Black Friday

[Tyndmyr]

Bout that time of year...ya'll braving the lines and the crowds this year, or staying inside and sleeping off the turkey?

Still undecided myself. I mean, I could use a ridiculously large TV for cheap, sure, but I do so love sleep.

[Asthix]

I celebrate International Buy Nothing Day.

Personally, I die a little each time I go into a big box store.

[Orzel]

I made a thread 'bout how much I HATE shopping.

Hate! HATE SHOPPING!:smallfurious:

After I get over my meat and veggies hangover, videogames someone tells me where the party is.

[valadil]

In my experience, black friday is more effort than it's worth. The thing is, I don't like buying expensive anything unless I know exactly what I'm getting. For $500+ dollars, I better get the exact model of TV I've picked out. Not the one that's left after the one I wanted sold at at 5:45am. Then I find myself obliged to buy something (since that's what I showed up for after all) and I end up spending just as much money on something I don't really want.

If I go shopping at all it'll be for things that are left over past noon. Maybe some blurays and PS3 games. I already have more electronics than I know what to do with.

Also, I've never actually witnessed the crowds everyone complains about. Each year I read posts about people getting into fist fights over trivial crap just to save 10%. The sadist in me shows up expecting a spectacle. Instead all I get is a two hour line of tired, middle aged people wondering if it was really worth going out in their PJs before the sun came up to save a hundred bucks.

[Marnath]

Also, I've never actually witnessed the crowds everyone complains about. Each year I read posts about people getting into fist fights over trivial crap just to save 10%. The sadist in me shows up expecting a spectacle. Instead all I get is a two hour line of tired, middle aged people wondering if it was really worth going out in their PJs before the sun came up to save a hundred bucks.

You're lucky. In the past 4 or 5 years almost a dozen people have been trampled to death in my city on black friday, just going in the stores.

*edit: last year that number included a paramedic who was treating a dying man crushed by the crowd. :smalleek:

[golentan]

...

HATE!!! :smallfurious:

Black friday is a disease of the mind. A mass madness which afflicts otherwise normal people. NOTHING is worth the hassle of a black friday shopping spree. The lines, the crowds, how everything good gets taken before dawn, BEFORE DAWN, and actively fought over. Injuries are commonplace, to the point where stores have to bring in extra first aid to cope with anticipated injuries, when normally weeks go by without incident. People DIE. Every year someone gets TRAMPLED TO DEATH by other customers, and often the corpse goes unnoticed for quite some time in the chaos. And because of people perpetuating this illness, I have to cut short my vacation and travel hundreds of miles in the early morning in order to suffer through the screaming disorder and violence for a full workday.

[deuxhero]

I'm going to go to target to look at half-price DS games (They explicily advertised at least one game I want, prehaps others)

[Frozen_Feet]

What is this black friday thing, and why have I never heard of it before?

[Eloel]

What is this black friday thing, and why have I never heard of it before?

This, pretty much.

[Evil DM Mark3]

Given the references to Turkey, I would have to guess something related to Christmas, which makes no sense given the date.

Maybe this is some crazy American thing.

[Mystic Muse]

It's the day after thanksgiving when a bunch of stuff goes on sale for no reason and people trample other people to death in order to get there first.

[golentan]

On the friday the day after Thanksgiving, millions flock to stores which open their doors before the sun hits the horizon to play tug of war and hit each other with items marked down for a special sale. It is the largest shopping day of the year.

[Mauve Shirt]

Because the day after Thanksgiving is the official start of Christmas shopping season.

[Frozen_Feet]

Okay, so it's mass madness caused by a marketing fad.

Good thing we have neither Thanksgiving or this here in Finland. :smalltongue:

[Eloel]

Given the references to Turkey, I would have to guess something related to Christmas, which makes no sense given the date.

Would you mind elaborating on this sentence? I didn't really understand it. :smallconfused:

'Crazy American thing' sounds very likely. Those guys are WEIRD. :smallbiggrin:

[Evil DM Mark3]

It's the day after thanksgiving when a bunch of stuff goes on sale for no reason and people trample other people to death in order to get there first.
On the friday the day after Thanksgiving, millions flock to stores which open their doors before the sun hits the horizon to play tug of war and hit each other with items marked down for a special sale. It is the largest shopping day of the year.
Because the day after Thanksgiving is the official start of Christmas shopping season.

By conducting a comparative study of these replies I have come to this conclusion:

Americans have holidays that are too close together. I mean good grief, less than a month for a Christmas shopping season? I doubt it. I mean I have seen decorations on sale in shops for several weeks now and I doubt America is any different. If it once was the genuine start (there was an age, apparently, where British shops where considered tacky if there where Christmas decorations available before December the 1st) but now acts as an artificial bulwark on sales, creating a frenzy of bad spending decisions.

And I bet that is what the shops are betting on.

I start my Christmas shopping in June, a gift at a time when I see something that I like.

[valadil]

Americans have holidays that are too close together. I mean good grief, less than a month for a Christmas shopping season?

It's more like we have a month for last minute shopping. Most people usually start shopping when decorations go up, which is often the day after Halloween. If you do your holiday shopping correctly, you won't have to set foot in a mall during December.

Also, having less than a month to shop is sane if you have kids. Growing up I always found my Chanukah presents several days, if not weeks early. If they were only in the house for a couple days, that wouldn't have happened because I wouldn't have had time to ransack the place.

[Evil DM Mark3]

Would you mind elaborating on this sentence? I didn't really understand it. :smallconfused:

'Crazy American thing' sounds very likely. Those guys are WEIRD. :smallbiggrin:

They mention turkey. To me, Turkey means Christmas. But they are talking about the past tense, which is confusing as we are still over a month away.

As for being weird. Yes, yes they are. And so are we British and we revel in it!

Dear world:
Weird is NEVER an insult!!!

[Obrysii]

Black Friday?

I work until midnight the day before Thanksgiving, and then at 5am on Black Friday. I have three ten-hour days in retail back-to-back Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Not looking forward to it. And the fact I'm out very late the day before, and must be back in very early the day after, effectively ruins my Thanksgiving day.

[Eloel]

They mention turkey. To me, Turkey means Christmas. But they are talking about the past tense, which is confusing as we are still over a month away.

Oh. It's the capitalization that nailed me. Sorry on that.

This is a turkey.
http://www.igourmet.com/images/topics/turkey1.jpg
This (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Turkey_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg)is Turkey.


Also, I thought turkey was for Thanksgiving?

[Evil DM Mark3]

Also, I thought turkey was for Thanksgiving?I have no experience of Thanksgiving, but Christmas is turkey.
And roast potatoes
and carrots
and parsnips
and sprouts
and maybe peas
and maybe swede
and stuffing
and cippolata sausages
and cranberry sauce
and gravy
and breadsauce
and crackers
and the wearing of the silly hats therein
and Christmas pudding
and custard
and a starter before all that, often prawn cocktail or pate
and indigestion.

All to end before the Queen's Christmas message which is watched with tea.
and indigestion.

Followed by turkey sandwiches for tea.
And cake.
and tea.
and indigestion.

[Foeofthelance]

This Black Friday I'm working RETAIL! Should prove "entertaining".

[snoopy13a]

This Black Friday I'm working RETAIL! Should prove "entertaining".

I think it's only entertaining if you're working the opening shift at a store with incredible deals (so people are fighting over stuff). If you're working a normal shift or an afternoon/evening shift, it's probably like any other day, just busier.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

This is just... I don't even. I don't get it. People DIE! :smallfurious:

[_Zoot_]

Now see I couldn't figure this one out, here you all are, talking about shopping and stuff in relation to Black Friday...

Over in Australia this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(1939))is what Black Friday means...

Isn't it interesting how different cultures have different meanings for words and days, we had some German exchange students giveing a presentation on Bonn, they were telling us about a big festival they had, that started on the 11th of the 11th, because "It was a funny number". I thought that it was fascinating the difference in focus that our two societies had (Australia of course has Remembrance Day then, to offer thanks to our war dead, particularly the First World War, that ended on the 11th of the 11th).

[Elder Tsofu]

You need a car for it here.
I don't have a car.
And I will be in doing experiments on thanksgiving. (nothing bad for me as I'm not American, but I pity my co-experimenter as it seem to be a semi-important occasion)

I'll just save up for the real shopping season, the middle day clearance sale. Nothing like standing around for hours in the dark surrounded by a throng of other people standing in the meter-high snowdrifts waiting for the shop to open.

But as the Swedish we are we stand in an orderly line, and they only let in a limited number at a time. Not much of this disgraceful scuffling-business the Americans seem so fond of. :smallwink:Just look at American football and North American ice-hockey!

[Beelzebub1111]

I've worked retail on black friday for the past four years. The deals aren't any better than any other time of the year.

[Isak]

This'll be my third Black Friday working retail.

First year, I was nearly trampled myself. Ended up having to stand on a basedeck of an aisle and holding onto it so that I wouldn't get tossed around.

Second year, I was helping my supervisor grab various computer packaged deals and such, and eventually took over around 9:00AM.

This year... Well; Where I'm working now, they actually have Two armed police officers standing nearby the registers apparently. Should be interesting :smallbiggrin:

[skywalker]

Apparently, the local mall is closed Thanksgiving, and will be opening at midnight (12:00AM) Black Friday morning. I consider this a boon, because it means I don't have to get up early. I can just stay up from the night before, shop for two hours, and then go home and be in bed around 3:00AM (when I normally get to sleep anyway).

I'm going to be an apparently lone voice of dissent in this thread: I love Black Friday. Probably because coming from a family in small business retail, the primary meaning of "black" was that we would be in the black after the day was over. I always liked working days like these, because work was quick and by the end of the day, I felt exhausted but in a good way. The sheer amount of commerce that occurs on this day is awesome, I feel.

I do think it's a little ridiculous to flood stores and obviously it sucks that people die, but I love the Christmas shopping season. The sheer amount of commerce going on is awesome. Although I could finish up my shopping by the end of November, I just love being in stores and malls for all the hubbub and whatnot. *shrug* Maybe it's just me.

[Marnath]

Where I live, it's not safe to so much as go into town on black friday. Traffic is heavy, and they all have the same panicked-beast intelligence level that the mobs in the stores have, to the point where there are crashes galore and anyone foolish enough to be on the sidewalk runs the risk of being driven over.

It's like the whole city goes insane.

[Killer Angel]

It's the day after thanksgiving when a bunch of stuff goes on sale for no reason and people trample other people to death in order to get there first.

Lemmings come to my mind... sounds interesting, from a mere psycological study pov. :smalltongue:

[Midnight Son]

I will hopefully be out on the highways on Black Friday, with a load of goods destined for somewhere. I say hopefully, cause it is just as likely that I'll be making delivery that day and have to brave some city streets to get to my destination while trying to avoid crushing the idiots under 40 tons of the goods they're out trying to purchase.

[Moofaa]

I did retail for 10 years in a small town of around 30,000 people. We had plenty of fights and tramplings and its one of many reasons why I absolutely HATE the holiday season. We typically had 1000-1500 people lined up outside by 4am. There were literally so many people that the line of people waiting for the registers wrapped completely around the interior of the store. This was at a big-box retailer too.

Also, its NOT actually the biggest shopping day of the year. That day belongs to the weekend BEFORE Christmas, as thats when the stores see the most profits (and get completely wiped out of inventory).

However, all the trampling and violence occurs on Black Friday and thats the day that gets the most news coverage and has the best "deals".

[Thajocoth]

I'll be celebrating Black Friday like we do every year. About 30 friends and relatives all gathered for a turkey dinner, of which, I only eat macaroni and cheese, and later chocolate pie.

[Obrysii]

There were literally so many people that the line of people waiting for the registers wrapped completely around the interior of the store. This was at a big-box retailer too.

And the customers complaining that the registers aren't prepared for such demand, despite all of the registers are going and they're moving faster than they normally wound (ie, 120% efficiency!).

And then they complain when you run out of the big-draw items.

[Cristo Meyers]

I can only think of a single item I would consider going out on Black Friday for, and it quite frankly isn't worth that much hassle, especially without knowing whether or not it'd actually be on sale.

I worked retail for Black Friday once, in what is apparently considered one of the premier shopping malls in the US (a claim I highly doubt, but still) and that's all I needed to know I never wanted to do it again. Up at 4, start work at 5, shift ended at about 1, dealing with a near-constant flow of people that had no idea what they were even looking for, and then having to almost literally fight my way out of the mall itself, then the parking lot, then the immediate area... I was wiped out by the time I reached the apartment at 2.

I believe that was actually my last day working there.

[Deathslayer7]

Oh dear. Black Friday. I stay home after my run of bad luck. See last year I wanted to go out, and I got sick. The year before I headed out around midnight and rear-ended someone while getting onto the highway. I blame them for stopping on the on-ramp but whatever. And the year before I went with a group and three of them decided to go to the bathroom and the other one fell asleep in the car. So yeah.... we lost our place in line because I had to watch the stuff.

No more Black Friday for me. If I do, I'll get up at 3am/4am and head out when it opens. :smallannoyed:

[KnightDisciple]

For the non-Americans out there: Black Friday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%28shopping%29).

Some notes:

American Thanksgiving is, of course, on Thursday. Many stores are closed that day.

It is 1 month (roughly) from Christmas. People are just starting to get things like holiday bonuses and the like. As well, they're suddenly realizing they need to do Christmas shopping; alternatively, they've budgeted to shop now.

Retailers realized this, and capitalized on it. Thus was born Black Friday.

Why is it called "Black Friday"?

Because there are more than a few retailers that technically don't show a profit (indicated by black ink in older accounting books) until the holiday season. Hence "Black Friday", the first day you showed "in the black" instead of "in the red".

The last decade seems to have seen an absurd surge in the mania surrounding it. I think some of it has to do with thinks like "limited releases", where any one store gets something like 10-20 count of a super-hot item. Hence the fighting.

At any rate. Many Americans think the degree of temporary madness on Black Friday is ridiculous. I think in the next few years, online shopping will slowly wear away at the physical shopping mania, but it won't kill it. For some reason, some people like getting up at 5am to hunt down deals.

As for food...

Turkey is eaten on Thanksgiving, while ham is for Christmas. At least where I come from. :smallwink:

[Mecharious]

I just found out what Black Friday was a few days ago. I'm 18, and I've lived in the United States all my life. Before just recently, I had never heard (or never bothered to remember) anything about Black Friday.

Isn't that weird?

[Zevox]

I just found out what Black Friday was a few days ago. I'm 18, and I've lived in the United States all my life. Before just recently, I had never heard (or never bothered to remember) anything about Black Friday.

Isn't that weird?
Not really. I think it may have taken me a year or two longer than you to hear about it myself. Shopping just isn't a major part of younger people's lives, except for some (mostly female) enthusiasts.

I'm certainly not going anywhere on Black Friday myself. I plan to stay inside and shake my head sadly at the news of the inevitable fatalities, then play some video games and try to forget about it. Maybe listen to the Nostalgia Critic's "Holiday ClusterF***" a few times - seems appropriate.

Zevox

[Mystic Muse]

Maybe listen to the Nostalgia Critic's "Holiday ClusterF***" a few times - seems appropriate.


Been listening to that quite a bit today. Good song.

[Rob Roy]

I've never had to deal with these Black Friday lines everyone is talking about, the closest I've seen is the day after Christmas when everyone rushes to the store to return gifts that they didn't like or to use gift cards they were given. Weird.

[skywalker]

I think in the next few years, online shopping will slowly wear away at the physical shopping mania, but it won't kill it. For some reason, some people like getting up at 5am to hunt down deals.

Cyber Monday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Monday) is already huge.

[Zevox]

There's already someone camping out for this (http://news.yahoo.com/video#video=23150588). They're going to camp in front a store for five days for this.

Some people are crazy.

Zevox

[Foeofthelance]

I think it's only entertaining if you're working the opening shift at a store with incredible deals (so people are fighting over stuff). If you're working a normal shift or an afternoon/evening shift, it's probably like any other day, just busier.

Well, in my case my boss's boyfriend just fell down the stairs and fractured his back, and there's a real chance he's going to end up paralyzed without insurance. My assistant manager and book seller both just came down with the flu, so very well might not be able to come in. That leaves me, the new girl we just hired to replace the other new girl who quit, and the cashier with MS who can't really walk or bend over.

The only "good" news is that I predicted this would happen, if not in detail then in consequence, about a month ago. So at least its not unexpected.

[TSGames]

W00T!!!

Just got back from some Black Friday shopping. I originally wasn't going to go, but then I got scheduled for a 7:30 meeting. I figured, 'eh what's a couple hours of sleep anyway? Sleep is the cousin of death, right?' So, two hours and one Five Hour Energy later, I've returned victorious and I managed to save a mint. The traffic and the lines were so much less than I expected; I might give it a try next year.

[Lillith]

Hmmm it sounds very interesting to me, but we don't have those kind of sales here sadly. My bf in the US however plans to go to some gamestore and has some sort of plan to trade in games for an xbox 360 and a psp.

What shocks me though is that he said yesterday he was leaving at 11pm his night so that he'd be at that store before midnight and would be one of the first. When I checked that store's website it said it wouldn't open till 5am. I hope he knew. :smalleek:

[Zevox]

What shocks me though is that he said yesterday he was leaving at 11pm his night so that he'd be at that store before midnight and would be one of the first. When I checked that store's website it said it wouldn't open till 5am. I hope he knew. :smalleek:
He most likely did. Sitting outside a store overnight like that waiting for it to open come morning is not entirely uncommon here in the States. Tends to be limited to Black Friday and new releases of certain products (for instance, I know it was a common thing for some gamers to do on the night of the release of the 360/Wii/PS3 when those were first coming out), but it does happen.

Zevox

[Syka]

I had a couple friends drive three hours to be at a Pac Sun for some random thing that was one sale. :smallsigh:

I did Black Friday half-heartedly one year. Got out there around 9 and tried to find some deals. Mostly succeeded. Hated the lines.

There is also a Best Buy commercial with some chick saying how much she looooves working Black Friday. I don't know where they found her, but I've never met a retail employee who liked working Black Friday. They either don't care or hate it. So, the entire time I'm watching that commercial I'm thinking "You are such a liar!"

[Sipex]

A co-worker of mine took the day off and crossed the border to shop.

Crazy woman.

[Em Blackleaf]

I just went Black Friday shopping for the first time ever! ...Online. :P I never liked the idea of trying to fit the whole town into one Wal Mart or whatever to buy TVs for a hundred dollars less than usual. But online shopping is a lot roomier, plus there's little chance of someone buying the last of something right before me.

So I used some old gift cards and figured it would be a good idea to take advantage of what Black Friday deals I could get (free shipping was one of them! So it's like going to the store without getting elbowed in the face). I'm gonna get some awesome loot in 3-4 business days. :P

[Vaynor]

I'd much rather work today day than spend the whole time shopping, and earn enough money to make up for the difference anyways. Also, shopping sucks in the first place, and tons of sales don't help much.

[SaintRidley]

Hmmm it sounds very interesting to me, but we don't have those kind of sales here sadly. My bf in the US however plans to go to some gamestore and has some sort of plan to trade in games for an xbox 360 and a psp.

What shocks me though is that he said yesterday he was leaving at 11pm his night so that he'd be at that store before midnight and would be one of the first. When I checked that store's website it said it wouldn't open till 5am. I hope he knew. :smalleek:

Oh, he knew. Doubly so as a gamer.

I don't go out on Black Friday, but my girlfriend and her family do the whole shebang from very early in the morning. She managed to nab us a 2 TB external hard drive for roundabouts $95 or so. So not a bad deal.

[TSGames]

Oh, he knew. Doubly so as a gamer.

I don't go out on Black Friday, but my girlfriend and her family do the whole shebang from very early in the morning. She managed to nab us a 2 TB external hard drive for roundabouts $95 or so. So not a bad deal.

Holy cow. Are you planning on saving one-fifth of the Library of Congress? Great deal, though.

[SaintRidley]

Well, we each have a 500GB for personal use, so our plan will be to use the 2TB as permanent backup storage for the both of us, locked in a filing cabinet.

That, and we're both music fiends. Like, ridiculously so.

[Thajocoth]

I'm quite full from Black Friday dinner... We had 25 people over. A few of the pies weren't even touched. There was so much food...

[Archonic Energy]

This year... Well; Where I'm working now, they actually have Two armed police officers standing nearby the registers apparently. Should be interesting :smallbiggrin:

have you ever had the dreaded PINAPPLE situation? :smallwink:

[wxdruid]

Last year catlover and I both had insomnia early on Black Friday, so we went out shopping and had some fun. We were just there for the interest of it, not searching for something in particular.

This year, catlover woke up at 4:25am and insisted we go again *sigh* She finally managed to get me out of bed at 6:30am (after she got dressed, and scrapped the windshield clear of ice). It was interesting, most of the high value items were all gone, but we did find some amusing items and we ate donuts for breakfast.

[AshDesert]

Went shopping yesterday, kinda meh. I don't really get why we woke up early and spent more on fuel than we saved on those deals. Especially since half of the deals weren't any better than the "savings" that are always there, year round. No crazy mobs here though, people just kinda stood in line for a few hours then walked to whatever deals they wanted. I just don't see the point of it all.

[hayabusa]

Mom went out shopping real early. I stayed in bed, but I did go out at 10:00 to do some shopping for myself. The local/regional video game store had their comic selection (normally $1 an issue) at buy 1 get 1 free. Got 14 issues, including a much-need Star Wars Republic for a total of $7.

[Winter_Wolf]

Turkey is eaten on Thanksgiving, while ham is for Christmas. At least where I come from. :smallwink:

BLASPHEMER! :smalltongue: Actually I quite like ham, but I don't want to see it on Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's. New Year's is technically the time when my family does ham, but I've only once had that delicacy the three day slow cooked smoked ham, and if I can't get that again (and I can't, that relative is gone), then I don't want it crashing the festivities.

On Black Friday I did go out, late in the afternoon to get plasticware for an event on Saturday. I wouldn't even have done that but I had to bring the eating utensils and plates, so I had no choice because I'd been putting it off and then Thanksgiving Day hit.

[Elfin]

'Crazy American thing' sounds very likely. Those guys are WEIRD. :smallbiggrin:

I have to agree. We're just bizarre.
And I'm only half joking. Probably a little less than half, actually.

Anyway, I really, really hate shopping.
But it was Black Friday, so I bought a new toaster anyway.

[Obrysii]

Well, the dreadful weekend is over.

Had a lot of extremely rude customers. One complained that we sold out of a very hot item (we sold 60 in 10 minutes) and her complaint? "It's a whole weekend sale! So why did you run out?!" ...I could only say, "I can't control what people buy."

Another woman made me stay with her for an hour while she asked inane questions about ceiling fans - making me open up five or six of them so she could get the right color. Every time I thought I'd escaped her she'd come back with a stupid question ("Does this have a pull chain?" ... what did the display show?).

So I spent an hour of my time with this woman including some of it on the phone with her electrician, ten minutes retaping up all the boxes she made me open, all for a $50 fan on one of the busiest days of the year. She came back in the evening and complained about my customer service - saying I was rude and unprofessional.