todays venting: Black Friday

[spectrumc01]

Black Friday really pisses me off. It's called black friday because it supposidly puts all the retailers in the black for the year. On this day alone they will make hundreds of millions of dollars in profit. How do they do it? they slash prices in half and up to 75% on some items. So the rest of the year they are in the red, why? because they are trying to ass rape us the rest of the year by charging ungody markup. This situation of red all year long and then black for a horrible day of insane shopping is of their own creation.

Now Wal Mart is worried about the workers not working on Black Friday. Maybe they should charge normal prices all year long and then not have to worry about loosing their big day.

If Walmart had signed a contract with their employees they would not be where they are now...Nice thing about unions, everyone knows what to expect from the other. Without a union contract workers can quit when ever they want without penalty.

 

[TNHarley]

Screw a Union

 

[007]

We wouldn't have a Walmart as we know if it was unionized.

 

[uscitizen]

We wouldn't have a Walmart as we know if it was unionized.

Of course not.
Duhhh!

It would be a better place to work.

 

[TNHarley]

Union is so 1960. I think it was good for equal rights and what-not fifty years ago, but not today. If I run a company that would be one of the first questions I asked a possible employee

 

[Skull Pilot]

We wouldn't have a Walmart as we know if it was unionized.

Of course not.
Duhhh!

It would be a better place to work.

I don't work there. I shop there because it saves me money. All a union would do is raise the prices for the rest of us while raking in dues from the workers

 

[uscitizen]

That is not all a union would do. It would give the Wal mart workers better benefits and a side effect of their getting more pay is that they have more money to spend to boost the economy.

Most people take too narrow a view of things.

 

[Dreamy]

I despise Black Friday and avoid it now. It has become insane and simply not worth it for me.

Unions? Not all good and not all bad much like the companies we discuss. Greed can be found on both sides. I do however think people do not see the bigger picture which is do we all want a world where the worker is working 3rd world wages? That is what some big business would love. I say this too big business: "You want to make your huge profits here but do not want to add to our society by offering the America working a fair wage that allows one to actually seek the American dream"?

 

[Moonglow]

I have to go and change out the electric fuel pump on my truck. Blah!

 

[konradv]

Where would a lot of the things we take be, if not for unions? When people talk them down I shake my head, like I do when women talk about being equal with men but deny being feminists. Too many people assume the things we have are the way its always been.

 

[Skull Pilot]

That is not all a union would do. It would give the Wal mart workers better benefits and a side effect of their getting more pay is that they have more money to spend to boost the economy.

Most people take too narrow a view of things.

How would it boost the economy if a relatively small amount of Walmart employees have a little more money when the much larger number of Walmart customers have to pay more for everything and therefore will buy less?

 

[B. Kidd]

Black Friday has gotten out of control as it starts earlier. Costco hot dogs are replacing the traditional turkey dinner.

 

[koshergrl]

I have never understood the whole black friday thing...the friday after T-day falls in the last week of the month, and I am historically broke that week, no matter what month.

But particularly broke on months that have a HOLIDAY in them. So my black shopping day is Dec. 1.

 

[Spoonman]

idk, even shopping online is getting too crowded for my tastes

 

[koshergrl]

Last year I started to move my family in the direction of minimalist Christmas. It's just gotten to be too much. I work, I'm the sole provider for my family, and I have a large family. The whole "let's decorate up the wahoo and get everybody gifts AND have huge dinners AND make cookies and candy AND race around in the weather delivering them AND send cards" has never been my schtick because I just can't do it. Then I feel guilty for being a curmudgeon...and I'm NOT a curmudgeon, I LOVE Christmas. I just can't possibly do everything (or anything) to the nines.

So last year I was very up front with the kids...just a few gifts each, Christmas isn't about gifts. Or at least it shouldn't be about gifts, and for us it just can't be.

Already my daughter is wondering what she's going to get and it makes me crazy. I'm like, well, I think you're getting a pair of shoes, and your brother might get some wrestling gear...no PS3s, no IPODs, no cell phones...no gadgets, toys, or anything else. Just one or two gifts and call it good. And there is no way I can get all their friends and teachers and care providers gifts...that would run up to about 15-20 people...who the hell can do that? Not me.

So we'll make candy and I'll get some dollar store boxes and they can distribute those I guess. Christmas, we haven't even had Thanksgiving and I already wish it was Dec. 26.