Post #236,059
11/26/05 12:29:17 AM
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Ok, I suppose I'm asking for it now
[link|http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4164781&nav=0Rce|Discussing this story.]and [link|http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-1125shop,0,6753979.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines|this story] "Wal-Mart did not do enough to protect us," Dietstra said. "There is more than enough for everybody. The sale is going on all day," he shouted as frustrated shoppers shouted back, complaining they were tired of waiting.
"We have your money out here," one woman responded angrily. "We need to go to other stores. I can't stand here all day." So now I'm to understand that people acting like animals is somehow WalMart's fault, or Best Buy's fault? Hundreds of people lining up starting at 3am and then having the common decency to step on pregnant women and children is now not >their< responsibility...its those damned big biznesses for having the audacity to offer an lcd TV for $200 and that pregnant lady and her kid were just gonna slow them down I guess. No, wait. Everything else is George Bush's fault...we'll just blame him for this too. Something about this story makes me want to ask someone if they went shopping on black friday...and if they say yes...just popping them one. People are animals...and alot of them belong in cages...probably moreso than alot that we already have in cages. If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #236,060
11/26/05 12:44:12 AM
8/21/07 12:39:23 PM
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Wal-mart shoppers
I have no sympathy for. Why would you go to that store ever?
People are animals...and alot of them belong in cages...probably moreso than alot that we already have in cages.
Not all, but judging from election results, probably just about half do.
"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #236,063
11/26/05 1:31:00 AM
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Of course in a similar story last year it turned out . . .
. . the "injured" party was perpetrating a fraud.
On the other hand, I have no sympathy for either WalMart or their shoppers. They deserve each other.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #236,077
11/26/05 11:50:32 AM
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How about the employees?
I agree that Walmart and its shoppers both suck. However both take large fractions of their suckage out on Walmart employees, who in my opinion don't actually deserve the treatment.
If the CEO and other higher ups at Walmart were the ones who directly got grief from Walmart shoppers, I'd wholeheartedly agree with you. But they don't. They just see the profits.
Cheers,
Ben
I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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Post #236,080
11/26/05 12:44:55 PM
8/21/07 12:40:08 PM
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If there were no shoppers, things would change
Just watched the walmart documentary - what a rotten company. Apparently walmart parking lots are among the finest places to commit crimes - no security to speak of. The crooks and rapists know this too. Crime rate in the lots is sky high.
OTOH, security is a little better if the store has crushed the union. Mention 'union' and they'll install $100k+ in cameras and surveillance all over the store and parking lot and use it until the threat passes. Then they stop manning the cameras again.
Walmart needs to face a significant drop in sales and even more opposition to new stores. Shopping walmart is supporting slavery.
"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #236,072
11/26/05 10:44:51 AM
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Actually, you were doing just fine, until...
...you had a fap-attack: No, wait. Everything else is George Bush's fault...we'll just blame him for this too. That was a little too de rigeur, too well telegraphed. But you recovered nicely. jb4
shrub●bish (Am., from shrub + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf. BULLSHIT
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Post #236,103
11/26/05 4:26:17 PM
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First off, it's not Walmart fault (imo)
although their consumers need to wake up to the fact that Walmart is creating these "mini-outages" to boost sales. "The fellow was acting up," said Wal-Mart spokesman Marty Heires.
Asked whether the man was a disappointed customer, acting oddly or fighting to get a deeply discounted item before supplies ran out, Heires said it might have been a combination of the three.
"I don't know exactly. He was probably disappointed. He was irate."
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. promoted deep discounts this holiday season to draw customers. It also moved back the starting time for its day-after-Thanksgiving sales specials to 5 a.m. Friday.
"We try to create some excitement with these discounts," Heires said. "That's part of the fun."
[link|http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-doorbuster2605nov26,0,6423818.story?coll=orl-home-headlines| Orlando Sentinel]
People are animals...and alot of them belong in cages...probably moreso than alot that we already have in cages.
And Walmart seems to cater to them...
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Post #236,104
11/26/05 5:00:06 PM
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The stories I've read
are not all specific to WalMart. There is BestBuy, Target and others that I've seen mentioned.
Its not about the retailer, its about the decline of sensibility.
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #236,109
11/26/05 5:42:45 PM
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Well, those mega-retailers are a key part . . .
. . of the decline of sensibility. They are a big element in depersonalizing commerce and community.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #236,145
11/26/05 10:22:04 PM
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And a big desire to "build excitement"
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Post #236,152
11/26/05 10:38:43 PM
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Theres nothing like a sale...
...to make we want to trample someone!
Woohoo!
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #236,111
11/26/05 6:07:59 PM
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"...hoping to snag some of the doorbuster specials..."
OK, so if "the doorbuster specials" is -- apparently, AFAICS -- common-enough terminology for the meeja to use; probably invented by the retailers themselves (where did they get it for this article, if not from the shop?)... If that's the way the shops themselves are hyping it, then WTF are they surprised about?
They -- retailers and shoppers alike -- got exactly what was advertised.
Also, I suppose you were feeling -- and wanted us to feel -- all, "Awwww, poor Granny... She's 73 years old, and all!" -- at least, that is obviously the way one is intended to feel, from the article... But I (in stead of feeling as prescribed) can't help notice that the old biddy apparently felt herself spry enough to join the (well-known lunatic) spree, at frigging 5 AM.
Stop to think about that for a while.
[link|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode|Christian R. Conrad]
(I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.)
Yes Mr. Garrison, genetic engineering lets us correct God's horrible, horrible mistakes, like German people. - [link|http://maxpages.com/southpark2k/Episode_105|Mr. Hat]
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Post #236,315
11/28/05 1:55:04 PM
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Her being there at 5 am is easy to understand.
Old people have to pee a lot. They're up most of the night anyway.
bcnu,
Mikem
It would seem, therefore, that the three human impulses embodied in religion are fear, conceit, and hatred. The purpose of religion, one might say, is to give an air of respectibility to these passions. -- Bertrand Russell
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Post #236,173
11/27/05 8:57:42 AM
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We never shop on Black Friday
Or anytime that weekend, as a matter of fact. And never at Walmart.
I'm still trying to find an article about the news-story we heard part of on TV. Something about at Walmart, everyone wanted laptops, and they were being thrown 20 feet in the air?
WTF? How come? If anyone finds that story, please let me know. I searched the other day but no luck.
Brenda
"I'll rock the darn boat all I want to, and if it's meant to stay afloat, then it will. If not, then we'll just all go down with the bloody ship!"
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Post #236,177
11/27/05 10:15:09 AM
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Here ya go.
[link|http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i9792|Linky]: DES MOINES (AP) A Black Friday laptop riot at a Des Moines Walmart rapidly escalated into an Xbox shootout requiring the use of overwhelming force by local S.W.A.T. teams and the deployment of the Iowa National guard.
Angry Walmart shoppers competing to purchase one of the 3 available $19.95 Pentium 4 laptops quickly spread the mayhem to the Xbox section where over 800 people lined up to buy the one available $7.95 Xbox 360 gaming console.
[...]
HTH. Cheers, Scott ;-)
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Post #236,184
11/27/05 12:49:46 PM
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Weak Google-fu?
[link|http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/25/news/fortune500/holiday_walmart_promotions/|Here it is on CNN Money]: CNN showed video from affiliate WFTV of shoppers scuffling at a Wal-Mart store in Orlando, Fla., with an eyewitness saying laptops were being thrown "20 feet in the air and people were collapsing on each other to grab them. It was ridiculous." Alex
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell
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Post #236,228
11/27/05 8:22:04 PM
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Thanks, Alex
I actually tried several combinations after hearing part of the story on our local news, but couldn't find it. Maybe it was too soon, or something. And the stupid story still doesn't tell me WHO was throwing the laptops.
That was what I wondered. Were the employees flinging them at people to keep the crowds back, or were shoppers throwing them in the air, and for what?
Weird....
Thanks, both you guys.
"I'll rock the darn boat all I want to, and if it's meant to stay afloat, then it will. If not, then we'll just all go down with the bloody ship!"
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Post #236,234
11/27/05 8:45:38 PM
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When you visit the Zoo -
do you wonder exactly what's on the minds of the monkeys gleefully pissing on the watchers?
Sometimes the precise psych name for a certain variety of Madness is ~ irrelevant, y'know?
(I'll bet that, were these $100 kitchen knives marked down to $7.99 + 18 rebates; and someone tossed one of the 3 way up in the air: several would be waiting right underneath to Get Theirs. Hmmmm. if they fell just right - maybe 3 Darwin Awards for one knife: thus making it too, into Guiness: some sort of Trifecta?)
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Post #236,306
11/28/05 12:59:37 PM
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Nope
Monkeys aren't supposed to make sense, but people are.
Brenda
"I'll rock the darn boat all I want to, and if it's meant to stay afloat, then it will. If not, then we'll just all go down with the bloody ship!"
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Post #236,270
11/28/05 3:41:25 AM
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You left out the obvious: Employees throwing them in the air
Featherbrain hoots: That was what I wondered. Were the employees flinging them at people to keep the crowds back, or were shoppers throwing them in the air, and for what? Why didn't you mention the possibility that springs immediately to mind: That it was the employees throwing them in the air, for a kind of lottery as to which customer catches one? (Haven't you ever been to a wedding? Hey, haven't you had one -- what did you do with your bouquet?)
[link|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode|Christian R. Conrad]
(I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.)
Yes Mr. Garrison, genetic engineering lets us correct God's horrible, horrible mistakes, like German people. - [link|http://maxpages.com/southpark2k/Episode_105|Mr. Hat]
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Post #236,307
11/28/05 1:02:07 PM
11/28/05 1:05:49 PM
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True
Featherbrain hoots:That was what I wondered. Were the employees flinging them at people to keep the crowds back, or were shoppers throwing them in the air, and for what? Why didn't you mention the possibility that springs immediately to mind: That it was the employees throwing them in the air, for a kind of lottery as to which customer catches one? Actually, yes I did think about that... only problem was, these are laptops. Not conducive to being thrown and or dropped... wouldn't they break if someone missed them? So to me, the employees throwing them didn't make any sense. (Haven't you ever been to a wedding? Hey, haven't you had one -- what did you do with your bouquet?) I did a sexy choreographed garter removal process to the song, "She's Got Legs", showing a lot of leg, and then as follows suit, tossed my bouquet. But bouquets don't break or have little sensitive electronics inside. ;) Brenda
"I'll rock the darn boat all I want to, and if it's meant to stay afloat, then it will. If not, then we'll just all go down with the bloody ship!"
Edited by Nightowl
Nov. 28, 2005, 01:05:49 PM EST
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Post #236,397
11/29/05 4:39:28 AM
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Guess:Such a throng, there's no room for 'em to reach floor.
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Post #236,445
11/29/05 2:31:36 PM
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One concept, yes
Conrad wrote:>>Re: Guess:Such a throng, there's no room for 'em to reach floor.<<
But man, what if they hit someone on the head, I mean imagine the lawsuits!
Ah well, people really do stupid things sometimes.
Brenda
"I'll rock the darn boat all I want to, and if it's meant to stay afloat, then it will. If not, then we'll just all go down with the bloody ship!"
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Post #236,209
11/27/05 4:30:56 PM
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Both are at fault.
Big retailers for setting up situations in which the idiots that shop there are guaranteed to hurt each other.
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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Post #236,232
11/27/05 8:37:26 PM
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Deeper, perhaps?
The myth that you shall achieve a fleeting moment of Satisfiction, by buying more stuff you haven't the time or space (or actual cash) to use anyway?
(And deeper: perhaps the #1 huckster-induced addiction as, all-alone dooms the species to overconsumption extinction.)
Powerful stuff, those EZ psych-manipulations that play on the fear of not having quite-Enough crap. Yet.
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