Badmovies.org Forum

Every year Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving for those who don't know) hits and people seem to lose their friggin' mind.  People flock to stores earlier and earlier every year some starting at 3 AM.  They freeze their arses off while waiting for an underpaid sales clerk to open the gates.  Then they go spend hundreds on sale items while standing in line for sometimes up to an hour or more. 

I probably did a poll on this in the past but I figured why not do another one.  Are you one of these Black Friday shoppers?  I personally may pop into a store on the way to work IF they are running a special I find extremely usefull.  However, I find an extremely usefull sale to be few and far between on Black Friday.  We have three kids and honestly, we have found much better deals shopping online weeks before the Christmas shopping season begins.  I dont know, I think its a lot of hoopla for not to be honest. 

If you are one of the people that go out, what do you go out to find?  What deals have you gotten that made the trip to a store in the twilight hours worth it? How many riots have you encountered. 

You need to add as an option:
The very thought of wrestling with morons just to get in the store is enough to make me want to puke.  If I have to puke, I'll stay home. 

Done, see above  :twirl:

Nope.
I first found out about these things as an ad stuffer at the local paper.
I'd learn about all the really great deals from a week to a month in advance.
Trouble is, being the paper, I had to work weekends & holidays.

I got on SSDI back in 2005, & just don't have the $ for that sorta thing now.
Besides, I've got a friend in the retail biz, who tells me that the real deals come between late January to mid February.

No! I hate crowds. I hate shopping.  I stay home on bellyache day.

I will say though, that I am a little excited about some of the stores opening at like 10pm Thanksgiving night and staying open throughout the next day.  The only time I ever really do feel like going shopping is around 11pm when everything is closed.  Maybe they'll start doing that in July.

Yes, but not right away.  I wait until the crowds die down and come later in the day.  Luckily, no one ever buys the comics and manga I read.  Thank God for weird and unique tastes in books!   :teddyr:

Hell no!  I don't have the right temperament for it. When people get pushy I get pushy and it just gets ugly. Its not worth the aggravation to save a few bucks. People getting psychotic in order to save 3 bucks on a toaster is just not something Im willing to deal with.

Didn't someone die in the crush to get in last year at one shop?  From memory people complained that the store closed because someone FRIGGIN DIED!

People like that are mental...

Oh yeah, I'll be there, standing elbow-to-elbow with 1,000 determined women anxious to get 10% off on Olay hydrating body wash.

Such is my fate.

No.

But...my crazy sisters do and love it.  They leave the house around 5 am after having spent Thanksgiving evening researching all the sale ads in the paper so they can plan their trip "efficiently."

What a sad statement of American Consumerism "Black Friday" has become...    :bluesad:

Yep or at least in recent years. 

I recall one story about a Walmart having a PS3 on sale and they had a "race" for voucher tickets.  One dude ran into a lightpost and got knocked out.

People are insane sometimes.

Yes.  Money has become God to many people.

Off Topic a bit, but related:  I know a lady that buys the combo meals at fast food places and throws away the fried.  She'd rather waste food, basic sustenance, than pay an extra 20 cents or so.

Now, what makes this worse is that I know her from church, and she has spearheaded a program to help feed children on the School Lunch Program on the weekends (when they are not getting school lunches).  Maybe this is better for the Grind My Gears thread, but the Black Friday consumerism reminded me of it.

I just don't get it...she starts a program to help feed hunger/undernourished children, then wastes food because, in her words, "well, I'm NOT going to waste MONEY!"  (Emphasis hers).

The behavior we see on Black Friday is a sad snapshot into the American cultural "soul."  Stuff means more than anything, with money being the stuff that means the most.  Very, very sad....

 :buggedout: :buggedout:

Believe it or not I had an idea for a game based on that.  It's about a guy who works at a department store as his co-worker (and best bud since childhood) dies after being stampeded so he snaps and goes about getting revenge.  I was going to call it Red Friday or something, but I don't really have the knowledge to program such a thing just yet.  (Maybe when I finally get around to learning Flash...)

This thread somewhat reminds me of the (paraphrased) "do you use your cellphone while driving" thread.

In the cellphone thread, it became apparent that most of you "only talk on cellphones when there are no other cars on the highway" and apparently most of you live in areas where nobody else uses the highways (i.e. that thread was filled with a lot of bullshlt).

According to the tally of the votes for this thread, nobody shops or has ever shopped on Black Friday. Being that stores are packed to capacity on Black Friday, and those crowds consist of people from the general populace, I'd say that some of the voting in this thread is just a little dishonest.

I have been out shopping on Black Friday. I don't go regularly, but I have come across the occasional deal that can't be beat, and found myself in a store wishing I weren't there, probably along with a lot of people wishing the same thing.

On one Black Friday, years ago, I went to the store, and simply gave up. I was looking for a TV set at the time, and had seen some really good deals advertised. I remembered that Kroger also had a deal on a TV set, so I went by there, to a near abandoned grocery store and walked in and out within a matter of minutes with my TV set.

Being that I have occasioned a Black Friday sale, then yes, I shop on Black Friday. I don't shop regularly on Black Friday, but that doesn't change things for my answer one bit; my answer is just simply honest.

Any more, being a merchandiser, Black Friday is my hell to get out of. I'll usually end up with several stores to pull up before the madness hits. I'll start about 10 P.M. on Thanksgiving Eve and run until 4 to 5 A.M.; waving a tearful goodbye to the employees of the last store I leave (yeah, you're right, that last line was pure bullshlt).


In regards to the employee who was killed in a Black Friday rush, that was two years ago; and already we have forgotten. Wal-mart is fighting an OSHA imposed fine over it, this year (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2010-07-07-wal-mart-black-friday-death_N.htm).

I'm never really all that aware of sales. I usually start out wanting to buy something, then see if anybody has it on sale, and then get it from wherever makes the most sense. Black Friday, Boxing Day and whatever else don't interest me. In general, I try to avoid big stores and malls as much as possible from early November to mid-January. I hate driving and parking in heavy traffic, I hate long lines, and I hate crowds. I get what I need from local stores, or I order it online.

If I need to get something from a department store during the Christmas shopping season, I'll take advantage of holiday hours. I've driven 45 minutes at 3am to a Wal Mart that was open 24 hours for the holidays. Best Christmas shopping experience I've had. Just me and about a dozen other misanthropes with the store all to ourselves.

Last year I went to Walmart on Black Friday evening but it was mainly just to get a few items for the house.  I've never waiting so long to buy paper towels.

There was not an option of "Would Rather drink boiling goat urine" So I just picked option #4, I don't need ANYTHING that bad.

I have never shopped on Black Friday, but last year I WORKED on Black Friday - seasonal position in retail.  It was pretty awful, but to be honest, the DAY AFTER CHRSTIMAS was worse!   I worked in customer service/returns.  I couldn't wait to go home that day ....  :buggedout: :buggedout: :buggedout:

Wow thats another day to discuss.  Return day.  Actually, I usually always go out on that day to return the crap people got me I don't want.  Yep, I'm pretty shallow. 

That's the worst. Stopping to pick up some little household item and finding yourself in the middle of a seasonal shopping frenzy. Used to happen to me when I lived in the city, but not so much now that going to the mall is always a special trip. I used to pull into an insanely busy parking lot and think "Oh crap, I forgot." There's something extra frustrating about shopping in a crowded mall when you're not part of it. I wish everybody who is just doing their regular shopping could have an armband marking them as non-combatants, and all the Christmas shoppers and bargain hunters would have to clear a path.

Person I know is going to be working retail in the computer department on Black Friday at Best Buy.  She's extremely worried because she works right away at the morning and all the way until 3 in the afternoon.  What I recommended to her was to get a good riot shield.  Hope that helps her.

I've made it out a couple of times, but I generally try to avoid it if possible.  I generally try to get most stuff before Thanksgiving, hell, usually around Halloween if possible.  And, usually, I generally try to stick to gift cards.  In some instances, the cards are to specific stores/restaurants I know a person likes: Ruby Tuesday, Applebee's, Kohl's, Wal-Mart, etc.  In other cases, I get a general gift card to a specific mall, as the person can use the card in ANY store in the mall, whether it's the dollar store, a restaurant, FYE, GameStop, Hot Topic, etc.  Only time I don't buy a card is if the person requests something SPECIFIC.  I learned it's best this way, as you search endlessly to find 'the perfect gift', only for the person to NOT want said gift, exchange it, and get store credit or cash.

But, the past few years I've actually had to work Black Friday, so by the time I'm done around 4 or so, I don't have the energy to head out.

On a side note, my first job out of high school was working the Lay-A-Way section of K-Mart, hired in November of 2002.  I've never seen such craziness in one location than the lay a way section I worked.  I don't think ANY of us got a chance to take a lunch break.  But the boss ordered some take out from the restaurant across the lot for us for dinner.

 I've also spent many years in the Retail Trenches and that put me off shopping Black Friday for good. It can be ugly and even nasty and people shopping for Christmas often display no Christmas spirit whatsoever. Besides I'm a pretty leisurely guy by nature and Black Friday shopping is anything but. Nope it's pre-Thanksgiving shopping or the good, ol' internet for me.
  

(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s144/redwinekline/album1/turboman.jpg)

 :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle:

I work on Black Friday. 
In a toy store.
pity me.

I used to work for a retail chain who was kind of second in the line of fire when it came to the Black Friday rush.  They specialized in sales on wrapping paper, stocking stuffers, etc.  So when stores like Walmart were dying down, this store chain would picking up the second wave.  Being a part timer I of course caught that from 3 PM on and believe me, people were beyond grumpy by the time they got to the store.  And of course the store I worked for was beyond noctorious for NOT having a single ad item in stock.

The Electronics Dept is the busiest place on Black Friday.  A riot shield is not a bad idea!

You poor thing .... :buggedout: :buggedout: :buggedout:

Yes.  My wife and I usually get to the Mall between 5 and 6 a.m. and we are usually out of there by 10 a.m. at the latest.  That's when the crowds start to get heavy, so we leave.  Generally, I don't buy much.  I end up doing most of my shopping online.

I worked in a photo lab during the later part of my retail tenure and we did those friggin' photo Christmas cards people send out obnoxiously every year.  The stupid printer that added the text on the card would always f*ck up and we'd have to reprint the pictures.  Then we'd get the people who would swear they saw a small dust spot and demand we reprint them again.  All I felt like saying is, "Look, people are going to get this photo card, look at it once quickly, put it on their fridge until it falls off and ends up in a crevice between the kitchen counter and the fridge.  That way your ugly family's face will stare up at the next home owner's face and they'll wonder who the hell the "Smiths" are..."  

You have my sympathies, I worked at a Toys R Us for two years. 

This is what I did last year and will be doing again this year:   :smile:   :thumbup:
(that's me running the camera, by the way)

NSFW due to strong language
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MrSGcqylNE

I've been advertising the heck out of my upcoming Black Friday Skirmish and my official tagline is, "Why go shopping when you can shoot your enemies!?"

Every bit as violent as Black Friday shopping, but cheaper, safer and more fun.

This is why I don't shop black Friday.. crazy ass people.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/19/1933722/fla-couple-camping-outside-store.html

So, two people sitting in front of a store for 12 hours a day for over a week is worth saving maybe a few hundred dollars? Did they think that through at all?

Dude, we had people camping out by theaters for weeks in order to get tickets to the latest Star Wars movie, does this REALLY surprise you? 

One thing I dislike about Black Friday: Rude ass customers.

Just cause you're stupid enough to go out shopping at 3AM and doing it non-stop til midnight doesn't give you the right to be rude to the people trying to HELP you in your quest.  You brought that stress on yourself by putting yourself out there just for a couple of bucks to be saved.  I get trying to be cost conscious, but still. 

Granted, I don't really deal with 'retail' much right now.  I work in a restaurant.  But, we're in a prime location that gets EXTREMELY busy on Black Friday, as from 6AM to about roughly 8PM we get hit with a nonstop line of customers stopping in throughout the day in their quest to go shopping.  Plus, we get people stopping in to buy gift cards for their relatives.  I've seen some nasty, nasty people come in, have a horrible personality, disrespect and make fun of the waitstaff, order a big check for $80 or more, then leave a $1 tip.  Waiters/servers at my job get $2.43 an hour.  Having a full station in addition to all the side work involved, and then only getting a dollar tip for a big $80 meal in uncalled for.  Not for nothing, but I've never ever left a $1 tip in any capacity, even if I only stop in to get a soda or cup of coffee.

It's one thing to make the effort to see the first showing of a movie you're excited about. I wouldn't do it, but it's a matter of how much it's worth to someone personally. Saving money on a big TV is something you can put a precise dollar value on. You know how much it costs before and after the sale, and there's a limit to how low the price can go. The value of camping out in line is an objective thing in this case.

It could be that they have a list of thousands of dollars in merchandise, but being first in line is only going to be an advantage for the first couple of items they can get to. Let's say they manage to save $300 they would not have saved had they not been camped out, and they spent 84 hours in line. That's just a little over $3.50 an hour, which is less than half the minimum wage in Florida. They seriously undervalued their time. Even accounting for taxes, moonlighting at almost any crappy temporary job could have gotten them the same thing with less inconvenience.

People are funny. They understand what their time is worth when it relates to an hourly wage, but other than that, they don't see their time as an expense. Come to think of it, did these people take time off work to wait in line? They don't sound like they're unemployed, which would have taken this to a whole other level of dumb.

I've been to a few of those big shopping to midnight sale days although I'm not sure if there's called Black Fridays around here. Anyways, they were very overwhelming and it just felt like you were in a sea of humanity and could get sweep away by it at any moment. After a couple of times and failing to get anywhere near to what I wanted to get a good look at, I decided to avoid those days from then thereafter...

Okay, I may need to take back what I said earlier in the thread   :lookingup:   I just read that target and wal mart will have Halo Reach on sale for 35.00 and wal mart will also have Fable 3 for 35.00.. I may go in the afternoon when its(hopefully) not as crazy and maybe there will be a copy of each left.    :teddyr: