Black Friday Insanity

I have never ventured out on Black Friday – and I have certainly never gone to a large retailer on that day, for obvious reasons.  It has always been my contention that there’s nothing I need bad enough to endure such chaos – and frankly, the people who intentionally go out EARLY on that day must need a check up.

And then this year was different.  I got first hand exposure.  My wife and daughter both work at the local Wal-mart.  I’m sure it was similar to the K-Marts, BestBuys, Targets and Macy’s of the world, but Wal-mart is all we have in our little rural area.

The so-called “sales specials” started at 5am…. 5am?…. 5am!  People started filling the store at 3am.  Is this the real world?  3am!!  When we drove in about 4:45am the parking lot was packed and the line of cars trying to enter trailed out onto the 4-lane.

Entering the store, we found every aisle congested with buggies and sleepy shoppers.  Milling about like overpacked cattle, most at a standstill with buggies already full – awaiting the 5am start time to jam their way through the check-outs.  Cops and extra employees manned the doors to reduce theft and potential fights.  Yes, there were some.  Is this the real world?  Are these grown ups?

I won’t detail everything I witnessed.  Suffice it to say that during our alleged economic troubles with soaring unemployment, record foreclosures and government “bail outs” in the trillions of dollars — here are everyday people “blowing bucks” on TONS of disposable crap.  From the most base “trailer trash” types to the more sophistocated and well-to-do… here are people by the thousands actually forcing themselves to endure an experience that is more ironic and counterproductive than I can even describe. 

When most have trouble getting up and out ON TIME for work, they will force themselves to meander the mazes of a large retailer in the pre-dawn hours.  All this to spend money — yes, hard earned money — on so-called good deals for crap they don’t need.  TONS upon TONS of TV’s, DVD’s, CD’s and plastic toys spill out into the streets as a result of a society-induced marketing craze called Black Friday.

Pushing and shoving (and worse) in the name of a bargain – even though those bargains are making the retailer a fortune (so how good are they really?).  Dropping your manners at the door and using your elbows (and occasional fists) to insure that you don’t get there after the last “guitar hero” or “42 inch plasma TV” have already been grabbed.

And then, arguing with the cashier because your $2 CD rang up for $4.  Hmmm, I guess wasting 2 bucks would be an insult to your intelligence.

And speaking of that, here’s the deal on the Walmart employee killed by the mob as they rushed the store on Black Friday morning. It includes video and pics. Amazing?  Despicable, pathetic.

What have we become?

This one Wal-Mart store in our little rural area did $801,000 in sales on that ONE day.  I’m not making that up. I have an inside source and I know the figures.  $200,000 to $250,000 is a typical day… $350,000 on Saturdays and some smaller holidays.  $600,000 to $750,000 would be an acceptable Black Friday.  $500,000 would be a failure.

OVER THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLIONS DOLLARS of man-made, plastic crap dumped on an insatiable community under the pretense that “this is the best day to get it.” 

That’s ONE store in ONE small town.  Multiply that by hundreds of thousands across the nation and the numbers can make your head hurt.  In a crashing ecomony and worldwide economic panic, think about this. If just 100,000 stores did $500,000 — that would be $50,000,000,000! 

$50 Billion

And these numbers are small in reality.  What could we do to put a dent in the national debt with some of those bucks? 

Waiting in line for gas, clipping coupons and falling behind on your mortgage?  Relying on food stamps and other assistance?  Yes, but don’t miss a deal on an $8 pair of jeans or a $10 plastic Star Wars toy or Christmas will be ruined.

Let’s completely overlook the fact that 99% of the stuff being carted out of our Wal-Mart was not a NEED… it was a WANT.  People wanted it.  Nothing more.  Their lives would not have been diminished in any way if they went without it.  They could have survived well enough by staying home.  But, the “WANT” drives them to blow their cash and over-extend their credit in the name of “I got a great deal.”

I stood there and shook my head.  Humans reduced to the status of cash pooping cattle.  And the retailers count their figures, grin and hope these numbers “hold up” throughout the remaining holiday season…. or worse yet, they devise plans to make them even bigger.

**sigh** 

Does the American public need to have their heads checked? 

Or, is this to be considered normal behavior?

Explore posts in the same categories: Off Topic

Tags: bail out, bargains, black friday, economic, economy, good deal, money, national debt, real world, retailer, shopping, unemployment, wal-mart, walmart

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.