Shopping On Black Friday: Is It Worth It?

[Mitch Henessey]

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The Christmas shopping season officially begins after Thanksgiving day, and a lot of crazed shoppers flock to the many retail stores throughout the US. People go nuts over the discounts and bargains on the busiest shopping day of the year, some people will put up a good fight for the big deals, and some people will make asses out themselves, if they can get their hands on the last plasma TV, toaster, or coffee maker. Shopping on Black Friday has become a popular tradition over the years, but is shopping on Black Friday really worth it? Do you enjoy fighting the large and sometimes angry crowds? Is buying some random household appliance or Christmas present really worth all of the trouble?

Shopping on Black Friday has never been a big deal for me. I have been to Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart on Black Friday in the past. Usually, I didn't go for myself, and most of the time, I would only go if another family member asked me, because they wanted some extra company. I've always thought the shopping craze on Black Friday was overrated, because the deals and bargains really aren't that great, and some of the stuff I've seen at certain retail stores is just unbelievable. It's bad enough, when people rush the doors, because you can seriously injure someone, and I just can't understand the arguments and fights. A few years ago, I saw these two guys at a Best Buy on Black Friday, and it looked like they were ready to kill each other. They were shouting back and forth at each other, because they wanted a certain DVD player, and it was the only one left. A few managers and employees had to break everything up, because the situation was about to explode.

Being apart of the madness on Black Friday never does anything for me, and I usually avoid all of the major retail stores on this day. I don't get caught up in the madness, and I don't feel the excitement on this day. For me, Black Friday is just the day after Thanksgiving, and the stress from fighting the large crowds (standing in VERY long lines, finding a parking spot, dealing with a good amount of assholes, etc.) isn't worth it.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Dagger Dias]

Speaking as someone who works in retail.... It depends on how badly you want a particular item. Ads come out in the paper to show what will be on sale and for how long the sale lasts. Some stores do preview sales before Black Friday. Same items, same prices, different day(s). You are better off going to one of those sales rather than Black Friday itself since it can get just as insane as it gets potrayed on television.

I will be working from 3AM until 3PM that day. I'm not looking forward to it, especially since I'll be there as the doors open. Whenever the zombie horde first enters the store is when the day is at its craziest. (We jokingly refer to the crazy stampede of customers on Black Friday as "the zombie horde" at our store....) It dies down after a while.

So do some research and find out how badly you truly want the particular items you will be looking for on that day. Also, please try to be as patient as you can too with the associates or managers assisting you because it is the hardest day of the year for us and we are doing the best we possibly can.

 

[Chardee Macdennis]

Is it worth it? Absolutely, 100% NOT. I don't give a damn if they were giving away the rest of my mortgage payments, you wouldn't catch me near that group of assholes for anything. I despise shopping as it is, I've been out ONCE on a black Friday, not really even remembering that it was the "biggest shopping day of the year" and I didn't last 5 fuckin' minutes. Never in my life have I wanted to randomly bitch smack people more than I did that day. Honestly, I don't give a shit about the deal I might miss out on, but the way some of these people treat others is enough that I could easily see myself getting into a fist fight.

 

[JWGunslinger]

Nope, shopping on Black Friday is one thing that I will be fucking avoiding this year. I tell you what, I have a hard time getting up early to go duck hunting and that's something I love. If you think that you'll ever see me getting up early or dealing with crowds of a bunch of cattle like people then you are sadly mistaken unless I end up in a Jingle All The Way situation. I think that the fact that people can be so insane just over getting a few presents on sale is ridiculous, and I would rather pay more than deal with huge, crazy crowds and pissed off people.

What really irks me about Black Friday is the fact that the past few years we are hearing on the news that people are dying because of this shit, these idiots are so out of it that they try to plow their way into a store and trample a pregnant woman and kill her baby so they can get a discounted price on a tv? That is where I draw the line and some of these people should as well, I will be enjoying a nice day at home with my family and I think if more people tried that we would all be better off. Who knows, maybe staying hope could prevent someone being trampled to death.