Beyond ugly, beyond words

I had no idea that something like this would really happen again, with such tragic results, even as I was writing my last post about the conspicuous consumption orgy known as Black Friday.

But it did. Story below the fold if you have the stomach for it.

To hell with Walmart, Long Island thugs, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and the whole ugly thing.

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One born every minute

“There’s a sucker born every minute,” as P. T. Barnum did not say.  (It was a competitor, David Hannum.)

I think of that every time I order something at amazon.com which is one of their 4-for-3 deals.  You know, order four and the lowest priced one is free.   Usually with me it’s CDs.  This morning I decided to order two CDs which were both in the 4-for-3 thing.  So of course I had to browse around looking for a couple other items to fill out my 4-fer shopping cart. 

It’s so tempting, of course, to keep tossing things into the old shopping cart until it’s more like 8-for-6.  So instead of two CDs for like seven bucks each, I’m paying for six CDs and looking at my VISA statement later and saying “WTF was I thinking?”.   You know. 

This morning I maintained control, did in fact order just four bargain CDS  – for the price of three.

Along the way, I found this temptation easy to resist:  The Environmental Sounds of Crawford, Texas.  Which may become, according to the wry write-up of its creator, the “pet rock” of audio CDs.  I have to love their attitude – and the critter on the cover wearing shades – but I managed to do it without ordering their CD.   Even as my 4-fer freebie selection.

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Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines

I almost always worked the day after Thanksgiving, because I almost always worked for state or local government agencies who do not observe the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday, and I saw no reason to burn a day of vacation leave on it. 

On Thanksgiving Friday the office was quiet.  It was the perfect time to catch up on work without a lot of interruptions from phone calls and other things.  Like chatty co-workers, because most of them had taken the four-day weekend.  I doubt that blessed quiet will survive the Blackberry culture, now that the boss and everybody else can generate annoying email traffic from offsite. 

One of the most blessed things about working the day after Thanksgiving was NOT SHOPPING ON BLACK FRIDAY.   I do not have the words for how much I hate shopping in crowded stores.  For how my gut literally churns when I read the inevitable news stories about innocent kids trampled by sweaty fat adults rushing through the doors of Wal-mart to grab one of the loss leader color TVs. 

But here’s another scary thing.  According to this morning’s newspaper ads, the stores are opening so early tomorrow that determined shoppers can hit a few selected targets and still get to the office on time.  If they aren’t injured in the earlybird frenzy.

In case anyone wants to plan their Black Friday shopping, here’s a schedule of retail store opening times for Friday, November 23:

OPENING AT 4:00 A.M.:

• Kohl’s
• Penney’s

OPENING AT 5:00 A.M.:

• Best Buy
• Circuit City
• Linens N Things
• Michaels
• Old Navy
• Pepboys auto supply
• Sam’s Club
• Toys R Us
• Ultimate Electronics
• Wal-Mart

OPENING AT 6:00 A.M.:

• Bed Bath & Beyond
• K Mart
• Macy’s
• Office Depot
• Staples
• Target

OPENING AT 7:00 A.M.: 

• Burlington Coat Factory
• Cost Plus
• Dillard’s
• Office Max
• Ulta

OPENING AT 8:00 A.M. OR REGULAR HOURS:

• Car Toys
• Home Depot
• Mike’s Camera
• Wolf Camera
• Lowe’s

A few stores are opening this afternoon or tonight.  I refuse to give them free publicity.  They should let their employees have the day off.  Grinches.

If you go shopping tomorrow, be careful out there. 

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