Do You Shop On Black Friday?

[Mr. DS]

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. 

[Allhallowsday]

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. 

[Mr. DS]

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 

[LilCerberus]

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.

[Paquita]

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.

[InformationGeek]

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!   

[3mnkids]

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.

[dean]

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...

[Jack]

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.

[ulthar]

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...   

[Mr. DS]

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...

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.

[ulthar]

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....

[Trevor]

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.

[BTM]

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...

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...)

[Menard]

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.