My Many Interests

Friday, November 25, 2011

Black Friday! Is it worth it?!?!

Roy A. Barnes over at Yahoo! commented that Black Friday hysteria has gone too far. Well, if you watch the videos of people moshing to get a two dollar waffle iron or hear of pepper-spraying mother of three, then yeah, it's a little crazy. No, it's more than crazy, it's bat-poop nuts! Watching the video was akin to watching parents gone wild at a child's sporting event. Adults taking on adults in a steel cage match that not even the WWE would touch. Wait, a minute. I might have to fact check that one.



In a time when we hear that the economy is down and not likely to recover soon and unemployment is holding steady around nine percent, we have people camping for days to purchase something that will just be cheaper in a few months and you won't have to beat someone over the head with a skillet to get it. Photos of people in tents furnished with couches and big screen TVs with gaming consoles attached. My first question is why aren't you working? Oh, wait. Unemployed. Okay, but if you're unemployed why are you looking at purchasing something so expensive? Yes, even with a hundred dollars knocked off, an HDTV is still expensive.


Why is there so much emphasis on spending? Are we that shallow as a society? Don't get me wrong. I have a lot of cool tech gadgets and I have an addiction called "reading," but you don't see me set up in front of Best Buy a week before the show or even getting up at four a.m. If I want it bad enough, it will eventually go on sale after the first of the year.

Barnes actually lays some of the blame on the stores and rightly so. But, when you are owned by stock holders who want a little something in there Christmas stocking then you know that you better be out there selling the goods. Stores know that they can make a pretty penny because they've got a line a mile long around the building to prove it. If the consumer changes their habits then the stores will, but that will never happen.

Ooh, look! Another gadget that's exactly like the last one, but this one's purple and plays Janis Joplin's 'Mercedes Benz'! Shiny!