OT- Who else has banned Black Friday?! Or has a crazy story to share!

So I braved the Black Friday sales again this year, but it was sooooooo much worse then I had ever seen it before:shock:
The lines were litterly 2 parking lots long at one store, another had people in tents! and walmart well the mob was so bad I left after 20 min of standing in one spot trying to move ( I litterly had to push, squeeze and demand people to let me out)

So I have decided to never do this again...

Any one else banning Black Friday? Or any bad/crazy experiences you wanna share?

 

I've never gone out for the Black Friday craziness, but plan to next year. I seriously have to see this stuff for myself I wouldn't be out there to shop but to people watch.

 

I stay far, far away from the madness! I stopped by walmart to get some bread on my way home Thursday and people were in line waiting for the electornics to go on sale.. they kept looking at me like I was crazy cause I was trying to get the bread and the line for the xboxes were in that asle...LOL.... It took me forever just to get out... and that was 2 hrs before the sale started!!!... I heard that people were in line since 2 pm.... Now, I would have loved to shop Joann'a!

 

WOW!!! I've never had that much trouble! The last time I went, it was to get Phillip a RipStik. It was at Target. Very little line at all!

This year, there wasn't anything I was interested in. We did go to Half-Price Books, because I had a 40% off one item, and I wanted to get my friend who is moving to Taiwan a collection of Dr. Quinn to take with her. Didn't go until around noon, and it was just a little busier than it normally is.

 

I got hit in the face trying to get dh a waffle iron. They were $2.85 at WalMart Thursday nite and he just had to have it. So I risked life and limb and told him he better eat waffles every stinking day for the rest of his life!LOL
It was the first Black Friday I ever attended and it will be the last. Seeing the depths some people will sink to in the name of greed just makes me depressed. Also it just hurts!

 

Since my wife and youngest son have been away this week on a marching band trip, I decided to take my younger daughter to Kohl's. We arrived about five minutes to midnight on Thursday. The line snaked along the side of the building and then back again, and, once the doors opened, it took about ten minutes to get into the store. Once inside, we bought a good amount of clothes for about 70% off net. We then waited over an hour to get to the checkout counter, where we received another net 10% back in the form of "Kohl's cash." All in all, we saved an absolute bundle on items we really need. Yes, the crowd was large and the lines were long, but everything was very polite and orderly. Lines outside other stores (Old Navy, Target, etc.) were long too. Clearly, retailers did well this year.

Earlier in the day, I purchased a number of business shirts online from another retailer (while I'm a 'minimalist' with clothing, several of my shirts are years old and much the worse for wear). The sale prices saved me over 75% (they were only 50% off at Kohl's), so that purchase was also worthwhile.

The key for me was to know exactly what we needed in advance and to decide on 'backup' items should the main items be sold out. This meant spending about an hour online at the company's website. When in the store, we went from one area to the next following our list and ignoring everything else on sale.

You know the man's approach to shopping, right? "Me see shirt. Me buy shirt. Me go home." It's a variation on hunting: "Me see food. Me kill food. Me go home." Only the long lines prevented this from taking two minutes.

 

I must be full of testosterone, cuz my game plan is like Steve's. :lol: I have a plan and stick to it. Once I have what is on my list I'm outa there. We give/receive three gifts each in our home, and I had no presents on my list. Instead, I took my MIL out since she doesn't drive and bought a few items we needed for our home. Electric can open for under $3, a Wii charging station for $5.99 and a 4gb SD card for $5. Good times.

 

I've never been, I never plan on going, and there's not enough money in the world to PAY me to go to a Black Friday!

Just a couple years ago, we were at my mom's for Thanksgiving, so dh decided he'd go with mom to WalMart. He wanted to get some specific bed linens he saw advertised, and she wanted a new coffeemaker. That's it. Period. Done. They went out early (about 4am) and came back about 7 hours later emptyhanded. They watched in amazement as a team of women barricaded the table with the bathlinens with their shopping carts, then one handed to another who put them into her cart ... behind her, where someone they'd barricaded away from the stacks of towels was taking them out as fast as they put them in. The "team" left emptyhanded, too. Not me. No, thanks anyway.

 

I'm also a "go-buy-and-leave" shopper. I know very specifically what I'm after, and that's ALL I'm after!

 

Jackie I got the whole set of Dr. Quinn for my birthday love it. I am with you Jackie I know what I want I know where its at go in get it and out. I don't fight the crowds. Let them have it. I see nothing worth losing my limp for. There were tons of fights that broke out down here. But, hey everyone made it out alive.

 

Truly not to offend anyone (really! I recognize that it's a beloved tradition for many, many people), but I personally find the whole "Black Friday" thing immoral. It probably goes back to my Quaker upbringing.

I don't care for consumerist hysteria around Christmas, either. If I can't get that toy for the 25th, then either I won't get it or I'll get it at another time. Our Christmas won't be ruined either way.

Frankly, I'd rather save and pay a bit more for something I really need, and benefit the retailer by giving them a higher profit margin, than fight a bunch of strangers for a "deal". Besides, it seems like every year someone gets shot or pepper sprayed or trampled on Black Friday.

 

So glad I don't celebrate Christmas and don't have to, or have any desire to deal with any of this.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas - but for me it's a time of renewal and coming together with family and having a nice time with the kids. I don't do "spring cleaning", I do "Christmas cleaning".

Besides... I have friends in Egypt and Pakistan. Some of their holidays can get just as over the top as ours. I'm SO glad I don't have to contend with buying, petting and dressing up, and then killing my own baby goat or lamb. And throwing the head in the street! There've been holiday riots in other countries, too.

I think it's in human nature to go overboard sometimes when we celebrate.

 

It isn't about Christmas. It's about getting things cheap.

I have never shopped on Black Friday and have no desire to do so. For me, it isn't worth the hassle to save a few dollars.

 

I have never done a Black Friday sale before this year. I went to Barnes and Noble for the deal on the Nook. I only went 10 minutes before they opened and this was 8am, not midnight. It was a small, orderly line until...A crazy woman showed up!

She showed up right when they opened and proceeded to push and literally elbow people out of the way. She then shoved her way to the Nook counter and asked how many she could buy. She wanted 10. Really? You are giving 10 Nooks for Christmas? The limit was 5 and how greedy are you? I only wanted 1 for my son. Joke was on her though. The Nooks were not at the Nook display-they were behind the register. She ended up last in line for them after shoving everyone away from where she thought they were.

I think they need to just outlaw the Black Friday thing. People getting maced, trampled, shot...for what? To save 20 bucks? Not to mention the cost to taxpayers to have police officers respond to this nonsense. I guess, Tis the season to be greedy!

 

A few things that are not quite accurate. We don't kill baby anything. Anything that is sacrificed has to be 6 months old. We don't dress up the animal either... that is culture, not Islam. We ARE supposed to treat the animal well, not crowd it into a disgusting slaughter house and electricute it before killing it. Throwing the head in the street is no part of Islam and actually forbidden and going overboard with gifts and rioting is also forbidden.

A little education about things helps a lot before trying to make it sound bad. Black friday is about greed and gluttony.

 

I never said it was Islam - I know it's culture. Black Friday is also culture, not religion. And an awful lot around Christmas has nothing to do with Christianity, too. Education goes both ways.

And, to me, a six month old animal IS a baby animal. A six month old sheep is a lamb.

As for throwing the head in the street, it's not forbidden everywhere. My mother saw it in Pakistan with her own eyes. She also saw children being encouraged to fall in love with the baby animal (which was indeed petted and dressed and made much of), then forced to watch the animal slaughtered, messily (because these are not families that regularly slaughter their own food), in front of their eyes as they wept. Her friends, most of them Muslims, spoke in very harsh terms about the practice, but acknowledged the difficulty of changing culture.

Especially when culture is draped in religion. It's easy to say it's "tribal" and has nothing to do with us, but the folks doing these things are not drawing a clean distinction between religion and culture. Factory farming is another topic altogether, and I agree, quite disgusting.

 

I guess we can both agree that stupid things people do in association with a religious holiday are just that, stupid. Eid has nothing to do with dressing an animal, falling in love with it and throwing its head into the street. Just like gluttonous shopping, santa and christmas trees have nothing to do with Christmas.

I just didn't want people in the group to think that Muslim are horrible heathens that kill dressed up baby animals and then throw their heads in the street. That is an innovation of culture and has nothing to do with the faith.

 

:love: We do agree! And I don't think anyone in this group would think that about Muslims, any more than we'd want you to think that it's a Christian thing to get into fistfights over video games, or pepper spray fellow shoppers. Christmas is about so much more - even the Christmas tree and Santa parts of it.

Do you know how we dealt with consumerism in our house, while keeping our traditions? When my children were very young, I told them that St. Nicholas (Santa) brings but one small gift. It's a strange, magical, handmade gift. All other gifts were from their father and I, and we would buy them if we could afford it and if we thought they should have them. "Santa doesn't shop at Toys R Us," I told them.

Of all the presents my children have ever received over the years, only their "Santa gifts" still remain on their bedroom shelves. Knitted, crocheted, sewn, some tin toys and china ornaments, but all special to my children in some way. I'm sure they know by now where they come from.

We've started playing carols this past week. I've brought greenery into the house (though the tree won't go up for a few more weeks). I've painted my windows with snowflakes. This is by far, my favourite season of the year.

Other families (and other religions) have their loving holiday traditions, and I respect that, even when they're different than ours. Some people even have Black Friday traditions, and while I have personal ethical issues around the day, I would never judge them lesser Christians for it. That would be... a very dangerous level of hubris. Besides, I'm sure there were plenty of Muslims, Jews, non-religious sorts, etc... in those crowds last Friday.

 

How many of you will be cyber shopping tomorrow?