#5 - Don't get trampled. D:

Not here in the city. That sort of thing (trampling people) happens in places where they aren't familiar with mass crowds. Honestly, the crowd isn't much different from a holiday sale day at Macy's or something

Ah, well that's awesome then. x3

Yeah, one year I was at Circuit City (when it still existed) and they had police officers, cars, a paddywagon and everything else out there HOURS before the doors opened! They do NOT mess around with this

Well good luck getting your hands on some deals. xD

Thanks! All I really need is a camera and maybe a netbook if the price is right

Yep, like Loveparade in Duisburg this year. 21 persons died because the whole planning was shit...
The point is they also said nothing could ever happen, but you see what happened... So be careful with those mass crowd thingys darling

I'm going out, but unfortunately I do not live in that are :( They need to invent teleporters!

PLUS there is nobody in my area now that wants to go shopping that day D-:

They DO need to invent a teleporter! That would be super awesome!

Are you kidding. I would never ever in a million years go out on black friday.

Why? I've been bunches of times and actually had fun and got great merchandise, too.

I've just seen too many bad things happen during those sales. Plus I can't stand crowds.

Have you seen them on television, or experienced them? Like I've said a few times on this journal, things are very different here in the city for this sale. There's MUCH more order than in places not accustomed to dealing with large crowds.

True. But where I live (Arkansas) and where I lived (Texas) people seemed very rational while shopping normally but man when a super sale hit. Forget the rational part.

Well, people are always going to be irrational about things. For example, here in the city, people will setup camp outside the store of their choice the DAY BEFORE the doors even open. I'm not even kidding! People who wait to get into the electronic stores (Best Buy, for example) will start lining up outside the store as early as 6pm Thanksgiving day and will wait a whopping 12 hours for the store to open the following day.

...that's...not very rational in my opinion.

...but, it is orderly. It's understood that the guy standing at the store's entrance is NOT loitering, he's holding a spot in line. They'll be out there with chairs and blankets and some who really get into it even bring little tents ^_^

But, yeah, New York City sales are handled a little differently. The issue isn't so much people getting trampled, but rather making sure that nothing is stolen and that order is kept (no line cutting, etc.). With the security, fights seldom break out and trampling doesn't occur, either, at least not at any of the events that I've attended

Oh I remember the first Ipod, Iphone, and Xbox 360 craze. People camping out hours on end. Shakes head.

Yeah, we had that here, too...it was...insane

I tend to try and wait till stuff gets unpopular. Then it usually drops. That or wait after the holidays for after sales.

Awwww, I live way over here in Cincinnati, OH. Oh well, have fun with Black Friday ^^

Thanks! I hope you enjoy the day, too

I won't be in New York. In fact, I work part time in the retail game, so I'm going to be on the opposite side of the counter on Black Friday.

Aaahhh, I gotcha. Well, have fun and don't let the inevitable annoying customers get to you

Fortunately, I only work part time, so I get to see Black Friday as it closes out. Night does bring out the weird ones, though, so we'll see.

Su-weet! Hopefully by then SOME of the crazies have gone home ...ah, but yeah, the freaks do indeed come out at night

Most, hopefully will. Sometimes, the night brings out a few certifiables, but my store also has a nice crowd of regulars. They all come in after the school has been ransacked to offer comfort and friendly faces.

I am pretty terrified of black friday.

Why? I've been more than a few times and there's nothing to be afraid of. What bothers you?

So many rabid people. It looks like that scene from the lion king with Mufasa.

Nah, it's really not like that in the city. People know better because...well...we just know better!

Be glad you work in the print centre; you get to let most of the Christmas rush pass right by ;)

Watch out on Dec 26; everyone's going to be in spending their gift cards on new toys!

Uh...you'd be surprised! Print Shoppe is ridiculously busy EVERY DAY of the year! The people who get it once in a while have NOTHIN' on us!

I just got my vaccuum I needed on Woot, so I don't think I need to go out anymore. :) Still might for some pots and pans.

Hmm...I could use a few pots and pans too, now that I think about it. Ah well, I'm glad you got what you needed

I plan to go to Target on Black Friday for my shopping

I was thinking about either Target or, since they opened a Best Buy next to Target, Best Buy. It depends on who has the better deal

Oh right I forgot about Best Buy, you live around the Atlantic Ave mall too?

Ayup It's a few stops on my train

Same here we should definitely do shopping on B.F.

YAY! I'm definitely up for it

We usually don't see that sort of rush up here in the Great White North... or not in my neck of the woods anyway.
Hope you get lots of bargains

One more reason to love your neck of the woods! So beautiful up there

I might go out on that day, just for the chaos!

Then bring a camera

I work in a very large retail environment, in a city that isn't used to large crowds at all. It's pretty horrible on Black Friday here, this will be my second year, and last year we did have someone trampled. A couple, actually, but only one in our store. We're running some ridiculous sales this year, so I expect there to be even more customers angry that we only had three hundred of a particular item, and start yelling at us and our managers to give them something for free since we were out.

I work directly on the sales floor, so I'm the person that everyone sees, while all of our managers literally hide in the back of the store. XD
Employees are scheduled to clock in at 4:00am, and every employee is scheduled to work that day, regardless of requested time off or vacation.

I would love to see what Black Friday looks like on the other end of the counter, in a city like New York! Are there a lot of people fighting over the last few items of a sale?

I used to live in a place like you do. It was a quite little county in Virginia and even now I still think of it as home

...and I gotta say, I'm SHOCKED that your managers hide out in the back!! That's awful

As for Black Friday here, if you're ever in the NYC area, I'd be happy to take you out. All you have to do is get there very early and dress warmly

How is Black Friday in New York City? VERY ORGANIZED!! For one thing, there isn't a lot of fighting because just like all of your staff is scheduled to be there on that day, HUNDREDS of extra police officers are staffed on that morning, too. One day I went out to Circuit City (when it was still around) and there were easily 30+ officers on ONE block! Just where the Circuit City was.

Secondly, the stores here in the city only allow a HANDFUL of people into the store at a time. They don't open the doors and holler, "COME ON IN!" They have the security guard crack the door open and let like 20 people in 10 minute intervals or so. X__X It all depends on the size of the store.

Umm...what else...I think that's about it, really.

I wish we had that many officers here! I think we have maybe ten total in the city, and about six of them roam Wal-Mart, while the other four try to keep things organized at our mall. We don't have any security other than our Loss Prevention guys at the store, and we open the doors and let everyone in at once. I wish we could let only a handful in at a time, but then that doesn't seem fair, when ten people can buy everything of a certain product to re-sell, and frequently do!

It is pretty awful what our managers do, but I can't blame them much. They're constantly getting calls for giving people free stuff or discounting something when we're out of the other thing. ^^; Some of our customers get pretty dangerous.

It sounds like New York is a lovely place to visit on holidays, if all of that is true! I would love to go there.

Well, on the one hand I can understand why you would say that it doesn't seem fair, but on the other hand, when people come and lineup in the bitter cold for hours on end just to be the first person in the store, they've totally earned that right because they wanted it more. So, I can't complain. Besides, in the issue of safety, it's MUCH better to let people in in handfuls rather than an overflowing mass of bodies. ^_^

Im gonna try and meet up with ya!

Okidoki!

fft damn i have school

PLUS im so small i WOULD get trampled D8

You wouldn't get trampled, trust me. That stuff happens in places that aren't big cities, where people aren't familiar with large crowds. Things are very orderly here in the city.

durp i hope so. maybe ill try to take off lol

Why do you have school on the day after Thanksgiving?!

cuz school sucks. technically i have school ON thanksgiving too, but im going to the parade XD

My goodness! What school are you going to?!

its a private school ;-;

since im biologically female im forced to wear a skirt and such and its an all girls school....ugh....

EEP!

I doubt we're going out on that day, but if we were, DE has no Sales Tax. ^^

NY has no sales tax on clothing

Black Friday doesn't exist in Canada.

So I've heard

Wish I lived around there hun but alas I live 2 hours away lol. Have fun though with the shopping and sooner or later we will eventually meet up lol.

Aww, well, alright then. But, if you change your mind and want to camp out in front of one of our stores, let me know

LMFAO your too much my dear lol.

Oh no. I avoid Black Friday like the plague.

LOL! I heard it's different in cities not accustomed to mass crowds.

I'm from St. Louis, so mass crowds is very accustomed here, both on the Missouri and Illinois sides of the river.

Really? So, then...why do you avoid it?

Easy, avoidance of the vultures.

Ah, ok I usually go with a friend or a sibling and just have fun...never mind the vultures

OMG, The insanity!!! Avoid the crowds, shop on-line!

BTW, I avoid buying any electronics at Best Buy; CDs & DVDs are about it. Sure their good for comparison shopping and hands on testing products, but then I go somewhere else to buy. I don't like their customer service policies.

If you're looking for a laptop, try TigerDirect.com or CircuitCity.com (same company now). They're already running sales and they have great customer service. Their shipping is fast and reasonable and I've never had any problems returning or exchanging items.

WOW! I didn't realize Circuit City was still alive! Honestly, though, their customer service was just awful! And not because it was in New York, but even down south, it was still pretty bad. They didn't honor policies and just a whole bunch of bad policies. But, if you say they're better now that they're online, I'll give them a shot Thanks!

Naw, I prefer sleep. XP

Sleep tight!

I'll be very happily sleeping in and taking it easy on my day off. Some people thrive in the madness of black Friday shopping but that is totally not for me.

Here in New York, it's pretty organized. Not so much madness. And...I got my camera! Woohoo! Now I can hop in the bed and get some sleep, too. ...and you know what...I didn't even have to stand in line. I just walked in through the door!