The Picture That Says Everything About Black Friday

a reply to: jude11

On the news about a week before they estimated something like 1-2 million people will call in sick and cross the border from Canada to take part in American black Friday. Soooo the logic is, miss a full days pay, spend on gas to save a portion of what they could have earned at work.

Yup. We're doomed

People are idiots, just as cheap if not cheaper to just shop online, Amazon, ebay or whatever store you like... But it is fun to just roam abouts with the crowds and booty watch!

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask

originally posted by: muse7
Capitalism's official holiday

So whose to blame, Capitalism........?

or the "stuff" obsessed people, dominated by their own need for "things"

is it the "church" of Walmart, Big lots, BestBuy or any number of stores thats responsible, or is it facilitating the needs of the Worshipers of the material

I find it funny that you always take a moment to take a pop shot at conservatives or capitalism or any number of these types of things......

But you dont ever really put thought into what youre saying other then whats on the surface.......

Theres a deeper issue here.......companies are just feeding the need of those who are already morally bankrupt and need to fill the void with possessions..........

The companies not only fill the need, they create the need. That's the part you're missing. People are inundated by media, one form of which is direct advertising, telling them that they look bad, smell bad, and feel bad and their lives will be transformed if only they buy X. They leave their homes and see people who are wearing, using, and driving X. Their children beg them for X. Not only that, but the corporations that purchase/create this advertising also start social traditions like Black Friday.

About 40 years ago I was tricked into going shopping on Black Friday with my mother-in-law and several of her friends. I'd never experienced anything like it in my life up to that point. Our family traditions didn't include shopping on Black Friday.
I had never seen such rudeness in all my sheltered life. I was shoved, run over with shopping carts, elbowed and called nasty names----in a fabric store. I took a vow that day that if I made it out of the mall alive, I would NEVER, EVER, EVER get myself into that situation again. I've kept that vow.
Do I blame capitalism? Do I blame the wizards of advertising? As those women were pushing and shoving me about and calling me names I never once thought to blame anyone except the ones displaying the bad behavior at that moment.
This is one bit of Americana that makes me sad. It's like somewhere along the way, the idea of civility got thrown completely away.

originally posted by: diggindirt
About 40 years ago I was tricked into going shopping on Black Friday with my mother-in-law and several of her friends. I'd never experienced anything like it in my life up to that point. Our family traditions didn't include shopping on Black Friday.
I had never seen such rudeness in all my sheltered life. I was shoved, run over with shopping carts, elbowed and called nasty names----in a fabric store. I took a vow that day that if I made it out of the mall alive, I would NEVER, EVER, EVER get myself into that situation again. I've kept that vow.
Do I blame capitalism? Do I blame the wizards of advertising? As those women were pushing and shoving me about and calling me names I never once thought to blame anyone except the ones displaying the bad behavior at that moment.
This is one bit of Americana that makes me sad. It's like somewhere along the way, the idea of civility got thrown completely away.

In a fabric store. LOL. Seriously, it must have been a frightening experience. Yes, of course the individuals are responsible for their behavior but, let's face it, most people are sheep and are easily manipulated. You tried it once and had the sense to not do it again. Do you have any suggestions for how to convince people who've already had the experience and go back for more to not do it? Apparently, these people get something more positive than negative out of the experience. Is it really just the reduced price merchandise?

As for the custom of civility, I agree with you. It's all but gone. I suspect it has to do with a combination of things. Parents don't make (and often don't have time) to raise their children. Few people grow up and spend their lives in small communities where they'll see the same people for the rest of their lives. I think it's far less likely that someone will elbow and swear at their next door neighbor than a stranger. We're also inundated with violence in the media. If you grow up seeing thousands of people tortured and killed on TV and in the movies, elbowing someone to get a product in a store seems pretty mild (not that it is).

In some cases, with some items, the same thing in the same store is still cheaper on Ebay, go figure that!

An abundance of greed
And a false sense of need
Will eventually lead
To a bloody stampede.

Oh such fools indeed...!

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

Theres a deeper issue here

Yes I agree completely

.......companies are just feeding the need of those who are already morally bankrupt and need to fill the void with possessions..........

Well,,, yes,,,,,, however. How have these people become so morally bankrupt and develop the need to fill that void with possessions?

I make it this way. Western culture has been bombarded now for for over a hundred years with mass audio and visual stimulation. Hidden in plain sight with the music and entertainment programs on radio television and the big screen are endless suggestions and psychological manipulations for consumption.

Certainly a large part of this has just been companies selling people what they want. Yes, this is an old hackneyed defense for the cultural rush to consumerism. However.....

Behind even this layer of our system of commerce lies a truer culprit. Since way way back, when the fathers of psychology began discovering ways in which to manipulate the human mind, practitioners of marketing and advertising have been seeking more and more devious ways in which to endear these consumers to their products.

As science progresses and we come to know more and more about the human mind, how it works and how to effect it, the modern practitioners of this art(?) keep abreast of the latest and most up to date studies and use them day in and day out to control the mechanisms of the market place.

These Machiavellian mind manipulators are now reaching their dream goal. The creation of a slave class with money in their pockets ready willing and mindlessly happy to spend nights sleeping in the rain to get first crack at the crap that is being sold to them as if it was some kind of Holy Grail. Family traditions as proudly claimed by some I saw on the tube.

Yes MBTM,,, I agree it does go much deeper. Even deeper than you have stated. Indeed, it is my conclusion that your statement is placing the blame for these ugly spectacles on the victims, not on the perpetrators of the crime.

Things Spider will never do que-up in line for hours for the latest Jordans, I phone, I Pad,Maxi Pad or waddeva ,do black Friday's?? nevah matter o fact iam not big shopper unless it's books and most of that is on line.

a reply to: jude11

jesus christ!

read this yesterday in BTS thread. There are some great youtube vids about it.

where are they getting their money from? spose I am so broke all the time... if there was a sale on, I don't even go.

lol

poverty could be a blessing in disguise.

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
a reply to: jude11

yet so many of us know that becoming beholden to THINGS is not a good thing........

So many of us see these "black friday" masses of people as people who have lost whats important in this world........

You can blame these companies and ads etc etc etc.......

But really if people are honest, its their own damn faults.......they KNOW whats right, they KNOW inside, that this covetous behavior of THINGS instead of whats important is wrong......

In the end they CHOOSE to do what they do......

I see now that Jude has already approached you with my previous point of view. So

yet so many of us know that becoming beholden to THINGS is not a good thing........

absolutely

So many of us see these "black friday" masses of people as people who have lost whats important in this world........

absolutely

You can blame these companies and ads etc etc etc.......

sure,,, and?

But really if people are honest, its their own damn faults.......they KNOW whats right, they KNOW inside, that this covetous behavior of THINGS instead of whats important is wrong......

Well I don't know that it is or that they do. I, and I suppose you, have been raised with a moral code that has given us a shield against these manipulations. Many have not. To a large degree here in Western Culture, these moral codes that have served many of us have not been prevelent in the upbringing of so many others. They have never once had the chance to question the sickness of the Xmas season. They are wrapped up on the social and cultural mores of their families and friends.

And in the end, as you put it, you and I do know more than they what is right, we KNOW inside that this covetous behavior of THINGS is wrong. But for so many, to my mind victims of this cultural disease of consumerism, the ability to truly choose is not present. After all, in their world, freedom has been instilled as our great freedom to choose Coke or Pepsi while they dress themselves and their children in clothing advertising for free the glories of their chosen product. All hail the PRODUCT

Yes, I maintain that it does go deeper. Thanks for listening

a reply to: Tangerine
Rather than frightening, I would characterize it as "dazed" if I had to pick one word. I grew up in a family whose "day after Thanksgiving" tradition was to wrap Christmas presents for people less fortunate. My mother was an excellent seamstress and made dozens of articles of clothing each year. My grandmother and aunts made quilts from the scraps of those clothes. They also knitted and crocheted mufflers and mittens.
On Thanksgiving Day everyone met at my Grandparents' home for dinner and brought with them their handiwork for the year. On the day after Thanksgiving all the kids and several of the aunts met at Grandma's and wrapped presents and boxed canned goods to be given to poor families in the community.
I saw the joy created when one gives of their talents just to make the world a little happier. I knew when I packed those flannel pajamas and a sock monkey into a box with a quilt and my Grandmother's homemade blackberry jam that some kid was gonna have a warm and loved feeling.
So there I was, a hippie chick, trying to fit in with her husband's family. Their tradition was to charge down to the mall and max out as many credit cards as possible, stopping only when the vehicle's capacity is exceeded.
It was an eye-opening experience.
I have no idea how to convince people not to act like they do. The ones I brought into the world don't behave that way nor do their offspring so at least I've avoided adding to the problem. They were sorting toys collected by the Fraternal Order of Police today.
I'm at a loss as to how to "unwash" the brains of those who have bought into "Stuff makes you happy."
Perhaps my ability to resist the pull of consumerism comes from the fact that I didn't live in a house with a tv until I was 27 years old. That tv got one local network and PBS and the time it was turned on was limited. We preferred music to tv. Our kids were raised on music that ranged from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to Jefferson Airplane, John Prine and Jimmy Buffett with a healthy dose of classical stuff.
To me it seems to be a clue that the banksters are still winning the battle for hearts and minds.

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask

originally posted by: muse7
Capitalism's official holiday

So whose to blame, Capitalism........?

or the "stuff" obsessed people, dominated by their own need for "things"

is it the "church" of Walmart, Big lots, BestBuy or any number of stores thats responsible, or is it facilitating the needs of the Worshipers of the material

I find it funny that you always take a moment to take a pop shot at conservatives or capitalism or any number of these types of things......

But you dont ever really put thought into what youre saying other then whats on the surface.......

Theres a deeper issue here.......companies are just feeding the need of those who are already morally bankrupt and need to fill the void with possessions..........

I don't agree, not even slightly. First the governments made them morally bankrupt and then made a social climate that can feed the capitalist beast.

People are very much encouraged to behave like this.

Why is it ok if you have money to burn you can camp out in a sleeping bag all night in the high street, but if you are skint and homeless and camping out in a sleeping bag all night in the high street it's a arrestable offence if you dont move on.

Black Friday??? More like No Dignity Friday.

I see a lot of self righteous bull# being spilled from the soap boxes, as usual.

Welcome to Christmas ATS. Let's the petty judgements and self glorifications flow!

Here's a video to go with the picture.

Yeah, you'd catch me out on Black Friday...never.

I agree with what a lot of people here are saying. The blame for this shameful...erm...tradition...lies on both sides. It starts earlier every year too.

People have a choice, and we choose, and have always chosen, to not support either side.

And to think that for some people shame is completely lost on the, where others see this as some special tradition. Black Friday along with similar nonsense like the Super Bowl or across the pond their soccer.

Not to get off topic but the sense of shame I feel for humanity during these "holidays" is no different than the way I feel when I see Americans consumed with football or others with Soccerr, etc. what I find more curious is that even those "awakened" seem to hold this ideology of competition so tightly.

Religion, sports and consumption. Distraction, distraction, distraction.

Shame you know, the way I see it Christmas is cold. You know two men can build a beautiful 4 bedroom 3 bath house in 7 months (trust me I know) Can you imagine what 12 could do or 24? Could you imagine 240 investors spending the equivalent of a PS4 on labor and materials? Hmm, see...broken.

And all this over Undercrackers and Braziers..God help us . Glad i'm prepared to bug out and away from these animals when TSHTF..

The only part of Black Friday I've participated in is on the other side: I was a store manager of a greeting card store for many years and Black Friday was the day we all dreaded. The minute the doors opened and customers flooded in, the arguments would start.

Running out a certain product was never good; customers screamed, cried and argued with you to check the stockroom for twentieth time because they didn't believe we were out of that item. Flustered cashiers made mistakes with the many coupons we accepted, took too long to ring product, etc...More yelling and abusing the employee. Madness. And on top of that we had to do daily sales readings and call in our sales numbers to the district manager. If numbers didn't measure up to the hourly quota then you got a call from him.

When we finally closed our doors for the night the store looked like a bomb went off. Employees would walk the store and find broken figurines, candy stuck in the fur of stuffed animals, trash on the floor and entire rows of cards stuck in the wrong pockets because no one bothered to put the card back in the same slot. We would stay for almost 2 hours just trying to put everything back together.

It's an exhausting experience. Running back and forth trying to keep product filled, trying the keep the store organized, keeping the children from eating the bagged candy because the moms were distracted and not paying attention, it all finally caught up with me. After 30 years in management I finally quit the retail industry.

Now that I no longer work in retail I stay home the entire weekend of Black Friday. I don't even feel the need to buy deeply discounted product. Maybe that's from years of being scarred by the experience.

a reply to: Thorneblood
I yield my soapbox to you. Please give us insight on the matter of people smashing each other over a gadget or a piece of fabric.
You've thrown up a negative vibe here. Let's see if you have any balance in your life and can give us the positive side of your insights.
I'll repeat this just for clarity:

It's like somewhere along the way, the idea of civility got thrown completely away.