26 replies to this topic

[Peter]

These are the top headlines right now on msnbc.com. Note the first one is about twice as big as the rest. Does anyone else find this ironic?

Surviving ‘Black Friday’
Typhoon targets Philippines
Philippine fishing boat sinks
29 feared dead in China after landslide buries bus
Anger flares as Bangladesh aid trickles in

We are the ones hoping to 'survive?'

[Emax]

Skier, on Nov 23 2007, 01:40 AM, said:

These are the top headlines right now on msnbc.com. Note the first one is about twice as big as the rest. Does anyone else find this ironic?

Surviving 'Black Friday'
Typhoon targets Philippines
Philippine fishing boat sinks
29 feared dead in China after landslide buries bus
Anger flares as Bangladesh aid trickles in

We are the ones hoping to 'survive?'

Gives one pause to consider the merits of the society we've created for ourselves, doesn't it.

[KMS]

It's embarrassing and sad. This is not what my grandfathers and so many others fought for. Mike and Allan, is it okay if I move to Canada? My mom's father was born and raised in North Battleford, Saskatchewan before becoming a US citizen, if that helps.

[Snoqualmie guy]

Wait, why is it called "Black Friday"?

[Callao]

Retail stores that should be closed down the rest of the year because they are in the "red" (losing money) finally make money on this day, when revenues exceed operating expenses. "Black Friday."

[Emax]

Snoqualmie guy, on Nov 23 2007, 08:40 AM, said:

Wait, why is it called "Black Friday"?

It's the day that retailers are supposed to go from "being in the red" to "being in the black"... spreadsheet-wise.
It's a holiday thing, you see. When it works the way it's supposed to, you can hear all the Jewish merchants singing that old hymn: "What A Friend We Have In Jesus".

This post has been edited by Emax: 23 November 2007 - 07:53 AM

[tram mechanic]

tells a lot about our culture; I can't imagine what kind of mindset is involved with getting an "alpine start" for a trip to JC Penney's @ 4:00AM

[Emax]

tram mechanic, on Nov 23 2007, 10:29 AM, said:

tells a lot about our culture; I can't imagine what kind of mindset is involved with getting an "alpine start" for a trip to JC Penney's @ 4:00AM

We're not really individuals, Tram; we're consumers - that biological entity which purchases and then uses-up the spawn of industry. We must be important, though, because we have a home on most corporate spreadsheets, a consumer protection agency - even zealous consumer advocates who create idiotic lawsuits on our behalf!
Some among us feel they must stampede to the malls when the green flag is dropped in order to reinforce our importance as a group. It's a Pavlovian response that has been well burned in by advertising.

Happy Festivus!

[Lift Dinosaur]

I'm running low on printer paper, but I'll be dam**d if I'll go out in today's mess. I'd need a tetnus shot first!!

Dino

[EagleAce]

Lift Dinosaur, on Nov 23 2007, 11:25 AM, said:

I'm running low on printer paper, but I'll be dam**d if I'll go out in today's mess. I'd need a tetnus shot first!!

Dino

You said it, Dino! I stay home on this day! I don't need to get run off the road by a bunch of crazies with shopping carts!

[SkiBachelor]

It wasn't that bad today. I left my house at 9:45 AM and got all the stuff I wanted. The big stores like Circuit City and Best Buy stream line everything so you can get out of there quickly.

However, I live in a population area of 250,000, but there is only 1 Best Buy and Circuit City for all of us.

[Callao]

Emax, on Nov 23 2007, 11:15 AM, said:

Happy Festivus!

Wha!? Festivus?


Frank Costanza: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.
Cosmo Kramer: What happened to the doll?
Frank Costanza: It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!

This post has been edited by Callao: 23 November 2007 - 03:14 PM

[Emax]

Callao, on Nov 23 2007, 04:14 PM, said:

Wha!? Festivus?


Frank Costanza: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.
Cosmo Kramer: What happened to the doll?
Frank Costanza: It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!

Festivus is an annual holiday invented by Reader's Digest writer and editor Dan O'Keefe.^[1] It was introduced to popular culture by O'Keefe's son Daniel, a scriptwriter for the TV show Seinfeld, on December 18, 1997, in the episode "The Strike".^[2] (Season 9, Episode 10) The holiday is celebrated each year on December 23, but many people celebrate it at other times, often to avoid the Christmas rush.^[2] It includes novel practices such as the "Airing of Grievances", in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they've disappointed him/her over the past year, and after a Festivus dinner, the "Feats of Strength" are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, thereby pinning him or her.

Many people, influenced or inspired by Seinfeld, now celebrate the holiday, in varying degrees of seriousness; some carefully following rules from the TV show or books, others humorously inventing their own versions.

[Lift Dinosaur]

EagleAce, on Nov 23 2007, 01:13 PM, said:

You said it, Dino! I stay home on this day! I don't need to get run off the road by a bunch of crazies with shopping carts!

Ahh, but wait Grasshopper. Soon you will be able to clear the parking lot with your 18 wheeler.

Dino

[EagleAce]

Lift Dinosaur, on Nov 23 2007, 04:23 PM, said:

Ahh, but wait Grasshopper. Soon you will be able to clear the parking lot with your 18 wheeler.

Dino

Yeah, you're probably right! Except here in the park we just have 10 wheelers.

[liftmech]

Bear in mind, as you read this, that I'm not a very religious person. However-
I find it sad that in preparation for celebration of the birth of Christ (a pretty selfless guy by all accounts, and one who once mentioned something about laying not up treasures on Earth) that our society will literally stampede through the gates of comsumerdom to buy, buy, buy! I have actually seen video clips of people running over their 'fellow' shoppers in their mad haste to get a deal.

[EagleAce]

I couldn't agree with you more, liftmech! Why they have to stampede I don't know. And there's been knock-'em-down-drag-'em-out fights in the aisles over toys

[mikest2]

lift mistress, on Nov 23 2007, 07:22 AM, said:

It's embarrassing and sad. This is not what my grandfathers and so many others fought for. Mike and Allan, is it okay if I move to Canada? My mom's father was born and raised in North Battleford, Saskatchewan before becoming a US citizen, if that helps.

I like the BC site the best:

http://www.ecdev.gov...s/PNP/index.htm

http://www.cic.gc.ca...illed/index.asp

[floridaskier]

I don't get why people go out shopping today. I've never done it before, but wouldn't the best time be the weekend before Thanksgiving, when the retailers are desperate to sell stuff? The mall was mobbed today, I drove past it and people had to park out across the street.

I've noticed that this year it seems like everybody is pushing the holiday season on us early. I guess the retailers are desperate to make some extra money, but everybody's playing along, the supermarkets, even the radio station that usually plays Christmas songs from Thanksgiving to New Year's started in the first week of November this year

[poloxskier]

It's sad the lengths the people go to in order to get deals. I just got home from WalMart, not for gifts but a new car charger for my phone, and it was no worse than it typicaly is up here during holliday times. That being said when I was in Colorado Springs yesterday there were people lined up at noon for the 4AM opening of Best Buy this morning. These kind of people need to get lives and not act as though getting a good deal is all that matters.