Any good Black Friday stories?

[Cutter John]

I admit, I'm a cynical old cuss. So my favorite part of Thanksgiving weekend is watching the annual black Friday riots on YouTube every year. I'm hoping with the economy in the state it is, the people actually doing any shopping with be extra frantic to find those bargains and things will be extra nuts. Me, I'm staying home where its safe.

So anyone have any good stories, or links to share?

Or barring that, di you find any extra cool deals?

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Yeah, but I'm saving them for Black History Month.

 

[Kestra]

So anyone have any good stories, or links to share?

Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled

A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.
The 34-year-old worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

I'm completely amazed that people continued to just rush past him. I wonder how they feel now that he is dead.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

I admit, I'm a cynical old cuss. So my favorite part of Thanksgiving weekend is watching the annual black Friday riots on YouTube every year. I'm hoping with the economy in the state it is, the people actually doing any shopping with be extra frantic to find those bargains and things will be extra nuts. Me, I'm staying home where its safe.

So anyone have any good stories, or links to share?

Or barring that, di you find any extra cool deals?

I was at Babies R Us at 4:30am. First in the door at the 5am opening. The women always are surprised when I show up, as they outnumber us men about 4-1.

Scored a $300 glider w/ottoman for $149, a $170 Fischer Price baby swing for $99, and a color monitor for $35 off the regular price.

Then went to Kohl's and bagged a Hamilton Beach toaster/convection oven for $29 (regular price - $69)

Total savings - about $260. Not bad.

Now, I am looking online for a 58" or 63" plasma, either a Panny Viera or Samsung. Went to a bunch of brick & mortar stores and they had awful prices. They only give good deals on lcd's or smaller plasma sizes. I did pick up a few blu-ray discs, but wasn't a great savings.

 

[Hermiod]

I didn't think we were supposed to have a Black Friday in Britain but the Regent Street Apple Store was crazy.

The staff carry little handheld Chip and Pin credit card readers so you don't have to queue up, and then they e-mail you the receipt. My evil plan to buy my new headphones from the same woman who noticed my distinctly Sci-Fi geek e-mail address last time I was in there was busy with other customers.

 

[Captain Intrepid]

So anyone have any good stories, or links to share?

Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled

A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.
The 34-year-old worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

I'm completely amazed that people continued to just rush past him. I wonder how they feel now that he is dead.

I'd kinda like to see the entire mob being charged with manslaughter. That'd make people think twice next time.

 

[Sledder]

So anyone have any good stories, or links to share?

Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled

A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.
The 34-year-old worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

I'm completely amazed that people continued to just rush past him. I wonder how they feel now that he is dead.

I'd kinda like to see the entire mob being charged with manslaughter. That'd make people think twice next time.

Also from an article on that:

A pregnant shopper who made her way inside the store with the masses was pushed to the ground and suffered a miscarriage, a witness said. Sadly, no one stopped to help the victims

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/...-mart-clerk-trampled-in-shopper-stampede.aspx

Who are these people?

 

[trampledamage]

Just curious, why is it called Black Friday?

 

[Sledder]

Just curious, why is it called Black Friday?

I believe it's to do with stores going "into the black" in their finances.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

So anyone have any good stories, or links to share?

Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled

A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.
The 34-year-old worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

I'm completely amazed that people continued to just rush past him. I wonder how they feel now that he is dead.

Depends if they got the piece of crap tv they wanted. Jerks.

 

[FPAlpha]

Now, I am looking online for a 58" or 63" plasma

Are trying to build a private theater?

I didn't know they built TVs this big yet for normal use..

 

[TheLonelySquire]

Just curious, why is it called Black Friday?

I believe it's to do with stores going "into the black" in their finances.

Indeed it is.

 

[trampledamage]

Just curious, why is it called Black Friday?

I believe it's to do with stores going "into the black" in their finances.

Indeed it is.

Oh okay, that makes sense. It just sounds weird to me because I'm used to the phrase meaning a bad day - like "Black Monday" for the day years back when the stock market crashed.

 

[freak]

The only store i hit was Lowes this morning for a lamp. That place was crowded! I feel like making a trip to Wal-Mart but I'm afraid that it will be a little impossible with it being Black Friday. The only thing I've seen in stores are the cranky old bitties and their families complaining about everything and anything.

 

[Aragorn]

There are new reports coming out that the Long Island miscarriage report was unfounded, but still, knocking over a pregnant lady and trampling a guy to death in the name of shopping is disgusting, pathetic and unfortunately quite telling.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Fuck black friday. I had to work at 4 in the morning today. People are nuts. They wait for an hour outside before they get let in, they run around the store getting their purchases, then they wait a half hour in line to buy stuff. If I wasn't getting paid, I would have slept the entire day.

 

[TheBrew]

I have a great Black Friday story.

Today, I slept in. And it was glorious.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

This Black Friday stuff is all bullshit. There's some *reason* why these loser stores have to open at 4 AM? Or why these sad motherfuckers who line up at ungodly hours can't bloody well wait till the sun comes up?

And, FYI, the term Black Friday originated in Philadelphia in reference to traffic patterns. It's only later that it was retconned into the meaning most people think it is (i.e. stores operating 'in the black').

 

[Sheliak]

I just finished reading a short novel and I'm so happy with the ending I could spit!

 

[OmahaStar]

We did our usual Black Friday shopping, but nowhere near as much as in previous years. Including travel time, going from one store to another, and wait times, we did five stores in 2 hours 3 minutes.

Previous years have been a minimum six hours. Not this year. And another huge difference ... We got everything on our lists. Because they had such huge stockpiles of the stuff on sale, plus there weren't nearly as many people out as usual.

Hell, Wal-Mart normally takes an hour itself. Today, we did our regular routine ... One gets in line for checkout while the others go get the stuff we're getting at that store ... From the time we got out of the car to the time we were back in was eight minutes.

And instead of spending the normal thousand plus, I think in total we spent about 300, even with the couple extra things we all picked up.

I didn't see any fighting, or any of the usual commotions. It was bizarre.