PSA: Holiday Season

[GrandpaPatch]

Public Service Announcement (PSA): Looney Toon Season

Today is the 10th of November and we are not far from the 'going to visit so-n-so for the holiday'. Traffic that will start after work on Tuesday and continue through Wednesday and the afternoon of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving (Thursday), Black Friday (Friday) followed by the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) will continue to be a traffic issue as people are returning home from the holiday. Please be careful. As I tell my wife and kids all the time "I am not worried about your driving, it is the other morons that I worry about."

I don't know about your area, but in my area Black Friday starts as early as 5pm Thursday (yes, Thanksgiving). I will forever have Black Friday in my mind as the start of 'Looney Toon Season'. This particular shopping phenomenon continues not only though midnight of Christmas Eve, but then everyone starts returning and exchanging their gifts for a different item, correct size, whatever their issue is. So, I consider Looney Toon Season to run from Black Friday until at least the 15th of January of the new year. People who are out shopping are rude, inconsiderate, vicious and even hatefully obnoxious. Do not expect that item you are looking at from 15 feet away to still be there or uncontested by the time your feet can move you that distance. Our local WalMart here puts out pallets of items that are still 'shrink wrapped' and watched (guarded) by an employee until the appropriate time of open the 'shrink wrap' wrapping. In the last several years this has made it into our local news, as people will actually start standing in line next to a pallet at 7am and wait for that pallet to be opened. Which may not be until 5pm, 8pm or 10pm that night. After no water, no food, no chair, no bathroom or any other forethought these people are like rabid dogs. Most people come prepared for these issues and shop in pairs at least. This also causes issue as people have the chairs to sit in while waiting in line, which in turn cause a 'traffic jam' of shopping carts for other shoppers who are just trying to get around the store.

I have covered traffic and store crowds  so I will move to parking lot safety. People are no more considerate on the streets and highways or in the isle of a store as they are in the parking lot. Expect some SMURFBUTT to swing in and take the sport that you were kind enough to stop and give the departing person room to back out of.  Another thing has been going on for several years (10 years, maybe more, I can't remember the year it started) is parking lot theft. This parking lot theft has come in several forms depending on the stupidity level and boldness of the thief/thieves. This mostly occurs at Malls or large shopping complexes. People can only carry so much. So they make trips back and forth to their car to deposit the first, second, third load of goodies. The thieves watch and target a particular vehicle based on what they think they can get. Risk vs. Reward. There have been those stupid and bold thieves who use various tactics such as; just flat out threaten with a strongarm,  'grab and run', finger in their pocket pretend weapon, knife, gun or other pretend weapon. There have also been the smarter and sneakier ones who will sit and watch, mark a target and then smash the window, grab the goodies and run. ***A big reason why a lot of shoppers here carry pepper spray during the holiday season. *** I will get back to this subject.*** Anyways the Maricopa County Sheriffs Posse has started patrolling the parking lots of the more popular malls, as the thief problem has been causing issue and money and the taxpayer's wanted something done about it. Has it corrected all the problems, NO, but it has helped cut down on the number of robberies/thefts.

*** As has been previously mentioned by another member (I forgot which thread it was) you can easily pepper spray yourself. I have mentioned in other posts. Train with what you carry and carry what you train with. If you do not train for the possible need to use, deployment of weapon and issues with your local carry laws, then do not carry just for the holiday season. Otherwise, the next 'America's Dumbest Criminals' show just might have you on it while the criminal runs away with your stuff in one hand and holding his pants up with the other.***

BE CAREFUL WITH WHAT YOU DO AND WATCHFUL AND CONSCIOUS OF OTHERS, BUT MOST OF ALL. HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON

[Don Pablo]

We have no thanksgiving here, and Black Friday is not as big. Phew!
The downside is, the shop displays the Christmas stuff before Halloween.

[GrandpaPatch]

We have no thanksgiving here, and Black Friday is not as big. Phew!
The downside is, the shop displays the Christmas stuff before Halloween.

Yes, we have had Christmas stuff out since before Halloween as well. I keep thinking, 'Damn, let me some turkey first!'

[ironraven]

Ugh. When I was working retail, I hated black friday. I was always on the door, being "big and scary looking".

And my cashiers always made it through the crowd. I only had to say once a year "she works here- without her, don't none of ya'll get inside" when someone bibbitzed about why they were being let in and not the mob. Couldn't let them in the backdoor- fire alarm- and the only way to control the crowd if we let the cashiers in through receiving would have involved MG teams to beat back the zombies. None of that crap is worth waking up that early for. Sure ain't worth hurting people or getting hurt over. Or even missing a meal for. Black friday crowds hitting restaurants are nasty, and bad tippers.

Sickest, saddest holy day in America. All bow before the greed. Me, I'm sleeping in. I don't deal with that smurf any more.

[Alan K.]

I have avoided shopping on Black Friday for years now.  Around here in south Florida, people will start lining up in front of Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart days in advance.  I'm not kidding.  They will camp outside of these stores starting on Sunday or Monday, before they even know what the specials are going to be in that store.  It's worse than the release day of a new Apple phone, and the stores start their Black Friday sales as early as Thursday afternoon.  I feel bad for the employees who have to be at the store instead of enjoying Thanksgiving with their families, and I absolutely have no desire to be part of those crowds anymore.  I sleep very well Thursday night and I don't get up early on Friday.

I will say, however, that there's money to be made if anyone is short of funds.  Some people don't want to wait in line for days so they will pay a surrogate to wait in line for them, and I myself was lucky enough to find a sweet parking space in front of the mall several years ago (first spot across from the entrance) and only stood by my car for a few moments before someone pulled up and asked if I was leaving and offered to pay for the space.  I wasn't planning on selling my parking spot but she asked, so, I said "twenty bucks."  and the lady actually gave me the money for my primo spot.  I was young and poor then so what the hell right?
 

[gerleatherberman]

Thank you for the PSA, Patch! Very very very important information and recommendations there, sir!

I, for one, am willing to pay the extra 10%-25% extra for items I want before and after the shopping shark-frenzy. I don't understand why saving $100 on a T.V. causes people to lose their empathy so quickly. It's not really much money for something that lasts for years.

I have done all of my holiday gift shopping already and only paid $200 more in total than I would have saved going to black-Friday sales. I can work on that Friday and make up some of the money lost in not shopping on that day. Humanity is in a fragile state of greed and I choose not to take part in something that causes harm to others. It's a small moral high-ground I don't want to step down from.


Sorry for the rant.

[GrandpaPatch]

Thank you for the PSA, Patch! Very very very important information and recommendations there, sir!

I, for one, am willing to pay the extra 10%-25% extra for items I want before and after the shopping shark-frenzy. I don't understand why saving $100 on a T.V. causes people to lose their empathy so quickly. It's not really much money for something that lasts for years.

I have done all of my holiday gift shopping already and only paid $200 more in total than I would have saved going to black-Friday sales. I can work on that Friday and make up some of the money lost in not shopping on that day. Humanity is in a fragile state of greed and I choose not to take part in something that causes harm to others. It's a small moral high-ground I don't want to step down from.


Sorry for the rant.

 

[Butch]

If I need sumpin' the mailman can bring it  I aint coming out till spring .........so there ......

[GrandpaPatch]