spending through a little more.....

[kally]

Thank goodness we don't have this in Canada.

[lizii]

Thank goodness we don't have this in Canada.


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