"Black" Friday Follies...
I trust that you all had as good a Thanksgiving day as was possible, and that the MEANING of that day still resounds in your minds and hearts.
We had our "sedate" little twosome (Mrs. Bobby G. and myself), so no need to put the leaf in our dining room table.
It's the only time of year we dine in the dining room, actually. The rest of the time, it's the dinette in the family room, which works well enough.
Maybe we do Christmas dinner in the dining room, but that's it.
First up, the answer to Wednesday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
It was Robert Jackson, A Systematic View of the Formation, Discipline, and Economy of the Armies - 1804.
Anyhow, the leftovers have been stashed in the fridge, and I get to sit back and watch all the insanity unfold on this day...THE worst shopping day of the calendar year. And woe to those that feel the "need" to rush out for "sales".
THE FIVE on Fox yesterday had a funny show devoted to Thanksgiving...remembrances, tips and the like.
I especially like Bob Beckel's "travel tips", because so many DO fly home to be with loved ones.
He said that IF you have to bring a crying baby on board an airliner, PLEASE change the kid's diaper FIRST. Nothing worse than smelling a dirty diaper SEVEN aisles back. He also said that IF you encounter teenagers that say the word "LIKE" every other word, look for the air marshal on the flight and have him SHOOT them...lol.
I would mention that while I'm not an advocate of gun play at 35,000 feet, it should be noted that "safe" bullets are carried. These "frangible rounds" will turn to powder on impact with anything solid like the bulkhead or window on an airplane, but will penetrate organic matter (such as that annoying teenager or possible terrorist). Just so you know...
Now, I suppose that this morning for us NORMAL people is more like the AFTERNOON for those early-bird shoppers. I mean they've been out for hours just to be at some store at 0500 hrs...sorry, I was busy racking up Zs, as was everyone else not involved in all this buffoonery.
I can NEVER recall a time when ANYONE in our household EVER succumbed to the pressure of sales enough to want to "camp out" at some store to get someone something for Christmas.
And yes, I know I passed up a REALLY good ("Thursday Only") sale at Gander Mountain on a .22 Mossberg tactical "Plinkster" w/ 25 round magazine for ONLY $199 ($100 off)...PLUS a decent sale on bulk .22 ammo...yes, I know...all too well. But hey, it'll be on sale again.
Yet, truth be told, yesterday was more about family to me (however small it has become over the years) than anything else.
Still, there were PUH-LENTY of shoppers for all the sales out there...some camping out as long as TWO DAYS in advance (another "occupy" movement?) just for a "bargain".
Lemme toss a bit of fact out here at this point:
A bargain is only a bargain of you indeed SAVE money (and a goodly amount, that is)...got it?
That means if something you were hoping to buy was ONE price back in say...AUGUST, and has since been jacked UP 20%, and is NOW (on Black Friday) a whopping 20% OFF, then WHERE the hell is the savings, hmm?
What I've been fascinated with is the reasoning behind Black Friday, and in today's paper, they have an article that mentions just that.
Here's the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20111125/NEWS03/311259941
One thing the story mentions is that "WE LIKE CROWDS"...really?
REALLY???
Unless it's a crowd at a Ted Nugent concert or the audience at a classical music recital, I'm not "down with that"...not one bit.
I detest crowds, because chaos breeds in such "target-rich" environments, and too many are oblivious to such things.
Small gatherings are fine, but with crowds come crowd-like behavior...pushing, shoving...your basic lack-of-civility.
Personally, I'd feel a bit safer in the lion pen at the zoo...wearing bacon britches!
You do have to understand the majority of the people spoken to in this story were WOMEN...
(Oh, well, THAT tells me a LOT about crowds, besides bony elbows in my side...lol)
Another facet in the story says that "Planners are pushy"...
NOT TRUE...(provisionally-speaking.)
I am a planner and I am NOT pushy when it comes to shopping...if anything, I am focused like a damn LASER BEAM.
I already HAVE a list in hand...KNOW what I want, KNOW where it can be located in the store I'm planning to "assault", and KNOW how much I plan to spend on whatever I'm getting....and then KNOW how to get the hell HOME in the best possible time.
I also tend to KNOW where I want to park in relation to the store entrances and exits..so that about covers it.
(...usually, it's a bit farther from all the numbnut drivers that LOVE to dent YOUR vehicle thanks to THEIR carelessness and haste.)
The story also cites that Black Friday shopping provides us with a "Sense of identity"...
ROFLMAO...!
Christ, the LAST thing I want is to have MY sense of identity defined by HOW EARLY I'm in front of some god-forsaken store, freezing my man-bits off for the sole purpose of feeding some financilly-hedonistic desire, as I shoulder my way through the mass of other shoppers when those doors finally open, like some Green Bay linebacker who's trying to sack the opposition's QB.
My sense of identity is nicely intact and well defined, thank you very much.
And anyone crossing me will find out soon enough JUST how well-defined it is when I go shopping!.
My identity is NOT shaped by the other shoppers around me, other than the fact that THEIR insanity only goes to secure my normalcy.
In THAT, I get a nice "warm n fuzzy"...(which may or may not be on sale this week...LOL)
So, I'll do what any good "covert operator" would do...bide my time...plan my moves, plot my strategy...and achieve victory.
That's what you're SUPPOSED to do in a "combat" scenario, isn't it?
And if you think that Black Friday shopping is anything LESS than "all-out warfare", you've not seen the opposition, nor understood the intricacies of combat. Better to hunker down, and wait for the barrage to lighten up before you leave that "foxhole" (your house) and move out.
In NC, they've had a SHOOTING at one store:
http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/11/25/3552821/sc-woman-shot-after-black-friday.html
...AND, the obligatory stampeding of "the herds"...much like the one in Buffalo where one man was literally trampled by shoppers (last year).
You can google the YouTube video for yourselves.
Now, is it just me, or do the FIRST shoppers to burst through the doors of most stores appear to be large black females (who have camped there for days...no job, Shekeisha??) Another woman used PEPPER SPRAY to get the items she wanted...
You do have to admire the WELFARE system that allows such people the opportunity to be FIRST when it comes to venues like this.
Like I said...like a stampeding herd...and you SURE as hell don't want to be in THEIR way (unless you managed to sneak a CATTLE PROD under your jacket).
To me, it's just not worth the hassle...the parking...the lines...the shoving...the potential for THEFT or ASSAULT...not one bit.
Do I secretly admire those who brave these things (and more) to score the bargains?
Nah...not really.
I'd much rather devote my admiration to those in uniform, be they local (LEOs, firefighters and those in the military), or troops overseas fighting for freedom and liberty.
I will shop on MY terms...and at MY leisure...and NOT because some store is touting SALES out the butt.
Of course, there IS always the "online experience" (not to be confused with the Jimi Hendrix Experience).
Nice to have the purchases COME TO YOU...rather than you chase after them.
But, if you DO have to go out today and jump into the maelstrom of mooks and moolies, take special care that you don't wind up on the evening news.
Be wary, be cautious and be vigilant.
Your life isn't worth some trinket that's on sale...that's for sure.
Have yourselves a great weekend.
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and as always...
Stay SAFE out there, America.