Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and in its modern incarnation it has come to signify a day when people trample over each other in order to save money on something that is not an essential item of existence. In previous years, stores have tried to maintain the pretense of treating the day one for gatherings of family and friends by opening in the evening, although this still required workers to come in earlier to prepare the stores. This year, some have abandoned this altogether and are opening on Thursday morning. And once that has been breached, it will only be a matter of a couple of years before stores start opening at midnight on Wednesday.
Below is a compilation of the shopping chaos that has erupted in past holidays. One sometimes sees this kind of rampaging behavior after some disaster or during wars when people fight with each for food and water for themselves and their families in order to survive. To see it happen over non-essential trinkets like TV sets and video games and the like is appalling. People are being goaded by stores to get into a competitive frenzy that is alarming to see.
If this is civilisation, please stop the world, I want to get off.
I don’t get it.
I can’t even imagine putting up with those types of crowds if the items were being given away for free.
Also, humans are (still…) horrible. :/
The merchants encourage it, though, with ads like: Big Screen TV — 1/2 price! *
* at least 5 per store while quantities last!
It’s a very religious experience, Getting The Bargain.
“Tesco Saves”
I’m just glad that people don’t behave like this at the liquor store.
@3 machintelligence
I think that would be illegal here in Belgium. If a merchant would announce a promotion like that here, he would be required to stock sufficiently. He should be able to service any customer coming in that day and should he fail to do so, he has to give any “late” customer a declaration they can come at a later day to get the goods under promotional conditions.
That would definitely stop this nonsense but merchants here use a few deeply discounted items to get people into the store and they would fight such restrictions. “While supplies last” is the phrase they love.
if there is a Hell I imagine it’s a lot like Walmart on Black Friday…
“… People are being goaded by stores to get into a competitive frenzy that is alarming to see. …”
From where I stand it’s not only alarming it is deeply disgusting -- disturbing to see how low people can sink when they don’t think.