What Does The FL Think of So-called Black Friday?

[gear-guy]

“The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first and love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life.” Teddy Roosevelt covers this thread pretty well. I think he said this in 1908 and still applies today!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

“The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first and love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life.” Teddy Roosevelt covers this thread pretty well. I think he said this in 1908 and still applies today!

Exactly. Good post..!!
HD

 

[AustinTX]

"...the noise, the crowds, the fighting.."

And that's just Thanskgiving Dinner! I work in the airlines and half my co-workers had to put in a shift on Thanksgiving. I was lucky this year. Enjoy your holidays, everyone.

 

[Feraud]

And now you have people willing to literally kill for a deal.

Sadly that deal people are willing to step over others for will be considered useless in less than a year..

 

[Zombie_61]

I love Black Friday. I get to spend the day at home with my wife, our cat, and our dog, doing a whole lot of nothing. :thumb:

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

“The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first and love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life.” Teddy Roosevelt covers this thread pretty well. I think he said this in 1908 and still applies today!

And my favorite quote from Daniel Carter Beard, founder of the Boy Scouts of America, who wrote in 1929:

"We must be on our guard to see that modern conditions do not weaken our fiber until when faced with hardship we are as helpless as a hermit crab without its shell."

 

[Dragon Soldier]

Nobody from the UK should be in the slightest doubt what Black Friday is now. As we have it too, and we have had for "some years" according to the only reply I received to my E-mails questioning retailers why they had adopted the Transatlantic practice.

 

[vitanola]

Whenever I read the accounts of the mayhem at Black Friday sales I am reminded of an old New Yorker cartoon dating to the very early 1930's. A frail old lady is showing a young man a portrait of a fellow in a "Collegiate" turtle-neck sweater, c. 1909. The caption? "That was your father, Horace. He perished in a stampede in Gimble's basement.

 

[ButteMT61]

We took the grandkids out Friday night to get some winter clothes and pajamas. It was nice to get 50%+ off on those items! and we went later, so it wasn't too crazy. Then again, Pasadena is not known for Walmart like murders over appliances. It was actually a nice night out which surprised me a bit. I've not gone out on a "Black Friday" in ages.

 

[vintageTink]

We took the grandkids out Friday night to get some winter clothes and pajamas. It was nice to get 50%+ off on those items! and we went later, so it wasn't too crazy. Then again, Pasadena is not known for Walmart like murders over appliances. It was actually a nice night out which surprised me a bit. I've not gone out on a "Black Friday" in ages.

I had a gift card for kohls a few years ago. I got the boys some pajamas that were 50% off and they were still $14 a set!
Now I just make them; last year I made Star Trek pajamas for the husband and two boys.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

This is very depressing: http://consumerist.com/2013/11/29/h...t-thanksgiving-fighting-over-discounted-junk/

 

[ButteMT61]

Way worse than Black Friday are the luxury car commercials. To me, they're the. Ost offensive part of the holidays, and they all seem to relish being more obnoxious than the others.
I would never buy a Lexus, BMW, Mercedes or Audi after seeing those repulsive ads.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Way worse than Black Friday are the luxury car commercials. To me, they're the. Ost offensive part of the holidays, and they all seem to relish being more obnoxious than the others.
I would never buy a Lexus, BMW, Mercedes or Audi after seeing those repulsive ads.

Me neither, not when I know too many car dealers that can get me one a year old, and about $10-15K off.

 

[ButteMT61]

Me neither, not when I know too many car dealers that can get me one a year old, and about $10-15K off.

Bought a cherry FJ Cruiser literally owned by an old lady in SanDiego with meticulous maintenance records and full Certified Warranty. Saved meself $15k on a new one. Any day.

 

[vintageTink]

Me neither, not when I know too many car dealers that can get me one a year old, and about $10-15K off.

I know a car dealer in Wisconsin. :lol:

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nothing quite says "acquisitive class-climbing sucker" like paying a hundred grand for a pretentious car that loses half its value the moment it's driven off the lot. Besides, "Lexus" sounds like the name of a character Victor Mature might play in a bad fifties movie set in ancient Rome. In Eastmancolor, yet.

 

[sheeplady]

Later when I got a family of 3 kids, it meant the world to me. I's a Dad who wanted to make sure and get everything my kids wanted. I wasn't making much back then, but I made sure my family didn't want for anything. Black Friday was a Godsend. I literally saved 50-70%, every year and back then, I needed every single %. The thought of anyone begrudging me for those things would get an earfull.

I can understand wanting your kids to have everything. I struggle with this with my daughter. After I was diagnosed with cancer I had this urge to buy her anything I thought she would want or like out of fear that she would grow up without me. It sounds silly, but although I knew stuff couldn't replace me, I thought stuff could make the loss somehow better- as if the gifts were tangible proof that I loved her and still loved her even though I was dead. I am still fighting this urge to buy anything I think she'd like and squirrel it away "just in case."

But what about society that makes us want so much stuff?

The truth is- the real reason why I am so worried about buying her stuff is because I'm worried about not being there. I know stuff can't and won't replace me when she is older. This is because I know my time, my presence, is much more valuable than stuff. There's this commercial on TV that says that "nothing is more valuable than your time" for your kids. It is so true. I'm trying to focus more on the "time" aspect of it.

That said, I think two things:
1. I think as parents we're motivated a lot by guilt to do things for our children, mainly buy them stuff. We feel guilty we aren't richer, we feel guilty we aren't staying at home with them, and in my case, I feel guilty about possibly dying.
2. The powers that be have long ago figured out how to manipulate that guilt.

The main thing any kid wants from their parents is time.

 

[Virginia Creeper]

Way worse than Black Friday are the luxury car commercials. To me, they're the. Ost offensive part of the holidays, and they all seem to relish being more obnoxious than the others.
I would never buy a Lexus, BMW, Mercedes or Audi after seeing those repulsive ads.

I'm thankful to have never seen the ads. My husband's job, however, involves the study of quite a lot of collision data, and it appears that a BMW is an excellent investment in safety. I can't envision a universe in which we would ever buy one new (or any other vehicle, for that matter), but our next car purchase will likely be a used BMW.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Bought a cherry FJ Cruiser literally owned by an old lady in SanDiego with meticulous maintenance records and full Certified Warranty. Saved meself $15k on a new one. Any day.

The little old lady from Pasadena? I've heard of her.

While jealous, I can't really use this car anyways, but the neighbor brought home a Mercedes CLS 550 and it's one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen. The lines are magnificent. For the money I'd expect that, but to me the car is way too complicated. With my luck I'd reach for the button to move the seat, and eject myself right through the sunroof.
He got this at a bank auction, low mileage, well maintained. The cost? $20,000, new they are $116,000. :eusa_doh:
I'll hit him up for a Toyota Highlander next spring. That's as high dollar as I'll get.

BTW to steer us back, Toys R Us said they are staying open 566 hours(?).
Pixie sticks for everyone....

 

[ButteMT61]

The little old lady from Pasadena? I've heard of her.

While jealous, I can't really use this car anyways, but the neighbor brought home a Mercedes CLS 550 and it's one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen. The lines are magnificent. For the money I'd expect that, but to me the car is way too complicated. With my luck I'd reach for the button to move the seat, and eject myself right through the sunroof.
He got this at a bank auction, low mileage, well maintained. The cost? $20,000, new they are $116,000. :eusa_doh:
I'll hit him up for a Toyota Highlander next spring. That's as high dollar as I'll get.

BTW to steer us back, Toys R Us said they are staying open 566 hours(?).
Pixie sticks for everyone....

I'm the big old man from Pasadena - good enough?

Hey, don't get me wrong - there's a couple new MB that I love the looks of. But the commercials are so off-putting that it would be hard to do such a thing and not feel like Powers doing it :rofl:
Getting a slightly-used vehicle is just smart. Nobody loves a new car more than me, but money just has better uses as I get older (meds, diapers, etc )