Wal-Mart Shoppers Fight Over Last Xbox 360

[Are_grits_groceries]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg5AGlNGyxk

People are insane!

[Suji to Seoul]

1. Who would Jesus fight for commercialism and material things he would never buy

I loathe this time of year.

The unbridled avarice and greed is amazing.

Thank you Walmart, for being worthless.

[mduffy31]

7. I am all for blaming Walmart

But this is not their fault. They were not selling them for any less than anyone else. Some of the responsibility has to be put on the people.

[Drunken Irishman]

2. I have an XBOX 360 I could give away for a $1,000!

[frog92969]

3. I hate Xmas

It reminds me why I'm a pessimist.

[TexasObserver]

4. because Xmas is about Xboxes

[ima_sinnic]

5. will that xbox make them truly truly happy? I think not.

As a flea market vendor for several years, buying stuff at yard sales and reselling on eBay and at a flea market, I gained a real appreciation for the ephemeral and superficial value of "stuff." Things I had dearly wanted only a few years earlier were now crap on my table for cents on the dollar of their original value. It was easy in, easy out. There was NOTHING worth dying for. Even the most unique things were simply that, "things." If one didn't get it today, he or she would come across ten more in the near future.

When I made a major move almost 2 years ago, I hired a couple of local guys to help me load a U-Haul. I had scavenged an empty XBox 360 box from a dumpster in one of my then-daily hauls of packing material. When they came across that among the stuff they were lugging, packed with kitchen odds & ends, all work ceased while they marveled and drooled over it. Just the box had some kind of magical power over them that caused their eyes to glaze over and their connection to reality to evaporate. This is absolutely incomprehensible to me.

[LatteLibertine]

6. I hate mindless consumerism

It disgusts me to no end. When you combine it with people fighting over pieces of plastic junk, it's even more disgusting.

[TransitJohn]

8. An Xbox 360

is actually a pretty sophisticated computer...not exactly plastic junk.

[Bucky]

10. Man, you are swimming upstream on that one

It's a toy--and expensive & complex toy, maybe--but just a toy.

[taterguy]

11. Toys are not junk

There's a lot of value in recreation.

And just for the record, Xboxes aren't "just toys" since they also serve as a DVR and a way of connecting your PC files with your TV/ Sound system.

[Bucky]

12. I sit corrected.

Specifically, I sit on my couch corrected. Corrected, and surrounded by bags of potato chips.

And maybe a few crumbs.

[taterguy]

13. We don't sit on a couch when we use our Xbox

The game we play the most is Rock Band

That game can't be played while sitting down.

Well, it can be played, just not very well.

[Bucky]

15. I love you taterguy

And not just because you have "tater" in your name

[taterguy]

16. Sorry, I'm already taken

If we had only been having this discussion a few years ago

[Uben]

9. don't have one, don't need one

And, I would not buy one for my kids. Sound mean? Well, my kids are not into video games. IMO, it is a terrible waste of time and brain power. Kids do not study enough as it is, and they already watch too much television. I can't argue that video games are not entertaining, they are, but to what end? My oldest just graduated last year with her MBA.

Kids can spend hours at a time on an Xbox. I do not see that as a good thing. I guess I am lucky my kids aren't into video games.
But, they are healthy, and fit! My youngest is now 15, and we spend two hours after school studying every day. Notice I said we?
I take an active role in my kids education. I want to give them every opportunity to succeed, and I am not about to let them piss off homework to spend endless hours in front of a video game while eating junk food and getting fat.

Parents do not spend enough time with their kids these days. I know a lot of that is because they have to work odd hours or two jobs to make ends meet, and that is unfortunate. I know, I've done it! But, I also found that you CAN make time for them if you make it a priority.

[KharmaTrain]

14. The Need To Have...And Artificial Demand

I don't think these people are as insane as they are whipped up into "saving frenzy"...a culture where getting the biggest bargain or the hottest new toy is of far more importance than who the gift is for or why it's even being given. Having spent my years with two children, one knows the pressure of getting that hot new toy...for nothing more than to prove how "hip" or whatever mom or dad is...all the hype just adds to this attitude.

Advertisers and corporates understand this game very well...they've learned to turn shortages into money makers as if you don't get the X-Box you'll still buy something else. Or you'll keep coming back week after week to see if you can get that ellusive box of chips and wires and still pick up a little extra here or there while you're at it.

You better believe the corporate love to see people lining up all night in the cold for those 4am sales...makes things look a lot busier than it actually is...all artificial.

[tanyev]

17. I hope the sales clerk told the winner "Merry Christmas" when they checked out.

Gotta keep the holiday sacred, ya know.

[aikoaiko]

18. not much of a fight.