RE: Daily Discussion No. 2: "Black Friday" and Holiday Shopping - Too Much Emphasis on Consuming Rather than Connecting?
My wife works in retail. I won't mention the name of the national chain she works for but you would recognize it (not walmart). Her store opened YESTERDAY and was open all night. Like you say it was nukin futz.
I wouldn't go shopping on black friday on a bet. Of course I seldom go shopping anyway..Hates it I do.
Which brings to mind a phenomena that I noticed a buncha years ago.
I have two sisters...they lived many miles away from our parents. One day at a family get-together I heard one say to the other..."lets go to lubbock (fifty miles away) and go shopping"
So they did.
I call the phenomena 'recreational shopping' (I consider it to be a form of masochism).
An argument could be made that it dates back to the old days when wimmen folk were 'gatherers' while the men hunted.
Hunting and gathering require two TOTALLY different mind-sets.
My wife used to work in the 'mens department' (clothing) she confirms what I say. Most men HATE to go shopping..and they are basically helpless in a store. The women shoppers were happy and cheerful..the men were grumpy and pissed off.
The only shopping I like to do is grocery shopping and home improvement shopping. I could spend all day around food and tools. LOL
I cannot remember the last time I participated in Black Friday shopping but I have gone midnight shopping on Christmas Eve just to say I did it once. There are a few things that drive me nuts in the holiday season: Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving; Salvation Army bell ringers, and people who turn mean bargain hunting for stuff that's supposed to bring joy. I don't get it.
I LOATHE christmas music...
me too. it makes me want to howl and rip my hair out.
It's hideous. What's even worse is showing up in retail stores (usually "big box" stores) in September or early October and they already have Christmas displays up.
That brings up some interesting considerations.
I've worked in various forms of retail for much of my adult life (probably +/- 20 years, all told... and I certainly agree on the point of "recreational shopping." Apart from which, mean and women approach shopping quite differently... I do most of our grocery shopping and I am extremely good at it, from the perspective of getting good deals and value for money... but I attribute that to what I would almost call a sort of "gamification" of the process.
Now, if you let us menfolk loose at a place like Cabela's or Harbor Freight Tools? My observation is that we become a whole lot like the wimmin folks. But it's still not "recreational." My observation on that end is that there's a "social aspect" to much female shopping... the interaction is actually more important than what's in the store. In fact, I remember occasionally asking my mother about some of her shopping trips with her friends... and half the time she couldn't even tell what stores she's been in. Now, a guy might be able to spend two hours at Harbor Freight (I've done that!) but there's more of an "active mission" involved; visualizing projects in my head, planning, and stuff. And it tends to be a solitary form of shopping enjoyment rather than a group/social thing.
Generally, I don't get grumpy in stores... but I'm gonna attribute that to having worked behind a lot of counters, and I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of that grumpiness.
Most men ARE pretty helpless in stores... especially if the store relates to items outside our normal comfort zones.
you're right. When I go to HomeDepot I'm on a mission. I'm HUNTING.
I get rilly annoyed that the people who work there don't know where stuff is. I get even more annoy to find that it's been moved since I was there the last time.
don't get me started about stacking stuff in the aisle so I can't even walk thru or bend down to check the lower shelf without knocking stuff over.
When I go to (finally) buy something it's because I've researched it quite a lot. When I find (usually) that I know more about THEIR product than they do...well In general I have contempt for sales people.
That includes high ticket items...thirty thousand dollar cars...and one hundred and fifty thousand dollar trucks. The last truck I bought was after stopping at about twenty dealerships nation wide. It's incredible how STUPID some truck salesmen were in 1999.
Yes. THAT. It's one of the greatest time-wasting devices used by retailers... allegedly done in the name of "increasing sales" on the assumption that customers will see products they don't normally see, when things have been moved around. Normally it just makes me angry enough that I'm more likely to go shop a competitor's store, instead.
or online.
but the webdesigners are even more stupid than the store managers.
I know that's a stretch..how can anyone be THAT stupid....you wonder if their mommies still dresses them every morning.
Considering that many of them are rounding 30 and are living on a couch in their parents' basement, maybe we shouldn't be surprised...