Comments on: Christmas shopping

By: Lynn Raye Harris

Lynn Raye Harris — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:48:00 +0000

Hi, Jean! I didn’t even think about Amazon having a Black Friday. Interesting. I knew about Cyber Monday, though.

Kathy, wow, you go often! I did go, and it wasn’t bad. But I doubt I’d want to do it every year. And I did NOT go at 5 AM. Nope, slept in, had coffee, got dressed, and headed out. Hit the store around 11.

Stephanie, that’s a great deal!!! Hubby and I got what he wanted, which was a receiver — regularly $315, on sale for $199.

Jamie, oh my, LOL, skunked by a little old lady. Great idea about having an audio book! Hubby and I drove to Florida for the holiday — and we listened to books there and back. Quite fun! Hope you find another great laptop deal for your wife, though…

By: Jamie Ford

Jamie Ford — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:34:00 +0000

After swearing I’d never do it, I’ve gone the last two years–which is how long I’ve had my iPod. If I throw on a podcast or a book or just some blingin’ Christmas tunes, I can ignore the madness and have a good time. Though this year, I got up in the wee hours to get my wife a new laptop and the little old lady in front of my snapped up the last one…

Bah, humbug.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:42:00 +0000

I have done the Black Friday bit and it can be fun, as Kathy says the Thrill of the Chase and all that. I also agree with Angel that planning ahead is best if you are going several places, but in this case it shouldn’t be a problem for you.

For me, the idea was always to have fun while “bagging” the biggest deals! I once got a $200 TV for $75. That’s probably my best hunting story.

Stephanie

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:40:00 +0000

I’ve gone every year for the past 10 years and loved every minute of it. The excitement, the thrill of the chase, finding that special deal… The girls have gone with me most of that time. It’s been fun, tiring, but fun. I don’t really recall there ever being rudeness involved. Most often, people are very considerate and filled with joy that christmas is coming. At least, that’s been my experience.

I probably won’t be going anywhere this year unless my DIL wants to. I’m actually looking forward to my first restful Black Friday.

I’m off to Nebraska tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving, Lynn and all!

By: Jean

Jean — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Nope. Not gonna do it.

And you’re right — retail is not kind to anyone over 30. My mom’s been doing retail, and having just heard some of her legitimate concerns for the last month, I can heartily agree about what a pain it is.

I just noticed Amazon.com is having a Black Friday sale this year. It will probably be a nightmare for the packers, shippers, and site updaters, but we’re not likely to see it. That might be a clever idea, but, really, if I wasn’t going to buy it anyway, I doubt I’ll get it.

By: Lynn Raye Harris

Lynn Raye Harris — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:29:00 +0000

PC, I hear you! It’s generally the way I feel about holiday shopping too. But there’s that deep discount on that one thing. *sigh* Though FL is an hour ahead of us, and the store opens at 5, which means it’s really 4 our time — and I don’t see much hope of us actually hauling ourselves out of bed that early.

By: Lynn Raye Harris

Lynn Raye Harris — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:28:00 +0000

::groan::

Angel, how did you know that one particular item that hubby wants is at Best Buy!? It’s not really a present in the sense he won’t know about it — he’s going too. And we’ll be in Florida, so maybe we’ll be more spry than the others waiting in line? *g*

Maybe he’ll have to wait to get it — though the savings is nearly half.

By: Lynn Raye Harris

Lynn Raye Harris — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:25:00 +0000

Hey, PM! You're right about rudeness. No excuse for that, no matter how much the feet hurt or how tired the sales person is. It's his or her job to be there, so be there and be polite they must.

Oh yes, I do recall those rude customers however. We didn't have as much of that in jewelry, but it happened. I think there have been studies done that show people by and large treat those in servile positions with less dignity than we would otherwise. Especially food staff.

Well, my shopping trip (planned, not decided on for sure) is to one store for one specific item. And I'm not going at midnight for anyone!!!!

By: Problem Child

Problem Child — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:13:00 +0000

I see PM's HELL NO and raise her a HELL F**KING NO. I don't like crowds much to begin with. There's no present on earth I need that badly. (Sorry, DG, Guitar Hero World Tour will have to wait until after the Xmas rush.)

My dad managed a large retail store while I was growing up. I often got pulled in to help bag and such during the holiday rush (what child labor laws?). The whole thing still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Internet shopping is the best thing ever!

By: Angel

Angel — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:50:00 +0000

I've gone shopping on Black Friday for the last several years, though I won't be able to this year because I'll have family in town. And I've never had any problems. Of course, I avoid Best Buy and Walmart, those seem to be the worst. The only place I've had to wait in a long line for was the toy store, and all the people there were pretty nice. I've never had the bad experiences like PM talks about.

I plan out ahead of time where I need to go, according to what I really want. But I go with the attitude that, if I get it, great; if not, oh well, no biggie. I've rarely missed anything I really needed, though like I said, I'm not fighting for huge electronics, etc.

I've found some really good deals, especially on toys and computer games.

Angel