This is topic 5 am and the lines are too long in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=046176

Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
 
I should of known better. I went to BestBuy this morning. I got there at 4:57--plenty of time to park and get inside before it opened at 5 am.

There was a $250 laptop I wanted. I figured since they had 18, I may be able to get one.

When I pulled up the entire parking lot was filled with cars. The parking lot is for multiple stores and a fast food joint, but everyone had obviously parked for BestBuy.

People had blankets and pillows. The line had at least 300+ people in it. It was larger then the line I camped in to see the first Star Wars (what a mistake!).

After not being able to find a place to park before 5 am I left. I came to work to study.

I don't usually shop on Black Friday. Today I remembered why.
 
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
 
These stores are getting smart with the Black Friday stuff. I wonder how many of those 300 people also wanted that laptop, but figured that none of the other people would get it first. I bet most of the people were there for "awesome deals", and most of them will walk away with something else.

I'm glad I don't work retail.
 
Posted by dawnmaria (Member # 4142) on :
 
The Hubby set the alarm for three this AM and headed over to our Best Buy in hopes of getting a 22 inch monitor and a video game. The line was also too much to handle. The parking lot looked like a madhouse and the adjacent restaurant lot was full as well. I think these people went out to stay in live right after they ate their turkey dinner. It's crazy!
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
I never shop Black Friday -- except online. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
I checked last night (Thanksgiving night, people, at about 8 pm!), and there were already more people than I could count (100+).

I surrendered.
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
I'm not sure exactly what it is, but something about Black Friday rubs me the wrong way.
 
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by mackillian:
I'm not sure exactly what it is, but something about Black Friday rubs me the wrong way.

It might be that the name makes it sound like it's a rememberance for people who died in a plague, or something.
 
Posted by BaoQingTian (Member # 8775) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by dawnmaria:
The Hubby set the alarm for three this AM and headed over to our Best Buy in hopes of getting a 22 inch monitor and a video game. The line was also too much to handle. The parking lot looked like a madhouse and the adjacent restaurant lot was full as well. I think these people went out to stay in live right after they ate their turkey dinner. It's crazy!

I was going for the same monitor. I saw several hundred people at best buy at 4:30 am and gave up. So I went to staples to pick up a 19 in samsung widescreen. They let me wait in the warm entry way and I got the monitor, 1 gb sd card, and jump drive, mcafee and ca internet security software for free, and DVD-Rs. I headed over to best buy at 6:15 just for kicks, and they still had 3 monitors left, so I grabbed one and waited in line for an hour and a half, where they talked me into 2 more packs of 100 DVD-Rs for 5 bucks each. I don't think I'll need any recordable media for a couple years [Big Grin]

Actually, I was pleasantly surprised...all the customers were very polite, and things went pretty smooth. I'm sure handing out coupons based on line position to the big discount items helped avoid the mad rush and associated trampling.
 
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
 
My brother and I went to Circuit City at about 4:30 this morning. I'm no good at estimations, but I'll give it a try anyways- I'd say that there were close to a thousand people in line when we got there.
I didn't get everything that I wanted, namely a webcam and external hard drive, but I got a couple of SD cards for $3, some flash drives for $4, and 100 DVDs for free.
This was my first time going shopping, and I actually enjoyed it, except for the people that smelled really bad. I talked to some people in line and there were a whole bunch of people who helped me out and gave me stuff. :] I suppose it's cause I look so innocent. [Evil Laugh]
[edit] Though, I should probably add that we waited in line for about 2.5 hours.
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
I don't know how much you'd have to pay me to get me to step foot in a store today, but it's not insignificant.
 
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
 
We don't have Black Friday in Canada.
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
Finally, a reason to consider moving to Canada! [Wink]
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
i got to Circuit City last night at 2:20am, and was probably around 50th in line.

Got my 32" LCD TV that I went there for, plus the free dvds, mp3 player, flash drive, and some movies. the only thing i missed was the external hard drive, which i actually wanted but was snagged up really quick. aiua, you know the rebates for those smaller items are only good for one per customer right?

The whole experience wasn't so bad at all though, i had fun, and got the tv i wanted!
 
Posted by JenniK (Member # 3939) on :
 
I have only shopped on Black Friday once...about 4 years ago. My mom and I met my 2 best friends to get a DVD player for $38.00. There were so many people that I hated being in the store, but the 4 of us are very patient people and don't mind waiting in lines. It gave us plenty of time to talk and catch up on things. Thank God Kwea wasn't there though - he has no patience whatsoever! [Wall Bash]
I don't really feel the need to be up and out waiting in line for hours unless there is something really amazing on sale. Besides, I tend to make homemade Christmas gifts if I have the time. I know it's not as cool as getting a portable DVD player, or XBox 360, but it is pretty neat to get a basket with a jar of homemade cinnamon honey butter, cinnamon orange honey butter, and made from scratch English muffins, along with hand made Victorian Christmas ornaments. This year I am doing hand painted ornaments and somewhere close to 100 dozen cookies. [Eek!] (I already made 19 dozen peanut butter blossoms [the peanut butter cookie with the Hershey kiss on top] 2 days ago as they are Kwea's favorite!) [The Wave]

I was awake at 3am to make sure Kwea got up and out the door. He had to be at work at 4am as he is a manager, while I snuggled back down under the covers and fell back asleep. [Big Grin] Tis the season and all. Tomorrow I will start to decorate for the Holidays. The Christmas CDs will come out of hiding for the first time since July - when I last listened to them (it's a strange tradition)and the smell of cookies will fill the air. Happy Holidays!
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
I'm about to go brave Black Friday because I really need a dishwasher. Like, right this second. My current dishwasher is 25 years old...'nuff said.

My biggest problem with Black Friday is people who think it's okay to drag their screaming kids around. And then they let the kids run amok because they're too busy shopping for hours to watch them (hi, hire a babysitter), and then when the kid runs in front of my cart and I can't see him over the box I'm pushing around, the parent comes after MY jugular.

-pH
 
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
Gah, check your local Craigslist. Seems the resellers really wanted to sink their teeth into this year's black friday ads. Most of them are even using pictures of the ads with the black friday prices.

I wonder how many of them realize that the prices they're asking are not only LUDICROUS, but easily beatable by any number of internet retailers.
 
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by pH:
I'm about to go brave Black Friday because I really need a dishwasher. Like, right this second. My current dishwasher is 25 years old...'nuff said.

My current dishwasher is 22 years old, but I don't think I'll be getting rid of mine any time soon. Mostly because cutting off my hands would hurt. [Wink]
 
Posted by BaoQingTian (Member # 8775) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by pH:

My biggest problem with Black Friday is people who think it's okay to drag their screaming kids around. And then they let the kids run amok because they're too busy shopping for hours to watch them (hi, hire a babysitter), and then when the kid runs in front of my cart and I can't see him over the box I'm pushing around, the parent comes after MY jugular.

-pH

Outside of Bestbuy at 4:30am in 20 degree weather, people had been standing out there for hours with infants [No No]
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
Did you volunteer to babysit for them?
 
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Teshi:
We don't have Black Friday in Canada.

I was actually wondering what all of this "Black Friday" buisness was.
[Wink]
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
Personally, I wouldn't stand in those lines, in any weather, infant or no. I suspect it would take more to get me there than mph.

But for those who are convinced (and in some cases, it's probably true) that the only way they will be able to afford Xmas gifts is by shopping today's sales, they probably can't afford a babysitter either. Which doesn't mean they should let their kids run loose. But it does mean that you two (BQT and pH) might go a bit lighter on the judginess, hmm?

(Or, y'know, what mph said.)
 
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
For you other-country people...

it gets it's name from the belief that business who have been operating "in the red" (not making a profit) all year, will sell enough at the beginning of the Christmas season to be "back in the black" (profit-wise) today.


FG
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
In our house, we celebrate Buy Nothing Day today.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
i normally do my black friday shopping online, but missed the deal on the tv i wanted this year, and have had my sites set on an LCD tv.

Forget xmas presents, black friday is all about me!
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
(Oh, and I take my infant everywhere. Because I'm breastfeeding her.)
 
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Strider:
i normally do my black friday shopping online, but missed the deal on the tv i wanted this year, and have had my sites set on an LCD tv.

Forget xmas presents, black friday is all about me!

There's still a ton of stuff online for cheap.

32" AStar LCD TV - $641.68 shipped - $80 mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889114016

37" Olevia LCD TV - $737.39 shipped.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889022032

40" Olevia LCD TV - $1,059.69 shipped.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889022018

42" Panasonic Plasma TV - $1,299.98 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889187015

And that's just NewEgg. TigerDirect has a bunch of really good stuff too, although most of it's out of stock.
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ketchupqueen:
In our house, we celebrate Buy Nothing Day today.

Brilliant!
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
[Smile] Buy Nothing Day.

We've been celebrating it since we got married. I think I celebrated it the year before that, too, but I'm not sure.
 
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:
Originally posted by ketchupqueen:
In our house, we celebrate Buy Nothing Day today.

Brilliant!
Here's some more info about Buy Nothing Day. [Smile]

Added: Crap! Beaten!
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
[Laugh]
 
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
 
Got it covered, Strider, thanks. One in my brother's name, one in my dad's, one in mine..
But now that I think of it.. I charged two, though separately, to the same credit card. Will that be a problem? I've got different addresses..
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
If you can afford to go blow money today, I don't care how poor you think you are, you can afford to pay a teenager twenty bucks to watch your kid. Oh, maybe you'll have to buy one less stupid thing. Tragic.

-pH
 
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by erosomniac:
quote:
Originally posted by Strider:
i normally do my black friday shopping online, but missed the deal on the tv i wanted this year, and have had my sites set on an LCD tv.

Forget xmas presents, black friday is all about me!

There's still a ton of stuff online for cheap.

32" AStar LCD TV - $641.68 shipped - $80 mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889114016

37" Olevia LCD TV - $737.39 shipped.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889022032

40" Olevia LCD TV - $1,059.69 shipped.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889022018

42" Panasonic Plasma TV - $1,299.98 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889187015

And that's just NewEgg. TigerDirect has a bunch of really good stuff too, although most of it's out of stock.

So...what, exactly, on that list is cheap? [Razz]
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
thanks erso, but i was only saying that in regards to why i went and waited in line rather than buying it online earlier. I got my tv and will now be satisfied for a at least a week or two. [Smile]
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ketchupqueen:
In our house, we celebrate Buy Nothing Day today.

I would, but it's Friday. I generally need groceries today.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by pH:
If you can afford to go blow money today, I don't care how poor you think you are, you can afford to pay a teenager twenty bucks to watch your kid. Oh, maybe you'll have to buy one less stupid thing. Tragic.

That was disgusting, pH. You have no idea what other people's circumstances are like. For some people, that $20 might buy several gifts for their kids, and is the difference between giving them a Christmas and not. And not everyone can easily get a trusted babysitter to begin with.

In any case, while (as I stated before) the parents have no right to let their kids run wild, they have EVERY right to bring them to the store. It is a public place.

Deal.

And I hope you never have to understand what it means to not be able to afford $20 for a babysitter. Although it might be an educational experience.
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
Well, I'm glad I disgust you. And you know what? Some of us CAN'T just "deal." But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?

-pH
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
quote:
Well, I'm glad I disgust you.
Actually, I said that a particular thing you said was disgusting. It was not a judgement of you as a person. As opposed to your judgement of those parents who, for whatever reason(s), bring their kids shopping with them today.

quote:
And you know what? Some of us CAN'T just "deal." But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?
Hon, you know nothing about what I have dealt with if you can say that. There have certainly been times when I had a great deal of difficulty doing the whole coping thing. Pretty sure I did my best not to make that someone else's problem, though.

If you can't handle being around children, that is unfortunate, but hardly the fault of their parents. With the exception, as I keep saying, of those who let their kids run wild.

If the only parents you had been judging were those who let their kids run loose (and heaven knows there are all too many of them), I would not have uttered a peep. But as soon as you asserted that your right to shop without kids around superseded their parents' rights, IMO you crossed a line.

I think you know by know that I think you're great. But that doesn't mean I won't call you on it when I think you're wrong.
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
quote:
Well, I'm glad I disgust you.
Are you serious?
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
I think it's utterly RIDICULOUS to drag your child around shopping for eight hours, and I think anyone who thinks otherwise is absolutely insane. How do you expect to control your child for that period of time? I'm not talking about parents who run to the store to pick up a few things or parents who take their kids grocery shopping. I'm talking about parents who think it's perfectly fine to drag their kids around all day Black Friday. Because it's NOT perfectly fine.

-pH
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:
Well, I'm glad I disgust you.
Are you serious?
Don't start with me. Really. Please don't. I have had it up to HERE with so many of the things that have been said to me on this board, and I never get to say anything about them because when I try, I'm instantly a terrible snob and a horrible person.

-pH
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
The wife and I were camped out at Target at 3:30am, best friend at Shopko 3:30am, younger brother at Toys R Us 3:45am. None of them had Wii's even though Target and Shopko employees both said they were holding some back for black friday.

Tiffany and I booked it over to EB games and the guy in front of us got the last Wii console, booked it over to gamestop where my brother was supposed to be waiting in line as a 2nd resort, turns out he had other ideas and rather then listen to me went to walmart. Of course they didnt have any so I got mad at him and made him go back to the mall which insisted was vacant of any people, he also said, "You don't know what you are talking about the mall is empty!"

I get to the mall and there are 30 people all waiting at another set of doors my brother insisted he had checked minutes ago all waiting for a Wii's. Gamestop got 5 that day.

I was very mad, but I went home caught up on 4 hours of sleep I hadn't gotten, and I feel alot better about the whole ordeal now.

I really wish I had a Wii, I'm missing out on so much fun. [Frown]
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
You're not missing out on the fun -- you're just delaying it a little bit. [Smile]
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by pH:
I think it's utterly RIDICULOUS to drag your child around shopping for eight hours

And how do you know that any of the parents you encountered did this? And assuming they did, that $20 estimate for babysitting is nonsensical. In most areas, $20 gets you two hours. Three, if you're really lucky.

You can't have it both ways, pH. You complain if anyone says anything remotely negative (I'll point out that my initial request (and not just to you) was simply for you to be less judgemental) to or about you, but you feel free to judge people you don't even know. Your response to being asked not to be judgemental was to be several degrees MORE so. And then you object to being called on it.

I also really wish you didn't assume that every time someone says something remotely negative, that they are saying you are a terrible person. They almost never are. A suggestion that you are being judgemental is not saying that you are horrible; it's saying that it is behavior that you might want to be aware of and change.

If I thought you were a horrible person, I wouldn't bother to say much of anything to you.
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
No, what I OBJECT to is that EVERYTHING I SAY is automatically interpreted in the most negative light possible. THAT is what I object to. I object to the fact that when I try to defend myself against ANYTHING, I'm dogpiled. So I do my best to ignore it. I do my best not to contribute to ANY thread where the only response to what I say is "You just don't know because you have money." I can't even express my real thoughts about the damn health care system because of that. I can't contribute to most of the threads here because anything I say is written off. And I'm absolutely sick of it. And WHERE IN MY POST DID I SAY I WANTED A COMPLETELY CHILD-FREE STORE? I was talking about parents who let their kids run rampant and run in front of my carts and then the parents blame ME for little Suzy almost getting run over.

But no one ever considers THAT. Oh, no. Even though it's exactly what I said in my first post on this thread.

-pH
 
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
Enigmatic and I camped out at Gamestop from 9 pm, were first in line, and got a Wii and 2 extra remotes. They had 6, and I seriously doubt they ended up going to the first six in line, the employees did not handle the rush well at all. But we didn't stick around to find out, high-tailed it straight out while the dozens of other people who had kept waiting even though the manager had announced when he got there an hour prior that there were only 6 were still in line and hadn't found out really for sure that they weren't getting one yet. No problems at all, and totally worth it.

BlackBlade, your brother might have been right that there was no one waiting when he went by. We had people driving by all night to check out the length of the line, some stopping and asking us what we were waiting for, and then deciding to go on and wait somewhere else. There were only about 11 people who waited most of the night, 2 hoping for PS3s and the rest of us for 6 Wiis combined. Then starting about an hour before they were going to open, people started showing up in droves, and there were probably almost 100 in line when the opener came through and told us how many they had. Some left, but more stayed, and more kept coming. They might have been there for other things, but there were several people who showed up in the last 15-20 minutes who couldn't believe that they had "missed out" and seemed to expect both sympathy from us, which was kinda hard to give after spending 10 hours sitting there to make sure we'd get one, and for us to be able to tell them were to go so they could still get one today. If we'd've known where you could waltz up at 7 AM and pick one up, don't ya figure we would have done that ourselves? It was kinda weird.

Anyway, it's a lot of fun, but it's going to be plenty of fun whenever you get one, too. We only camped out because it was a pretty nice night and since we're down in Iowa visiting dkw & Bob this way we got to all play with it over the holiday. The guy waiting second in line who had been told by a store employee this week that they'd have PS3s today was less happy with his experience. He had two kids with him, although they spent most of the night in their SUV, which was parked right there. The manager said they had gotten 2 PS3s in as their last shipment, and they had been reserved in advance and he had no idea when they'd get more.
 
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Javert:
So...what, exactly, on that list is cheap? [Razz]

As compared to normal in-store retail prices?

Which one isn't cheap?
 
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ElJay:
Enigmatic and I camped out at Gamestop from 9 pm, were first in line, and got a Wii and 2 extra remotes. They had 6, and I seriously doubt they ended up going to the first six in line, the employees did not handle the rush well at all. But we didn't stick around to find out, high-tailed it straight out while the dozens of other people who had kept waiting even though the manager had announced when he got there an hour prior that there were only 6 were still in line and hadn't found out really for sure that they weren't getting one yet. No problems at all, and totally worth it.

Wow, congrats! When I drove by our EB at around 9 p.m. Thanksgiving, the line was...well, not as long as Best Buy's, but worse in terms of relative size.

quote:
There were only about 11 people who waited most of the night, 2 hoping for PS3s and the rest of us for 6 Wiis combined. Then starting about an hour before they were going to open, people started showing up in droves, and there were probably almost 100 in line when the opener came through and told us how many they had. Some left, but more stayed, and more kept coming. They might have been there for other things, but there were several people who showed up in the last 15-20 minutes who couldn't believe that they had "missed out" and seemed to expect both sympathy from us, which was kinda hard to give after spending 10 hours sitting there to make sure we'd get one, and for us to be able to tell them were to go so they could still get one today. If we'd've known where you could waltz up at 7 AM and pick one up, don't ya figure we would have done that ourselves? It was kinda weird.
I can never decide whether it's a BS sense of entitlement or a genuine naivete that drives these people.
 
Posted by stacey (Member # 3661) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by pH:
If you can afford to go blow money today, I don't care how poor you think you are, you can afford to pay a teenager twenty bucks to watch your kid. Oh, maybe you'll have to buy one less stupid thing. Tragic.

-pH

Nobody took offence to your first post in this thread. That post was fine. It was the post that I have just quoted above that some people were offended by. They commented on it. This has NOTHING to do with you having money. This has to do with them finding your post that I have quoted above offensive. End of story.
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
ElJay you have to realize that I camped almost 36 hours for the PS3 (in order to Ebay of course) I came really early on launch day and got dogged left and right, and my brother and I have every other day been scouring every retail store and it was the general consensus that friday was the day.

I've spent so many hours doing this its getting really frustrating when people say, "Oh yeah I just came to Circuit City 10 minutes before opening and they had like 10 extra that nobody had picked up."

I guess I just feel like people who have put in less effort have theirs, and that makes it sting all the more because it means I am less effective. Not a big fan of admitting to ineptness on my part.
 
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
I realize all that. I also am not crazy about the idea of buying up consoles to ebay them, although I realize that's the way the market works. I was just relating my experience, and letting you know that from it, your brother might have been correct about there not being a line at the mall when he went by.

And I certainly didn't say I had shown up 10 minutes beforehand, I was there for 10 hours, with no intention of buying anything myself. I don't recall anyone on this thread say they got one easily, either, although I didn't go back and check. Enig tried to get one on launch day, and didn't manage to, and has been looking ever since as well.

Regardless, it's not a sign of anything on your part, as everyone's retail conditions are different. Personally, I wouldn't have waited at a general retailer of any kind today, since there were so many other people there for other things. Enig thought an EB/Gamestop was the way to go, and I agreed. There was a Target across the street from where we were waiting that opened at 6, and the line up in front of it was just frightening, and when the doors opened. . . you couldn't have paid me enough to be in that line.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
quote:
if we'd've known where you could waltz up at 7 AM and pick one up, don't ya figure we would have done that ourselves?
I was shocked at the amount of people showing up just before 5am and being genuinely surprised that there was already a long line of people waiting. what world do they live in?

These two older women showed up just before we were being let in and were talking to a group of younger kids towards the front who had been selling vouchers for the big ticket items for like $50. Anyway, some people behind me in line start yelling at two ladies to get them to go the back and wait like everyone else. The two woman responded, like they were annoyed at being reprimanded, that they knew and that everyone should just calm down. Then as everyone starts being let in they try to just sneak into line about a group ahead of me, but no one noticed. Instead of just saying something to them individually, I relied on the mob and really loudly said, "EXCUSE ME, PLEASE DON'T CUT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE, WE'VE BEEN WAITING A WHILE." The uproar from behind me was fantastic.
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
quote:
I was shocked at the amount of people showing up just before 5am and being genuinely surprised that there was already a long line of people waiting. what world do they live in?
The same world I live in, apparently.
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
quote:

you couldn't have paid me enough to be in that line.

I was in THAT line [Wink] It reminded me of Hong Kong growing up, seriously, its like that in alot of places.

Strider: At Target about 30 minutes before door opening we had this group of 15 people all merge into the front to, "join" their 5 family members holding their place in line. All of us behind them got pretty mad and determined that nobody else was going to pull that same stunt. One of the old men who cut in front of us walked over to where Tiffany and I had deposited our sleeping bags (for warmth) and started draping it on himself. Tiffany walked up to him and said, "Excuse me but those are ours, you cannot just take them." He responded with, "Oh please just for 5 minutes." I told Tiffany, "You realize we are never going to see that bag again." and 5 minutes later she walked over and got him to surrendor it, which he finally did.

5 minutes later (15 minutes before doors) the brother of this old man's daughter shows up and tries to cut. A line of women who had formed to stop cutters stopped her and there was a pretty heated arguement. Basically she said she had just come from Toys R Us to help her father who is old to get the items he wanted. The women volunteer security force pretty much said what all of us were thinking and repulsed the girl who left saying, "Thats very white trash of you." She went to security and he came back with the girl to see what was going on. The women explained that the girls father as well as a bunch of his family had cut in front of us 15 minutes ago and all of us had simply had enough.

The security guard said to the girls father, "Sir I am going to have to ask you to get back in line where you were, you can't cut." The father responded with, "What?! Everyone in the front of this line cut!" The angry uproar that ensued was pretty awesome to behold, at least 30 people listening in all said things like,

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Some of us have spent the night here!"

"Some of us have been here since 3:00am!"

and

"ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I think the man was kinda scared, but one of the women said "look we are ok with them being here, but we won't take anymore cutters." Which I thought was more then generous. The guard agreed and asked the girl to go back to original place in line, she left with one of those apologies where its really an insult, you know, "Sorry I argued with you, but it was because you were being so unreasonable" and stormed off.

8 minutes later the doors opened and I think I can agree with the sentiment that I will never work retail on black friday. Oh....My....Goodness.
 
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
 
quote:
I was shocked at the amount of people showing up just before 5am and being genuinely surprised that there was already a long line of people waiting. what world do they live in?
That was me! Hence this thread [Blushing]
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
*looks up at no one in particular and whistles*

I often spend all day (6-9 hours) shopping at the mall or IKEA with my two young children, and they enjoy it (at least the older one does and the younger one likes going places and looking around.) I've never had any complaints about them.

And yes, babysitting is AT LEAST $10/hour-- for one kid. Add more children and more duties, it can be as much as $18/hour.

*continues whistling and looking at no one in particular*
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
Well, since we're all going to be such grown-ups and talk about people to their faces, perhaps you weren't who I was talking about if you actually took thirty seconds to read my post, as I specifically mentioned parents who let their kids run rampant.

But you go ahead and keep telling yourself whatever you need to in order to feel good about belittling people on the internet.

-pH
 
Posted by Shawshank (Member # 8453) on :
 
I worked yesterday from 5A.M.-10 AM and then from 5-9:45 at Staples. The store opened at six and so I was kind of surprised to see some people standing outside when I walked up at 4:55 (note- this is my first experience ever with Black Friday).

I was extremely nervous a few days ago- but this was so well organized that there were only a glitch here or there. The customers were all very nice. People at the front would hand them a ticket- it would be either green or red (red ticket was the bigger and more tech complicated items while the green were less complicated).

They'd hand me a ticket I'd get them the product (all of them within 2 steps of me). Biggest problem was a problem with ticketing over people wanted DVD+R or DVD-R. And a few people would try and hustle you. But that's normal.

Working Back To School was a lot worse.
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
I always figured back to school wouldn't be as bad. It's usually around tax free week, and since it's a whole week...you'd think people wouldn't be so frantic.

-pH
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
It was funny last year when I worked in MA.

People came in and said " I HAVE to get my school clothes this week, it is No-Tax week!". I replied "You DO know that MA doesn't ever tax clothing, right?", and over half of them didn't believe it! [Big Grin]
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
pH, I was NOT responding to your original post. I was AGREEING WITH WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAID.

Why do you assume I was responding to you? I was trying to be polite since you assume everything said on the subject in this thread is an attack on you, by specifically indicating that I was talking to NO ONE IN PARTICULAR.
 
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
 
I think that "*looks up at no one in particular and whistles*" could be interpreted as a passive-agressive reference to pH. It just doesn't sound as if you were seriously saying you weren't talking about pH, and instead you wanted to hint that your post was directed at her. I actually interpreted it that way before seeing your latest post, and I think that's how pH interpreted it as well.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
I was trying to avoid everyone's stuff while agreeing with what some people said. I've done it before and no one has ever jumped on me for it.

I think I am not the one being unreasonable.

Although, I could be wrong, since I tend to be this time of the month (and it's the third week of this time of the month.) So I'm sorry if I am.
 


Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2