Yes.

Greed brings out the worst in lots of other ways, too.

In my opinion, greed has little to do with it. The phenomenon is simply a display of the stupidity of the general populace and the ease with which they are manipulated by the retail industry. Large retail corporations and marketing firms spend millions of dollars each year determining how to keep the buying public in the mode of mindless sheep, and convincing them that they need to have the latest bright, shiny object.

One only has to peruse this forum to see what I am referring to; countless threads about the flavor-of-the-month material product or TeeVee show. As usual, Consumerism is the opiate of the masses.

Agree 1000%. They look like a herd of sheeple coursing into the stores. Probably left their families at home on a REAL together holiday to race out and buy more. If the stores were open on Xmas afternoon, they'd be back looking for sales and exchanging. GREED!!

I agree. Our local paper had a story yesterday about a guy and his wife who began waiting outside Target at 5pm on Wednesday. So they sat there all Wednesday night, all day Thursday, and then got to shop for whatever rubbish they were so desperate for on Thursday night or Friday morning when Target opened up. Nothing unusual there, right? But this was a bit different -- they had their "three young children" with them. Nice, eh? Mommy and daddy skipped Thanksgiving day to sit outside Target with the kids. No family meal, however modest, no place to play except in the parking lot, nothing but waiting to shop. The paper tried to pretty it up by calling it "camping", as though it was like a cozy family get-together. So terribly sad.

I don't associate shopping for Christmas as a 'greed' thing.If somebody wants to get up and stand in line for hours for special price event..more power to them.

I agree. It wouldn't be possible for advertising to affect people in such a way if it weren't for inherent greed, on both sides. But let's not forget those with little money who want to give to others.

Welcome, Judith_Mills_Phd. Have you been around the Table awhile and decide to register? Good to have you!

Right now I'm just pretty much disgusted with "SHEEPLE"! Yesterday I was just a griping to with my husband about it...what made me gripe was the news talking about everyone with their Smart Phones at the mall...like if you don't have a Smart Phone you just don't know what's on sale...you know I started thinking...it used to be the Internet was all the rage...well I've been on the Internet since pretty much the beginning and I gotta tell ya that you know what...my Mom and Daddy(Bless their SOULS!) never once touched a computer and they were better off in their lives than I WILL EVER BE! So these Sheeple that think they are so freakin' smart on their stupid PHONES are just kidding themselves. They don't impress me one bit and if they think they are smart for using a phone...think again! That is not "enlightened" or anything...just being herded in with all the other Sheeple...RANT OVER....

I went to a few stores yesterday after 11:00...at one store this elderly man held the door open for me and smiled ear to ear and says "WE DON'T EVEN HAVE TO STAND IN LINE TO GO SHOPPING"...by that time there was pretty much no one left shopping and it was no worse than going on a typical Saturday. The post office was totally empty...HA!

JMHO!

I got up early one Black Friday morning (about three years ago) and stood in line for a Nintendo game...the man at the front of the line, took them all. Now you "know" he had no use for that many Nintendos...he was probably reselling them. On the other hand, maybe he had twenty grandkids he wanted to give them to, but I feel it was the "greed" thing and not Christmas shopping...now they sometimes limit the amount of things you can buy, but I don't go to the "sales" any more.

Greed bring out the worst in people. Not just shoppers. It does not have to happen at the checkout line, it is everywhere.

I would never put myself through this to save a couple dollars on these forgettable 'doorbusters'.

This isn't about saving. Shopping gives some people a (false) sense of purpose. Buying something is momentarily empowering. 'Getting a bargain' excuses the behavior.

Giving this mindless frenzy a name normalizes it, even though the Black refers to the stores' hopes of finally turning their books from the red to the black. Lines in front of stores serve the stores, not the buyers.

What brought this to my mind, was seeing on the news, the few instances where a woman used pepper spray to get what she wanted to purchase.

And tazers being used.

People being run over when the doors are open.

DH shopped on line and got what we wanted--no standing in line, price ok and free shipping--no gasoline used and will be sent to our GD without a problem.
At least we don't have snow YET but it is cold and windy with temps at 29 wind from the north. Inside the house is good.

Shoppers stepped over the body of a man who died while shopping at Target for Xmas decorations. No one stopped to help till a nurse stepped forward but he died. This is the beginning of the end of the America I once knew.

It's greed and lack of something. How do you step over another human being who is laying there dying?

I have no desire to shop at midnight, stand in long lines or get pushed and shoved in order to save a few bucks. My sanity (and life) is worth more than that. I did most of my holiday shopping online. I have a few things left to buy and will do that early weekdays at the mall when there are zero crowds.

When you see on the news, all the crazies, I'm not sure just what it is but I think greed has a lot to do with it.....I have heard horror stories about "those" who braved the crowds....And I've heard stories about those young people that have stood in line, had friends come stand in line with them for certain electronic items and as soon as they got their numbers, had them listed on EBay for a very high price.....Talk about greed!

I agree that it's terribly sad that so many people are easily manipulated by the corporations.

WalMart seems in need of a new class of customers.

What are we seeing here? Desperation due to hard times? Something else? (I haven't heard of any casualties at non-Big Box stores.)

Glenda, not just shoppers, greed brings out the worst in people. period.

I agree and for the most part Black Friday brings out the worst in people, but it can also bring out the good in people. This year my future DD in law and I stood in line outside a local electronics store to buy a new washer/dryer for her. As we were waiting a local sandwich shop had two delivery guys stop by and give out free sandwiches to anyone standing in line. No gimmicks, no flyers, just two very nice young men smiling and offering free food. We also got to meet the nice couple in front of us in line and struck up a conversation with them to pass the time. In the end we didn't get the appliances; however, we left feeling OK about it because we had an overall good experience.

Looks like I was manipulated into a greedy little sheeple because I went shopping yesterday. LOL

It was around noon when I hit the mall. Got two of my GS's shoes for 60% off. Loved it!

The only place I had to wait in line was at Belk's, for about 10 minutes but couldn't pass up the cutest little outfit for my GD. Also 60% off.

Then went to Walmart, and although Electronics was busy, when I went to check out there was no one ahead of me. So, either the crowds were down or our rural people went to the big city. :)

I dealt with no nasty people.

I had a great day yesterday! I was in BBW at 6am and all the shoppers were in a happy, festive mood. Spent $100 on $255 worth of gifts, taking advantage of coupons and BF specials. Went and had coffee at Coffee Bean and then on to Bed, Bath and Beyond for 20% off. Had a lot of fun, everyone was great.

Tens of millions of people shopped yesterday. The media sensationalizes a few incidents and all of a sudden the world is ending? I read preliminary reports that said yesterday was the best Black Friday the retailers have had in several years. I hope so. If consumer confidence is up, then maybe more people will get hired this season.

DD and I used to shop the day after Thanksgiving and it was fun. That was before the "Black Friday" craze happened. It was fun then but you couldn't pay me to do it now. I did stop at Big Lots though but everyone there was sane.

Glenda, a lady at the Trussville Walmart got her arm broken when she was trying to get some sheets that were part of the big sale.

Linda

I don't think belittling those on the forum is a good way to start a relatiuonshop with any forum JMHO

I am a deal shopper but have never shopped on Black Friday, Sounds way too crowded for a couple of items at great prices that will run out very quickly. DD(18) went out most of the night and had a blast! To me the shopping seems to be a competition-wo can get the most stuff.

This is what I was talking about, not intended for those that love the joy of Black Friday shopping. Even if there are occasional instances, it sheds a bad light. I have no complaint against Black Friday, just what happens some times and this is one of the ones:

-- A woman suspected of showering Black Friday shoppers with pepper spray surrendered to authorities but was released pending further investigation after she refused to discuss the incident, police said Saturday.

The woman, whose name was not released, is suspected of firing pepper spray into a crowd in order to clear a path to a crate of Xbox video game players that were being unwrapped late Thanksgiving night at a Walmart in the upscale Porter Ranch section of the San Fernando Valley.

The suspect got away in the confusion, and it was not known if she bought one of the Xboxes. Ten people suffered minor injuries from the spray and 10 others sustained cuts and bruises in the ensuing chaos.

"Last night at 8:30 the suspect involved in the pepper spray incident at the Porter Ranch Walmart turned herself in," police Sgt. Jose Valle said Saturday. She immediately invoked her right against self-incrimination, however, and refused to discuss the incident further.

Police released her pending further investigation.

Valle said investigators still have nearly a dozen witnesses to interview, including several spraying victims. He added it would likely be at least two days before an arrest in the case could be made.

If the woman who surrendered is indeed the person who sprayed the crowd she could face battery charges.

Yeah, the woman in question was here in Los Angeles.

It was the only reported incident in all of Southern California, which has a population of 22 million.

We should all be afraid.

Be very afraid.

Tally, you got that right: It was the only reported incident in all of Southern California, which has a population of 22 million.

Seeing that this thread might go downhill, my intentions was NOT intended towards those that have fun and enjoy Black Friday.

Shall we be grownup and not make this worse, and make this an ugly thread.

Nope. Don't agree with any of the BLACK FRIDAY hoop-a-la.

The reason so many people camp out is that the stores offer only a few 'come-ons' bargains on a, "first linebacker to get to the counter gets the item" basis. This creates unruly mobs made of people who ordinarily do not behave this way, but don't quite have enough gumption to contain themselves in this situation. It does create a situation that the marketeers wanted: Draw a big mob into the store.

Its silly; Its rudeness to the Nth degree; But it works for the marketeer and will continue as long as people - ah shoppers- behave like lemmings.

I guess Black Friday -- and the scattered incidents -- just makes me realize that sometimes people's base instincts come out over crazy stuff. I know it's not everyone.

(But did you see the video/story about the craziness that ensued over a mad rush for $2 waffle irons? Video went viral. But if you're offended by seeing a, um, buttcrack, don't watch.)

I stay far away from the Black Friday shopping, mostly because I just get gift cards for the kids I buy for nowadays (they're teens who live in another state). But truly there's nothing I need out in the marketplace that I can't find while surfing the Web while lounging on the couch.

I agree that greed is a big problem nowadays -- I think society is much more strongly "Keep up with the Joneses" and that some people feel jealous of others they see with big-big-big-screen tvs, expensive cars, expensive phones, so they want to "grab" what others have, no matter whether they really need it or can truly afford it.

But I also believe that some people are just not taught good manners anymore.

(What else brings out the worst in shoppers? Huge lines. I'm a fine, well-mannered person when I walk into Costco, for example. When I head to the registers and see very long lines, I turn into a grump! When I go out to the car and see that someone has left her cart touching my car, I become something even worse!)

Growing up, we got up and went shopping on Black Friday. It was always lots of fun. No way would I do it now. Stores usually carry inferior for Christmas and I don't like to deal with traffic or crowds. I prefer the after Christmas bargains.