Saturday, 29 November 2014

Muppets

It's a strange sight to behold.

The concept of "Black Friday" have always been an American phenomenon that we read about with slight intrigue and a little amusement, that is, until some bright spark brought the idea over here last year.


Suddenly, seeing people pushing and shoving one another -- generally behaving like animals -- all to save a few pounds on worthless merchandise (in my humble opinion), is not funny anymore.  According to the article, quite a few people are prepared to surrender their dignity for a mere £80 (the alleged difference between the normal price and the discounted price of a flat-screen TV)!


These people probably have not heard of the book (a free pdf copy is available here) that I am going to henceforth seek refuge in, in response to the new low in intellectual capacity to reason that is unfolding before me.



8 comments:

  1. Hwee,

    The photos in the article are frightening. Being an introvert, I hate crowds and nothing would persuade me to go to a big sale. I wouldn't cope with all the pushing and shoving. But obviously many, many people think surrendering their dignity in this way is worth it. I wonder why. I will have to read the book you suggested. It looks very interesting. I'm going to bookmark it for when I need something new to read. Thank you!

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    1. The behaviour that we see in the article is one of herd mentality and a gross lack of reasoning. I find the extent of non-thinking behaviour to be the most frightening aspect of the report.

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  2. The whole Black Friday thing has made me angry and sad, greedy retailers, mindless consumerism!

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    1. The mindless herd behaviour is indeed shocking. You'd think people have higher aspirations in life than acquiring flat-screen TVs! Let's hope what we see is only a minority. :-)

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  3. I will say, I'm not a big fan of the crowds and such stuff, but I discovered there's a few stores I go to for Black Friday Sales about mid-morning, and they're relatively uncrowded and I get some good deals. Next year I'm planning to budget a fair chunk of my clothes shopping for that day because one of the stores we shop at has their entire store 50% off, which adds up when clothing 3 kids.

    But, I agree with you on the craziness of some people for these sales. My husband went by one store on Wednesday and people were lined up in tents already to get the sale. That is just CRAZY!

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    1. In general, I'm all for buying things when they are discounted, so as to get the best value since most things are overpriced these days. :-) It's the desperate behaviour (such as fighting over electronics) of some people that gives rise to my dismay.

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  4. I'm with you, it is crazy!
    I find doing the weekly food shop stressful enough so venturing out in the sales has never been, and never will be, one of my priorities.

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    1. I hope most people will see Black Friday sales for what it is, i.e. an opportunity for some to go crazy, and refrain from being part of it. The whole scene just makes it sound too dangerous to go near! :-)

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