Lines "3 to 4 people deep for about a hundred yards 3 at 5 AM"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

"Lines outside Sears at Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga, Tenn., prior to the 5 a.m. opening."

And they're off...
Pre-dawn mall openings mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/26/news/economy/holiday_shopping/index.htm?cnn=yes

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Shoppers gathered in the dark at mall parking lots across the nation for one of the most important days in American retailing, the so-called "Black Friday" kickoff to the holiday gift-buying season.

Malls and big-box stores opened as early as 5 a.m. local time, offering huge discounts on coveted items.

"There were lines three to four people deep for about a 100 yards outside Sears and KB Toys at 5 a.m.," said Jeff Odom, marketing director with Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, one of Tennessee's largest malls. "The parking lots are already filling up quickly. It looks like this year people are out much earlier than last year."

A similar scene was reported at the Fairlane Town Center Mall in Dearborn, Mich. "The mall opened its doors at 5:00 a.m. but there were already about 600 people waiting at each entrance," said Karen MacDonald, spokeswoman for mall operator Taubman Centers. "We have reports that the first person got here at 3:30 a.m. The parking lots are about 75 percent full near the department stores."

[BlueManDude]

1. buying stupid shit - that's what christmas in the usa is all about n/t

[KG]

2. totally in-fucking-credible.

:wow:

[progressivedancer]

7. that so sucks

more and more people going in debt for stupid shit.
I'm fallin in debt cause of school.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. And on credit cards too!

Whee! Whoopdeedoo!!! Bombs away!

[Philostopher]

14. Yeah, and just wait until some of these folks ...

fall behind on just one credit card payment because they broke a tooth or had a flat tire and had to fix the car or their teeth instead of paying their credit card bill that month.

We've become a population of grasshoppers. Eat everything as soon as it comes out -- borrow against tomorrow to have what you don't need today -- don't bother to worry about tomorrow. The Rapture is tomorrow!

Jeez. And I'm not 'doing dozens' on people who only used their credit cards for emergencies, I hope nobody thinks that. I've been in that position before, myself. I'm talking about people who buy crap they don't need because 'it's expected' that they'll do it, not people who are genuinely living on the edge financially and who bleed from the eyes every time they take their credit cards out of their wallets. They have my sympathy -- been there, done that, couldn't afford the T-shirt.

[HeeBGBz]

4. Pod people dolls are really popular this year.

*shudder*

[demnan]

5. How appropriate!

[freeplessinseattle]

8. great minds think alike! "Pod People" should be the new repuke moniker

[freeplessinseattle]

6. How appropiate! (or are you just being sarcastic?)

I'm not hip with current toy trends.

[HeeBGBz]

21. It was sarcasm

But should have been a marketing idea. Damn.

[freeplessinseattle]

29. well, you never know with the bizarre toy trends. how about a Kool Aid

pitcher as their "pod" and they emerge donning brown shirts? that might be too scary and nightmare inducing for young children though. and for adults.

[HeeBGBz]

30. Pull a string and it says "Spend more money, bitch!"

"Don't ask questions!"
"Look the other way"

Hmmm, stuff like that.

[LoZoccolo]

9. I just don't get this.

I've bought a few already, maybe have three left. I'll go pick them up sometime in the next few weeks...why would I be up at 5am in line already?

[radwriter0555]

11. isn't it CRAZY??? I SO do NOT get this insanity of shopping... it's

just unimaginable that I need something SO BADLY that I have to get up at 4am to BUY it?

And it isn't vital to life?

Uhmurrikkkans aren't terribly bright, are they?

[American Tragedy]

12. To be fair, I like shopping once in a while, depending on what it is

But I'm very careful, and never spend more than I have. My credit is perfect.

I sure as hell wouldn't be out there before dawn hunting for the latest trendy Christmas toy. Especially not in this icy hellscape.

[Carson]

18. It's not necessarily that something is "needed so badly"

but that, on the day after Thanksgiving, there are a lot of good bargains.

If I were going to buy a certain item as a gift and knew that it would be significantly cheaper on one day than on the next, you can bet I would do my best to buy it on the day it was less expensive.

I would say that trying to save money is "terribly bright."

Personally, I do not like large crowds so I refrain from shopping today. However, I wouldn't call these people stupid. I'd say more thrifty.

[radwriter0555]

31. Spending money in the throes of rampant consumerism isn't saving money..

it's spending every dime on pretty useless items as a social event.

You aren't saving money when you're spending it.. that's a misnomer. Just because you're paying $25.00 for an item usually costing $45.00, but that in reality costs $8.00 to make, it isn't saving money. It's buying crap that falls apart or becomes obsolete in a few weeks... like gaming systems. The new Uhmurrikkkan entertainment is sitting in front of a teevee playing a game and NOT interacting, socialising or LIVING.

Saving money means not spending it, putting it into a safe and secure place, and not wasting it on STUFF we don't really need.

[Carson]

37. Ah yes, and this internet connection is something one REALLY needs.

It's one of the basics of survival: food, shelter, clothing and a fast internet connection on the state-of-the-art computer. Gotcha.

The majority of people are going to celebrate some sort of holiday this December by giving gifts to loved ones. Get off your high horse and get over it.

eom

[Phentex]

19. I don't get it either.

Just seems like a sickness to me. :)

[buddhamama]

10. ........

:puke:

[fortyfeetunder]

13. Wonder where the moral values are?

I see gluttony and greed here....

[donheld]

20. Honey You have found there "moral Value"

right here.

[Deja Q]

15. I'm glad I stayed home. I don't want to be a part of the idiocy.

I finally crashed at 4:30, woke up to the alarm at 5:15, said "fuck Kohl's, I'd rather spend full price for a pair of boots than risk a traffic accident or being trampled by a bunch of stampeding capital cattle", and went back to sleep - only to awaken at 8:30, feeling oddly refreshed and crisp.

Note: "Cattle" does not refer to a particular sex. I recall incidents where people've been hurt or, as I recall, killed in such lunacy.

[DS1]

16. LOOOOOOOOOOOSERS! EOM

[Aiptasia]

17. Idgits...

lol...

[bettyellen]

22. don't they know they can shop on the internets? duh!

[HeeBGBz]

23. Branson was chock full 'o' freepers spending that $$.

What a nightmare.

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. They should just be all gunned down

That would help the collective national IQ a hell of a lot.

[Left Is Write]

26. Well...I can't agree with that.

My kid was part of the shopping crowd this morning.

She saved her own money for Christmas shopping and wanted to make her dollars stretch as far as possible.

*I* could not be convinced to go out in that mess for anything - but she apparently loved every minute of it and got gifts for everyone on her list.

[Left Is Write]

25. You couldn't get me out on Black Friday

for all the gold in Fort Knox.

There is NOTHING - I mean NOTHING - they have for sale at any price that is worth that kind of hassle to me. Nothing.

[FizzFuzz]

27. Sweep on you fat and greasy citizens. n/t

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

28. I heart you.

Shakespeare. Some DUers so should have done some street theater to satirize the crowds this morning.

[alexisfree]

32. stupid...

how hard is to stay inside the covers an enjoy a day off!!~

[Wapsie B]

33. People in the Ukraine

were in the streets for something a little more important than rampant consumerism.





Sometimes I really wonder if America deserves the freedoms it supposedly has. Sorry folks the revolution will not be televised. But there is a huge sale today at Wally World! Buy buy buy!

[mitchum]

34. All hail the great yuletide money suck!

If I didn't hate them so much, I would pity them

[wovenpaint]

35. Yard sales waiting to happen........n/t

[put out]

36. It was a similar scenario here.

Egad, it makes me shiver to think people think this is FUN! FESTIVE! A GREAT WAY TO SHOW YOUR SENSE OF COMMUNITY! A PERFECT METHOD OF JUMP-STARTING THE OLD HOLIDAY SPIRIT!

I am biased. I hate shopping. If someone dumped me into that crowd, I would cry, scream, scare small children, and basically melt down. Some folks really dig it. I can't figure it out. Why not spend the day playing games or watching movies with people you like, instead of pushing and shoving and grabbing along with a lot of strangers. No joy in that for me.

And, yes, I know to each his own, and that some people must make their dollars go as far as possible, thus necessitating shopping in that atmosphere. I'm just really glad it isn't me.

[Hans Delbrook]

38. I passed by the King of Prussia mall yesterday

on my way into work - it was jammed-bleeping packed. I was working in the lab for a few hours since all members of my Bio-analytical group were out of town for the holiday and I volunteered to finish up their experiments.

Anyway, I was thinking that I was glad I was working instead of at that damn mall. And I was working w/ live HIV!!

And I'm not kidding - on either count. (Oh, and I usually love to shop.)

[brainshrub]

39. Americans are Lemmings.