More Black Friday insanity . . .

UN-FUCKING BELIEVABLE. Please note the last sentence which I made in red.
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I Slept Through Black Friday

Posted by Karen De Coster on November 23, 2012 05:41 PM


I was on the way to northern Michigan yesterday morning, and along the way I passed some mega malls along I-75 on the outskirts of the Detroit Metro area. It looked like tent city - tents and people everywhere, waiting for the doors of Best Buy, and similar places, to open.

On the way back, at night, the stores were open and the parking lot was packed to the gills. I understand that while many retailers opened at midnight on Thanksgiving, some retailers opted to open at 8pm. When I got back home, traffic was heavy and parking lots were packed. I had never seen such thick traffic before on Thanksgiving evening. I stopped for gas and I could barely exit the driveway because a constant stream of cars was coming from ... somewhere. There was a Toys R Us behind the gas station, and that was a mob scene. Toys must be so important that one can't wait a day, or perhaps even longer, to get them.

But then again, I've always noted that Black Friday has become an institutionalized madness. Indeed, there occasionally arises some great deals, but mostly, it is about people just walking around in shopping comas to pass the time and get out of the house for some real excitement. In fact, one thing I really notice about Black Friday the last two years is the lack of deals as compared to the post-bust years of 2008 and 2009, where the sales and clearances and doorbusters were astounding (yes, I read all the sales papers).

I'll peruse the news tomorrow to see who shot who over a video game device and who got stomped in the pursuit of some $5 DVDs. I guess my motto is - I slept while they stomped. At about noon today, on the way back from the gym, I made my way peacefully to the Verizon store to have someone look at my phone and give me a tip on a software hang-up on my Samsung. I had noted, a few days before, that Verizon would be selling the 4G Samsung Galaxy 2 (white) tablet for the great price of $99, but when I checked online this morning they were sold out. Shopping online is as close as I get to the post-Thanksgiving madness. I saw the same advertisement in the store and so I asked if they still had any left. The lady said they went fast all morning, but she could find me one. Much to my surprise, they had two left. I bought it, she got me connected, and I left shortly thereafter minus the midnight madness and the institionalized insanity. I was smiling because I hadn't even planned on buying the thing.

Tonight, a quick google search turned up a shooting at a Walmart in Florida where people fought over a parking space. In Texas, at a Sears, people were punching one another over who was ahead of who while standing in line. Here is a disturbing video of people at a Walmart in Georgia mobbing a game display. For the life of me, I cannot begin to understand who would go anywhere near a mob scene like that, even if they were giving away $1,000 in cash. As always, it is a reminder of what these people will do in a SHTF scenario when they are out of food, water, or even the non-essentials they feel they are entitled to posses.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDpAkjD3wXo"]BLACK FRIDAY 2012 - RIOTS In Walmart Fighting Over Phones 11-23-2012 - YouTube[/ame]

 

LOL, yes. I had to read his post twice to get the point.

 

But it's not like it's some intractable problem that needs to be solved -- it seems that most people LIKE it.

IMO it is yet another sign of the end of Western culture, power, and influence.

What will get everybody's head screwed on straight again would be another Great Depression, where the government has run out of wealth to steal so you're on your own; there are no jobs; supermarkets are either closed or have very little food in them; municipal electricity systems are broken or nearly so.

All this easy living would be a thing of the past, as people spend their waking hours just getting enough food and water to survive to the next day.

Either that or the gov't becomes so fucked up that some nation invades us and wrecks the infrastructure as Washington is so fond of doing -- especially to small, weak, defenseless countries.

"Payback is a motherfucker" and all that. "The Barbarians are at the gates!"

Oh, I forgot: "It can't happen here." Haha, famous last words.

 

Haha, more money than brains.

"At this Victoria's Secret store in Overland Park, Kan., buyers push against a line of security guards as the manager opens the store. In the video the manager can be heard screaming over the crowd, "This is so scary. I don't even want to open the store."

Shoppers were in line for a range of deals, including buy-one-get-50%-off bras and a free tote bag. The lingerie retailer is also offering a free scarf with the purchase of a sweater and free slippers with the purchase of pajamas, among other in-store deals."

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIPnkA_TyMc]Video of Black Friday Shoppers attack to Victoria's Secret - YouTube[/ame]