Comments

1
Christmas is the time of year we celebrate the birth of unfettered, free-market capitalism.
2
Boo! Black Friday is such a suckfest for retail employees!!
3
Keep in mind the employees will have to be there earlier than those opening times (or just stay really late Wednesday night)

But the stores do it BECAUSE SHOPPERS WILL SHOW UP!!! Seriously, I used to like Christmas and Thanksgiving because you could come downtown in the evening and enjoy a pretty deserted Seattle. And that shit is pretty cool to experience. But now...it's just business as usual.

4
Well obviously you guys shouldn't have picked the day before Black Friday to have your Thanksgiving... We sensible Canadians chose the beginning of October! We also celebrate Canada Day before you...
5
Agreed Paul. It is a truly commercial/capitalism free holiday to give thanks with friends and family. And watch football and get drunk.

I have nothing but disdain for the greedy pigs who sit down to give thanks only to go straight to the fucking mall to spend money they don't have on shit they don't need. There are 364 other days for that.

6
This is sick.
7
I don't understand why Walmart, target, etc. can't simply do a week long sale featuring different items each day. It'd spread the chaos of Black Friday in an easier Week of Retail Death.
8
It's my favorite holiday. Boycott this. Do not shop on Thanksgiving.
9
@3 Yup. People would still be lined up outside the doors if stores started Black Friday sales at 6 AM on Thanksgiving Day.
10
Why put yourself through any of that crap? Do what I do. Order your gifts online and never set foot in a mall any time after November 1st.
11
I didn't think this was a good idea until I heard employees were offered more money. Then I thought, well, I always work on holidays and it hasn't killed me. So, stop your whining and be glad you have work.
12
I head it mentioned that stores were already doing this as a safety measure to prevent the stampedes at 1am or whatever; but still it's disgusting.
13
Since I'd rather glue my penis to last car of a departing Amtrak Empire Builder than leave Thanksgiving dinner to go to Target or Wal-Mart, I'll never have to meet any of these people.
14
Maybe Americans will voluntarily refrain from shopping at these stores until midnight, in solidarity with the store employees?

Just kidding.
15
I don't understand the kind of people who show up for this crap... But then I don't like people enough to deal with hoardes of mouth breathers without going batshit crazy. I prefer to do what @10 does and order the few Christmas presents I give online so that I don't have to worsen my hate for the human race.
16
Sounds like a great way to encourage people to drink and drive. "Finished with your holiday dinner? Basking in the warm, rosy glow of a giant meal, six hours of continuous football-watching, and five or six glasses of wine? Drive on down to Wal-Mart! We've got great holiday prices on firearms."
17
@12 I'm of the opinion that if they were really concerned about stampedes, they wouldn't have these stupid Black Friday sales at all.
18
Am I the only one who gets a kick out of the stampede news on Friday?
I love stupid American people, size XXX. God bless.
19
Penny Arcade covers it pretty well

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/11/14
20
My cuz works at a WM and will be blessed ith TRIPPLE pay , so it's not all bad!
21
The thing is that those nasty urban people who support that commie Muslim Obama **ahem** cannot possibly understand the mindset of regular Target / Walmart / Toys R Us / Kmart / Sears shoppers, who are more than happy to rouse themselves from their post-afternoon-Thanksgiving-meal torpor, pile the kids into the car, and stampede to the malls for some faux bargains.
22
@4: Ever since I found out about that, I have often and shrilly repeated that we should follow Canada's lead on this. Not that it will ever happen, of course, because MURIKAN TRADITION. By the time Thanksgiving comes around (even on years when it's sooner on the calendar), everything is long dead outside and we're already seeing winter conditions. I doubt most people would mind it falling near Halloween, but if a big fattening meal shortly before means you might not fit into your costume, then it's all the more reason to not overeat that day.
23
Paul, if you think that Thanksgiving has "so little to it" you should spend a little more time in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day...
24
There's also the matter of how fucked up American attitudes are toward time off from work.

We have virtually no state holidays compared to other first world countries, and the majority of state holidays are ignored by everyone other than banks and government agencies. The only holidays the American worker is almost guaranteed to get off: New Year's Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Seven days out of 365. (And it's only now that I work for a huge multinational corporation that I get all these days off. I've had a number of jobs in the past where I only got four or five holidays off.)

This in a country that has no mandated paid sick days or leave and no mandated vacation. And many companies discourage their employees from using what sick or vacation days they graciously choose to bestow.
25
Note that everyone of those retail outlets offer low wages and no benefits. They clearly don't respect or value their employees.
26
"After crunching two to six years' worth of pricing data for a number of typical holiday gifts, The Wall Street Journal has turned up the best times to go deal hunting — and they almost never involve standing in the freezing cold all night."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872……

If one of your loved one's is going out to shop on Black Friday, please for the love of god slap them upside the head.
27
Whoever made these decisions, I wish them burned turkey with a side of salmonella dressing.
28
And if everyone can agree to not shop online on Thanksgiving, it would be greatly appreciated.
29
I should clarify, when I worked in a grocery store, I always worked Thanksgiving and was compensated for that. Working for a dot-com, I and many others always work Thanksgiving and we are not compensated for giving up our vacation days.
30
All of you smarty-pants who boast "I do my shopping online!" How about supporting some local businesses instead? The mall isn't the only option, you know.
31
@30 Amazon is a local business.
32
Who the hell wants to shop after eating a shitton of turkey and when football games are on?
33
Not only are they ruining Thanksgiving, they are ruining Black Friday.

I confess I used to love getting up in the dark on Friday morning, back when the stores would open at 6am or 8am or whatever. My sister and I did this every year - it was our family tradition. We usually finished our Christmas shopping by noon and came back and ate leftovers.

Last year we boycotted the stores that opened at midnight or whatever. Now it looks like we'll have to boycott practically all of them.
34
When I worked retail way back when, I often found myself working on holidays. Whenever customers had the nerve to comment how much it sucked that I had to work on a holiday, I'd look them dead in the eye and said "I'm here because you're here."

Stay home, assholes. If you hate your family, lock yourself inside and read a book or something. And if you love your family and are fortunate enough to be with them on the holidays, don't spend that time Black "Friday" shopping, build some actual memories.
35
Well, they leave me no choice: I'm going to have to start observing Buy Nothing Day a little earlier, even if it means encroaching on Thanksgiving.

I don't shop at Walmart for a reason. Now Target seems to want to race them to the bottom. Their merchandise is getting crappier (my favorite from earlier this year: a charger cable that's four inches long once you get it out of the box) and now this. I've started finding new places to shop.
36
@26: Your link has since broken. I believe this is the article you were referring to? Hopefully this one will last.

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.