Make It Stop Already!

The day after Thanksgiving I noticed our neighbors putting up holiday lights and decorations. Now I know it is generally accepted that the day after Thanksgiving starts the Christmas / festive holiday season. About a third of the neighborhood had their lights and decorations up before the weekend was over. I'm not faulting them at all. I'll be joining them soon.

But then I went into a couple of stores after the weekend that were playing Christmas music. Non-stop. Ack! With 4 weeks to go? Make it stop already! I talked to one retail worker who told me that, yup, the company supplies the music for the stores and it was company policy. The day after Thanksgiving they have to play it. My sympathy goes out to anyone who works in such an environment.

My dear wife and I were "entertained" by the many stories of day-after Thanksgiving shopping riots. There were innumerable stores opening at 5:00 AM the Friday after Turkeyday with limited quantities of bargain items to entice people in. For example, Best Buy advertised 10 discounted laptop computers per store for something like $700. My wife wanted one, but just thinking of being in a store line that early makes us yawn. So come Friday we heard the stories of people getting trampled, getting into fights, assaulting employees, police being called.

I later spoke with one lady about this and her comment was "What gets into people?". For me it is clear... "What gets into retailers?". The reprehensible customer behavior was encouraged. The stores set up a competition and race. Whomever grabbed and hung onto one of the golden items got the bargain. Customers got up early and waited in a cold, dark, uncomfortable lines to get their shot at a sale item. Now, I don't want to give anyone ideas, but this sounds to me like it has the makings of a great reality show. The manipulation of consumer greed at its finest. My solution is also simple. Either guarantee that everyone waiting at 5:00 gets one of the items (or a voucher for one) or arrange a lottery style distribution so that they can eliminate the "out-a my way, it's mine, I grabbed it first" aspect. Irresponsible marketing...

Tis the Season

We've started watching those obligatory holiday movies. Or maybe I should say counter-holiday movies. You know the ones... The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Addams Family, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Gremlins, Trading Places...

Rosie, Rosie...

I saw this one and rolled in laughter:

"Blaming guns for Columbine is like blaming spoons for Rosie O'Donnell being fat."

You have to understand the context ... Rosie is an anti-gun advocate who has stated that guns should be banned completely ... while she has armed guards to protect herself. You also have to understand that the guns used at Columbine were all obtained illegally. Maybe Rosie should give up her gunmen, pulpit ... and spoons.