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First in line
By adamg on Fri, 11/28/2014 - 12:08am
This guy was first in line at the Walpole Walmart tonight. He says he got there at 1 p.m. to make sure he could get some video games, a game controller and a TV stand for his mom. What about Thanksgiving dinner? He said his dad cooked dinner early so he could eat with him and still have time to get to the Walmart.
The next people in line were all sitting in chairs and mostly bundled up completely, like those mountain climbers with their own mini-tents.
Over at the Dedham Best Buy, the first guy in line got there at noon, to snag a widescreen TV marked down $400.
In years past, people have gotten to the Rte. 1 stores way earlier. Maybe there are limits to our insanity and people just didn't want to brave a nor'easter. But even as midnight approached tonight, the lines were a lot shorter than last year.
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Comments
and of course
And of course adam was there 'reporting the news'. (just admit it Adam, you wanted at that 79 dollar CRAIG TV door buster special they were offering..)
I've never understood the fascination people have with black friday. I've never found the deals on black friday to be all that great. Yeah a TV or laptop may be a great deal at 99 bucks, but most of the time its a crappy item anyways (which is why its so cheap), so its not worth the money or time to stand in line for.
We gotta stop calling buying
We gotta stop calling buying superfluous shit for reduced prices a "deal". A "deal" is a necessary purchases achieved at a lower than expected price - I'm getting a great deal by not wasting my time buying stuff I don't need for somewhat reduced prices. Anyways...post-Christmas "deals" are better.
America 2014. We are
a pathetic people.
apparently..
Apparently we've been pathetic since at least 1961..
"The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975."
Source
Except that
in 1961, retailers considered the Friday after Thanksgiving to be the first day of the Christmas shopping season. And many smaller businesses stayed closed on that Friday, decorated their shops for Christmas, and opened again on Saturday.
And the fact that people associate the term Black Friday with a shopping day where merchants are expected to make profits only demonstrates how ignorant of history we as a society have become.For those of you who may not be aware, Black Friday was the term given to the 1929 stock market crash that led to the Great Depression.The stock market crash was Black Tuesday, not Black Friday - thanks to other posters for the correction
Things definitely have been changing over the years
I don't remember the whole crush of shoppers at 4 AM or whatever until the past 10 to 15 years.
The worst part of my post is that my goal is to point out that it was Black Tuesday back in 1929, but I agree with you except for that.
Thanks for the correction
I've modified my original post.
FREE FOR THE FIRST 100 SHOPPERS!
A permanent, large "L" tattoo for your forehead!
yeah staying home and posting
yeah staying home and posting on the internet is way cooler
Why yes it is!
Give me the options of being in line at 4 AM to save $50 on some piece of crap if I don't get trampled first or sleeping in, keeping myself all warm and toasty on the day after Thanksgiving, I'll take the latter in a heartbeat.
My cat is in my lap
A lovely mimosa in one hand ... you can't do that waiting in line at Wal Mart.
I feel like I'm always running around. So do other members of my immediate family. This is a great off-work day for a total sloth day. There is plenty of food in the house so no cooking, etc. Nobody needs anything. We'll get up a game of Cards Against Humanity after shoveling and cocoa. Time is far more precious than crap around here.
I've always hated shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving. Always. My mom used to drag me out. I'd go to be with my mom - the only thing that redeemed the expeditions! I rarely saw anything on sale that wasn't on sale at other times.
We stay home today, and do a mix of shopping at our friend's small businesses and buying things on the internet to fill the gift lists.
AG is the best reporter in Boston
Adam, I like your reporting style, quite a bit.
And I know I'm mixing reporting and blogging, but the reasons I like your style include: Not overly hyped; Probably don't have a giant truck parked blocking the sidewalk with a generator creating noise in the back; Willing to actually report on things like City Council and Zoning meetings as well as riots and snowstorms. Able to (usually) maintain a polite discussion/debate on the issues of the day. What appears to be pretty unbiased reporting, even when you probably do have some biases, like most humans.
Thank you for doing what you do. And please consider teaching journalism & blogging classes to the rest of our local media.
- Neighbor
PS- I don't normally give a bleep about people who camp out before big sales and pay little attention to the reporting about it, but you gave some good insights without going overboard. Or parking one of those stupid white vans in the way.
Ya know, it's easy to make fun of these people but...
...let's just say the first kid has been working and saving for something he really wants, something that will make him happy. Maybe it's a video game, but I also like that he is trying to get something nice for his mother. That alone has a lot of Christmas spirit to it. Now lets say this kid makes $10 and hour. So he has decided his time is worth it to stand somewhere for 17+hours, a time frame that would net him around $150 at work. He can sit there, read, talk on the phone, talk to others and use time that would otherwise be idle and save a few hundred dollars on things that he was planning to buy. In that case... good for him for equating his time as money.
Saving a few hundred dollars?
How many video games do you think this kid was planning to buy?
Have you seen the
price of video games lately?
And a game controller
Apologies: Left that out! No, I didn't ask him what kind, the cold had gotten to my brain.
What a nice guy, doing that
What a nice guy, doing that for his mother!
Saving anything from $50.00 to a few hundred, is not something to sniff at, especially if its something you needed anyway. Not all of us have these huge great families with a long dinner table and multiples laughing smiling relatives, or something to do at all on Thanksgiving. Its fun getting something you want/need for a great bargain. So let these people enjoy themselves since not everyone has a hallmark channel holiday to stay in the house for. And for someone on a budget, it can really pay off. Have fun with it and if its not for you then don't go.
Mindless consumerism...
...has devoured our nation's soul.
USA = Capitalism Gone Mad
Consumerism, I call it the "Gimme Gimme...Mine, Mine....I got mine so go f@#k yourself" aka Capitalism. Though the USA was built originally on Capitalism, it has sustained and destroyed the county at the same time. So next time someone says "Everyone in the world wants to come to the USA", remind them, it is only the wealthy, not everyone from other countries who come here. The wealthy have the "Gimme Gimme...Mine, Mine....I got mine so go f@#k yourself" mentality, unlike the middle class or poor, who mirror my grandparents generation, who came here simply to have a better life. The "Gimme Gimme...Mine, Mine....I got mine so go f@#k yourself" Class is associated with the USA all over the world, and to have that kind of mentality is what will be the down fall of the USA Empire.