At 01:16 PM Sunday 12/4/2005, Gary Nunn wrote:
Mr. House Of Pain Maru wrote...
>Wishes may never become fishes, and unfortunate as it may be,
>people most often are not polite unless there is some
>overriding reason to be polite.
Rob's wisdom is a great segue into my Annual Christmas Rant.
For the first time in my work career, I had to work the Friday after
Thanksgiving. That in itself wasn't a big deal as I had volunteered to work
it so some of my co-workers could go out of town for Thanksgiving.
Driving to work, at 5:00 am that morning was a REAL eye-opener. I was
astounded at the number of people at the Super Wal-Mart. I made the mistake
of stopping there to pick up donuts on the way to work, and I was left
speechless at just how rude and inconsiderate people were. I'm not just
talking about one or two people, I'm talking about a majority of people.
People were impatient and rude in the parking lot. Quick to cut someone off
just to save a few steps and get 3 or 4 parking spaces closer. They were
quick to honk their horns over and over if you didn't move the microsecond
the light turned green, and of course they were quick to scream out the
window or give the "one finger salute" - most had kids in the car.
In the store, grown adults, were shoving and being rude in the toy
department and especially electronics, because they just had to get that
certain, popular toy. Others, amazingly, brought kids with them to shop and
were screaming at them, to "shut up" and "no you can't have any toys". What
are these people thinking when they bring young children to shop for others
and then are mean and nasty to the kids because they naturally want toys
that they see?
Maybe they could not find a baby sitter (perhaps 'cuz everyone else
they could call also wanted to be at Wal-Mart at 0500) and so had to
bring the kids with them.
The REALLY popular item around here this year is the Nintendo DS Nintendogs
Best Friends edition. It was made it VERY limited quantities and advertised
like your would not believe, and I saw two grown adults, arguing and
screaming at the unfortunate teenage Wal-Mart employee, about who saw the
very last one, first.
Think about those poor employees, having to get up in time to have
the store open at 0500 (or 0100, as some of the stores around here
have done in the past) on what for many is a "long holiday
weekend." But then for several years now stores like K-Mart and
others have been open on Thanksgiving Day and running special sales
that were only good that day. (Maybe that is their attempt to get a
jump on Wal-Mart, which locally at least is closed on Thanksgiving Day itself.)
Naturally, my daughter wants one of the special edition Nintendo DS games,
but there was NO WAY that I was going to join the feeding frenzy and act
like an idiot. My son's mom (my daughter and son have different moms) , who
makes sure her kids always have the latest and greatest, paid almost twice
the price by buying the game and cartridge separately. She paid over $100
for the game cartridge on eBay. The game itself was a limited edition color
and the cartridge was only available in the "Special Limited Edition"
bundle, and was being sold on eBay by people who bought the game, but didn't
want the cartridge. Saying that I am astounded would be an understatement.
Several years ago when "Tickle Me Elmo" was the hot,
impossible-to-find item, I responded by getting one of the little
5-inch-or-so-high Elmos, tying a noose around its neck, and hanging
it from the post my mailbox is attached to with a sign that said
"TICKLE THIS!" pinned to its chest as part of my holiday decorations
. . . (I suppose it may still be in a bag somewhere with other
decorations where I put them after taking them down.)
(Haven't figured out a way to do anything similar with an Xbox . . .
at least not for a financial outlay comparable to that of the
miniature Elmo . . .)
What's the point, if everyone is going to be rude and nasty? Perhaps I had
a sheltered life, but growing up in the 70's, I NEVER remember anyone being
rude, like I have seen in the last few years.
Even now, when I go to a store now, I see the same things, maybe not as
intense as the day after Thanksgiving, but still nasty and rude.
So what is the cause? Why the change? Is it because people don't have
patience any more? Is it because manufactures create an artificial shortage
of popular products to sell other products when the "Limited Editions" sell
out?
IMO, that (your last sentence) is a big part of it. Also, notice how
much free advertising the national and local news on Thanksgiving and
the following days give to those sales and their results. Me, I stay
away from all the stores on "Black Friday" in protest. Of course, I
don't have little ones who have been programmed by TV and their peers
to demand that hot, impossible-to-find item, either . . .
It seems to be getting worse every year.
>climbing off my soapbox<
Gary
PS - Quite by accident, one night a few days ago, I ran across one of the
rare and coveted Nintendo DS Nintendog Best Friends edition bundle at
Meijers The very last one, on sale no less, and I didn't have to act like a
rude inconsiderate idiot to get it. :-)
Leaving you free to come on the list and participate without having
had any of those emotions previously drained away elsewhere . . . :D
--Ronn! :)
"Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country
and two words have been added to the pledge of Allegiance... UNDER
GOD. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer and that
would be eliminated from schools too?"
-- Red Skelton
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