Americans, I have to talk to you....

Wow...

Over here I think Boxing Day (December 26th) is the big shopping day. People have queued up in thousands outside the shopping centres the morning after Christmas Day to get cheap stuff. I don't see the appeal and have always hated going shopping like it is an activity rather than a horrible necessity.

That borderline rioting is really crazy though. It is like an illness.
 
My g/f was threatened to be stabbed at the local wal*mart a few years ago for a certain doll.

Naturally the threat was phrased as: "I'll cut you bitch." (Naturally leading me to make many racist comments.)
To which my g/f responded: "Excuse me?" and the lady replied: "Oh sorry I was just wishing to buy that doll for my daughter."

My g/f bought the doll.
 
These people are doing it wrong. They need to go in there swinging crow bars so they can take each other out. Then I can climb over all the dead bodies and get those deals!
 
sandra_b said:
These people are doing it wrong. They need to go in there swinging crow bars so they can take each other out. Then I can climb over all the dead bodies and get those deals!
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You gotta Morgan Freeman the shit out of that place. I think it's safe to say I will never shop at a Wal-Mart ever again, low prices be damned!

On a positive note, there are always people like this man:

[video=youtube_share;y_3BEwpv0dM]http://youtu.be/y_3BEwpv0dM[/video]
 
Billy said:
[MENTION=5861]Horatio[/MENTION] I agree! That's exactly what I thought when I first saw it. From the low guttural screeching and moaning like simian constructs... ripping away plastic from the 2gb flash drive bonanza bounty, reminiscent of flesh ripping in a George Romero movie.. OMG Someone IMPOSE the Mall Muzak from the end of Dawn of the Dead over this video ASAP! Its a hit I promise!
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Zombies need to eat too. :m175:
 
And this is why I fear crowded places of any kind. I like to stay far far away from the Mob.
 
Digusting. Seriously. I liked the pig analogy, so very fitting...and who in their right freaking mind would bring CHILDREN into that insanity? I was afraid the kids in that video were going to be trampled by all of the rabid, frenzied barn animals.

My grandma told me that there was a guy in their town who had been camping out at their Best Buy for several days so that he could buy his kids two tv's for under 200 dollars each on Friday. I was like wow, it's truly sad when someone thinks that it's more important to give their kids televisions than all that wasted time their dad could have spent with them. Yay, Amurica!
 
The Victoria's Secret video in the links seemed even worse to me... mostly because at least Wal-mart people are probably desperate to begin with.

You just keep wishing that dignity would kick in and that they would realize that in a civilized society people should be capable of dealing with the disappointment of spending an extra 2 dollars on something that they wouldn't have ordinarily bought in the first place.

I suppose that at least you can take some degree of comfort in the fact that they're probably only trying to give their families a decent Christmas and to not disappoint their children... it's pretty hard not to feel bad when you face disappointed children on Christmas morning. Still, you should be teaching your kids about being decent people, not letting them control you.

This whole thing is almost an argument in favor of putting Christ back in Christmas, because at least that would mean that people are supposed to think about something other than themselves.
 
Yeah, good grief, I don't get it either. And I don't do black friday at all,I just avoid it, as well as most retail centers, until about February 1 just to be on the safe side. There is nothing in the world I want that badly, at least that you can get at WalMart. Although I enjoy the irony of the fact that probably someone somewhere had a black friday deal on ammo. Bass Pro Shop, most likely.
 
Apone said:
The Victoria's Secret video in the links seemed even worse to me... mostly because at least Wal-mart people are probably desperate to begin with.

You just keep wishing that dignity would kick in and that they would realize that in a civilized society people should be capable of dealing with the disappointment of spending an extra 2 dollars on something that they wouldn't have ordinarily bought in the first place.

I suppose that at least you can take some degree of comfort in the fact that they're probably only trying to give their families a decent Christmas and to not disappoint their children... it's pretty hard not to feel bad when you face disappointed children on Christmas morning. Still, you should be teaching your kids about being decent people, not letting them control you.

This whole thing is almost an argument in favor of putting Christ back in Christmas, because at least that would mean that people are supposed to think about something other than themselves.
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I watched the Victoria Secret one last night and thought the same thing.

First of all, what the hell is at Victoria Secret that is worth fighting someone over? You can get all of that stuff online, anyway. I just don't understand...I've never seen anything like that before.
 
i-JtFZMWv-X3.webp

I’ve worked my share of Black Fridays both at Toys R Us and then at Circuit City. It is a horrible fucking tradition that brings out the worst in people. At Circuit City I started out working in the small electronics department. Back then we sold portable CD players, boomboxes and cameras that took something we called film. On Black Friday people would start lining up at 4 in the morning in the freezing cold. When the manager would open the door they would push and run into the store so that they could be the first one to buy a piece of shit Jensen CD player that we were selling for five bucks less than normal.
It was even worse when they moved me to the computer department. I remember one year we had a “Free” computer deal. Now if I tell my eight year old he can walk into a store and get a free computer he will ask me what the catch is. But these grown fucking adults would come into the store and expect to walk out with a computer without spending a cent. Did you not see the little star after the word free? That means it’s not free. It means that you need to mail in a dozen rebate coupons AND sign up for 4 years of AOL. When confronted with that information you might think that they would reflect on their own shocking lack of common fucking sense. Sadly that never happened. Instead they would tear me a new asshole because obviously I’m the one who not only printed the advertisement, but I also invented the asterisk and use it to trick people into thinking you can get things for free.
Once they have finished telling me how they are going to call the cops and I’m going to go to jail for “false advertisement” they do one of two things. They either walk out (rare) or suck it up and decide to to buy the computer. Personally I would rather they just leave but most of the time they sigh, look at the machine and all of them ask me the same first question. “So is this a pretty good computer?”
I know what they want to hear from me, “Well of course! It’s the best computer they make, that’s why you can get it for free if you mail in some scraps of paper! All these other computers that cost money are total crap compared to this work of technological art”
The reality is that it’s an emachine and this is the third display unit we have had because they keep breaking down. I don’t really give a shit though and so I just nod. “yeah, it’s pretty good for the price.”
Now it’s time for the second question they will all ask. “So does this come with a printer?”
-Gabe out
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Thankfully we don't have "Black Friday", if we did I'd have no part in it.
 
The whole Black Friday shopping, and the excessive consumerism surrounding the holidays as a whole I find absolutely disgusting!
Shoppers buy into this whole idea they are saving money. My guess is they probably end up spending 25% more than if they waited and shopped a week or 2 later because they get caught up in the frenzy.
(A vision of Mr. Burns in my head watching the closed circuit camera and saying, "Excellent...")

The retailers continue to move it earlier, and earlier. What's next? Will the retailers provide Thanksgiving dinner to shoppers so they can eat while they shop?
My Wife and myself drew the line several years ago. We only purchase gifts for her Mother (last surviving Parent) and our Son. Between the both of us we set a limit of $50.00 each for gifts.
Haven't done any shopping yet. I'll wait until the frenzy has died down.
I also know what it is I intend to buy before I enter a store.

I'd find the Holidays a lot more enjoyable if it were something that was only celebrated once every 10 years.
 
In the UK the local councils put up the christmas lights earlier and earlier each year. They've already been up for a while now

This is all to put pressure on people. Its saying subliminally: 'start buying stuff for christmas now'

The fact that the local councils are doing it shows that forms of government are conspiring with the corporations to get the public to consume more
 
Capitalism in its finest hour.
 
muir said:
In the UK the local councils put up the christmas lights earlier and earlier each year. They've already been up for a while now

This is all to put pressure on people. Its saying subliminally: 'start buying stuff for christmas now'

The fact that the local councils are doing it shows that forms of government are conspiring with the corporations to get the public to consume more
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That is true. I remember it was late when the lights went up when I was a kid. It felt like Christmas time...it must have been December, right?

In Leicester they have had lights for Divali as well so I'm not sure which lights are for that and which are for Christmas but the tree has gone up about a week ago which I think is way too early.

But then even in shops they start talking about Christmas before Halloween is even gone!

Then there are those plans like the AXA over 50 plans where people start saving and thinking about next Christmas practically on Boxing Day!!
 
Shoot. I do NOT understand how these people are practically risking their lives for something that'll be on sale in a few weeks anyway. American consumerism is out of control.

I stayed inside all day. Besides, Cyber Monday far more fun. :D
 
People are not thinking for themselves

They are slavishly following what they are expected to do

The corporations set the agenda. They and the PR machine that they fund shapes peoples perceptions. They are telling people that what they are expected to do is buy lots of stuff for christmas. This is playing on the fears of outer directed people who feel that they must run with the herd

These people are looking for cues over how they should behave in order to fit in with the herd. The media provides those cues and because the corporations control the mainstream media the cues all say 'consume more'

Leary was right people need to question authority and think for themselves. They need to drop out of this crap and stop spending so much at christmas that they start the next year in debt and stressing about money

The corporations hire child psychologists to help create their marketing campaigns. They know that after watching adverts children will nag their parents to buy them the product. they call this the 'nag factor'. They also know that the most vulnerable people to the nag factor are single parents who feel obliged to treat their children

They're manipulative sons of bitches
 
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