A Brief History of Black Friday | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror
Vložit
- čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
- "On the 28th of November, 2008, crowds began to gather outside the Walmart at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York..."
As always, THANK YOU to all my Patreon patrons: you make this channel possible.
/ fascinatinghorror
SOCIAL MEDIA:
► Twitter: / truehorrortales
► TikTok: / fascinatinghorror
► Suggestions: hello@fascinatinghorror.co.uk
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:46 - About Black Friday
01:40 - The Valley Stream Walmart Incident
04:56 - US Black Friday Chaos
06:46 - Black Friday Abroad
MUSIC:
► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory
► "Travel Nonstop" by Squadda B
#Documentary #History #TrueStories
I do find it ironic how a day notorious for greed and violence follows a day about being thankful for what we have.
Only followed by the sheep of Society.
@@defaultdriftco00 I avoid it myself. Life's too short to risk it for a discount TV.
Unless you're on places like the west coast nowadays. There are mobs there that technically celebrate that day in groups now, and they don't even have to pay for anything!
@@Dragon359 it's hilarious how easy it is to tell when conservative media has rotted somebody's brain. CVS and Target the two companies that complained the most when California stopped prosecuting shoplifting under 2k both posted record profits last quarter.
@@ryanoneal8480 Interesting...
The fact that the customers refused to leave after actually killing someone, makes me SO angry. The customer is almost always wrong.
Sometimes I feel like we are living in hell. Who are these "people?" I wonder sometimes if they are even human. They act like bipedal piranha at a feeding frenzy. What happens at black Friday is as barbaric as cannibalism and human sacrifice from bygone eras.
@@Novusod They're the same people doing all the looting and rioting after [insert police brutality case here] or a Lakers championship.
@@exrobowidow1617 right, British soccer fans sending death threats to a child. People put their identity into something not that important and hurt others during mob mentality
This video doesn't mention - many of the most violent events are at inner-city stores with serious crime problems. Gangsters show up, cut in line, and intimidate people. No context given = no understanding. You don't see this happen in suburbia.
The gangsters buy up the $6,000-$10,000 tvs and electronics / cameras @ 50-75% off - and resell on the street. Just like video cards are purchased by scalpers for triple markup - so is everything on Black Friday. Would be interesting to see if the "customers" - were normal people or criminals in the first place. They wouldn't care.
Huge mob of Karen’s and Dave no doubt… can’t put a price on life…
I worked at a Wal-Mart during Black Friday. I got shoved and lifted off my feet against a shelf. I didn't realize it was called a crush at the time, and thankfully the crowd dispersed before any real danger of people getting hurt.
What scared me most is i was not a small person at the time, easily 250. The whole situation was not a good end to a day that had a crazy lady screaming at me because I stopped her digging through a bin before we were open for sales. It took three of us to get her out of there. She was threatening us and we had to dodge her nails.
The lack of compassion in those crowds are scary. Hopefully the internet has eased some of the crowding.
Fellow former Wal-Mart associate here. I worked multiple Black Fridays. The one I remember vividly was during the Furby craze. I was in Layaway at the back of the store and we had exactly 42 of the wretched things. The doors opened and 6:00am and you could hear the people running through the store to get to us. I hid in the hallway away from the chaos that started at 6:02 when all were gone. So glad I'm no longer working retail.
I worked one Black Friday at Walmart many Years ago as a Cashier and I swore never again.
I don't go anywhere near a Store on Black Friday.
Forget that noise.
Humans though are more easily influenced than we often like to admit we are. If you encourage and expect a certain behavior from people then they will.
In Black Friday people are rewarded for being rude and pushy and not punished for being inconsiderate and selfish. If you want black Friday to happen orderly you need to punish the people who are disorderly but of course that means turning away paying customers because of bad behavior and the customer is king.
Insane how management wasn't determined to be at fault for this. "Oh just push back against the doors to combat the horde of customers also pushing on them from the other side." Seriously? Who thought that was a good idea?
Why isn't it the polices fault? Sounds like way too little/late.
It's Walmart. This is a company that took out life insurance on its associates so if they dropped dead on the clock, Walmart got a paycheck.
I mean it's walmart, what do you expect? Ain't no smart people workin there
@@ladysilverwynde that's smart business tbh
Nah. It was the ""customers"" fault.
The shop should have refused to open at all after the pushing started, called the Police sooner, and had the mob prosecuted as a whole for murder (it's not accidental when showing no tangible effort to stop snd help a person your own actions saw trampled) and willful destruction of property.
Retailers are too soft on scum, and as such encourage more such behaviour.
I'm proud to say that I have never attended a Black Friday event and I would like to congratulate all those who refuse to participate in this insanity.
Same here. Shopping is horrible as it is, I don’t need to add to the chaos by attempting it on a Black Friday.
Kudos to uou. I dont go out, at all. Even for anything I might forget, like ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner. I don't support making those people work on a holiday so I can pick up some gravy master and cranberry sauce.
I would rather pay more than participate in that madness
@@Theggman83 some people like working holidays for extra pay. I used to sign up for every holiday
Once when I was young. Never again.
My yearly ritual with Black Friday is to go nowhere on that day. No traffic, no parking problems, no arguing with people. Just at home chilling. If I buy things, it's online purchase.
i think most ppl do this
Here is the Original Semitic Text. HERE is The Savior
YaH The Heavenly FATHER HIMSELF was Who they Crucified for our sins and “HERE IS THE PROOF”
From the Ancient Semitic Scroll:
"Yad He Vav He" is what Moses wrote, when Moses asked YaH His Name (Exodus 3)
Ancient Semitic Direct Translation
Yad - "Behold The Hand"
He - "Behold the Breath"
Vav - "Behold The NAIL"
@@iaoshua obviously they don't
I prefer boxing day. Dunno about you Americans but here in Canada everyone is chilling out at home and it's like a regular day at the store with black Friday savings.
@@Praise___YaH Sky Fairy foolishness.
I legit forgot it was Black Friday when I went to a store after Thanksgiving recently, and I was surprised at how mild it felt. I was so used to the large screaming crowds of people on the news that it felt surreal to think that this was seriously one of the most dangerous shopping days of the year. Thank God for online shopping.
Having worked for Amazon at their Ridgmont depot in the UK (one of their largest in the world), I'd disagree.
O-Shopping has its uses, but physical shops treat their staff far more like human beings 😅
(proportionally at least; there's much I could say of having work in retail too; albeit none of it as bad)
Some local news stations I've seen in the past have devoted the usual weekday traffic reports to Black Friday shopping traffic in areas near shopping malls. I think they would have expressed a sense of surprise at the lack of traffic - if I'm to believe what I've heard about in 2023. But I had to work this year at my non-retail job, so I really don't have first hand knowledge.
It’s almost become a tradition for my family to look up Black Friday fights each year and watch the craziest ones because there usually are at least a few. It’s interesting and even sometimes funny to watch but also terrifying. That poor Walmart worker didn’t really get any justice. His poor family. 😔
“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups”
Thats true. We have seen a lot of that in the last 2 years
people become more stupid the larger the group they are in becomes.
Something about being part of a herd numbs the mind.
A human is the most intelligent creature on the planet.
Humans are the dumbest and most easily manipulated creatures on the planet.
Seems to be a perpetual problem within the Capitol Building in DC.
So true.
That Walmart incident is so messed up. Can you imagine being an employee there, watching a mob trample and kill your coworker? Then having to interact with mob by assisting with shopping, answering their requests and checkout?
And then said mob is like "we don't care he died. We want to *consume*"
I would had lost my job that day if I had work there.
They should have closed the registers and sent everyone home. It's disgusting that they carried on with business after that.
@@katraylor the crowd had already killed one man and expressed that they didn't care. They probably felt like they had no choice...
@@katraylor The "shoppers" would have just left with the item without paying.
I went Black Friday shopping ONCE about 15 years ago. I went to park at Target and was promptly screamed at by a woman and her grown daughter over the way I pulled into my parking space. 🤦🏽♀️ Then went inside the store to see most items were gone and the lines were huge. Needless to say that I walked out and vowed to never shop Black Friday again.
Very wise. Here in the UK the imposition of this "holiday" some years back was deeply unpopular, and I'm happy to say remains the subject of scathing derision.
Fortunately nobody's ever been so daft as to be aggressive to me while going about my business in a shop (I avoid BF though for all but milk or the regular bare essentials run), as they'd soon find the nearest hand manipulatable object being introduced to them at high speed 😂 .
I was so taken aback to hear you start off this video with "the Green Acres Mall". I lived most of my life, and I've been there more times than I can count. Never thought I'd hear a CZcamsr say anything so relevant to me.
WalMart: “a man was trampled to death, not to mention the glass doors in front have been obliterated. Can you please leave?”
Crowd: “I’m not leaving til I have my toaster”
I'd be like " no toaster for you but here's a pair of handcuffs"
honestly society has been desensitized to everything over time its so sad to see instances like this where people literally are being trampled by other people but they are too preoccupied with themselves or they just dont care should always think of someone else as someones loved one just like youd hope someone would do that with you
I need to get all my Chinese made STUFF!
I need my damn stuff!
I remember hearing about this man passing away. I absolutely hate black Friday, and at 41 I've never taken part in one. It's like throwing chum into a tank full of sharks. It brings out the absolute worst in humanity... a bunch of people trampling, hitting, spitting, and cussing at each other over material goods that most people don't really even need, and often can't really afford if not for credit, in the first place. No, thank you.
I agree! My mom and I see no point in it.
My wife dragged me to Black Friday the first year we were married. We got to the stores at 9:00 and as soon as we walked through the door of the first store ahe wanted to go to I told her ahe was on her own. It took 15 minutes to walk out of that store without buying anything.
I wish I could like this comment a thousand times.
Nobody should die or be injured for such pointless reasons, and the behavior displayed makes me feel so hopeless for humanity.
It's just things. Things nobody really needs that will end up in some landfill in a couple years, tops.
Credit can be a useful thing if utilised in the right way (I really don't like it personally but understand the need for it) but it seems to me that people treat it as "part of their bank account" and buy things they don't need, with money they don't have and often the product doesn't end up being used. At the end of the day, it's just the credit provider that wins big and the debt and interest just grows, rich people making money for nothing, with a side dish of the working classes fighting amongst themselves for the privilege. What a world we live in
@@restojon1 I am working on paying my house off. After that I will be debt free and I will never use credit again!
I worked at Walmart from 2012 to 2014, and I absolutely hated the Black Friday sales with a passion. Not only was I sad that I was forced to work on Thanksgiving, and miss spending time with my family, but I quickly learned just how chaotic shoppers could be that evening. While normally, I worked in the back with receiving, when Black Friday was upon us, all hands were on the salesfloor. It wasn't uncommon to see or hear quarrels among customers. Whenever you'd hear "HEY HEY HEY", something was happening.
However, I'll never forget the last Black Friday I worked, because right before my shift ended, they had me and a few others guarding a kiosk of video games near the meat isles to ensure that customers didn't take anything before they were allowed to. At first, it was very routine, but it wasn't long before a large crowd began to gather. Keep in mind there was no line, no barriers, no real organization around this temporary stand. Just us, and shrink wrap keeping these people where they were.
The people were actually fairly pleasant to talk with. A few jokes, a few conversations about the games, no insults, all questions answered. But once we got the okay to cut the shrink wrap, the pleasantries went out the window. All I did was make one very small cut into the wrap with my box cutter before I found myself surrounded by a sea of hands, clawing at the shrink wrap, desperately trying to get the game they were eyeballing. I didn't bother sticking around. It was the end of my shift, I wanted to go home to my family, I let them finish what I started.
It's that experience that helps me stay home during Thanksgiving now. I'm not against holiday sales, but I do my damned hardest to stay home around Thanksgiving, because absolutely no one should be subject to that kind of scene. I don't even recall how I got out of that crowd, because I don't think it was easy leaving. Fighting a current of eager customers around a cardboard stand of bargain-priced video games... it isn't worth the laughable wage I got back then. Nor the laughable one day 20% off discount we got as store employees. (Seriously, fuck Walmart.)
4:15 "We were waiting in the cold all night!"
YOU KILLED A MAN
I've always boycotted it. The absolute worst part is that many stores started their sales on Thursday evening, right when you're supposed to be eating Thanksgiving dinner, and required their whole staff to come in. One of the few good things to come out of the pandemic was a temporary break from this madness.
The positive with current events is they aren't pulling that crap. Least not in my area
I won't shop on the day either. It represents everything I hate about consumerism. I usually start buying Christmas presents back in July and by November, I am long since done.
They started the Thursday night sales to stagger the people through the doors.
Yes, I always refused to go out on Thanksgiving and now I just avoid going out the whole weekend. I'm lucky enough not to need anything right now.
In Germany they use the English words "black weeks" and just offer like a 5% discount off crap you could buy cheaper online anyway. German retailing is like 60 years behind the US. No one dies here trying to buy anything when everything is the same price and there is a 19% sales tax.
It’s always been painfully ironic to me that we hurt each other over the best deals in retail less than a day after giving thanks for what we have.
Ha! We gave thanks for what we were about to get tomorrow. Lol
But seriously, it’s crazy how they went from Friday to Thursday night, to all day Thursday and now “Black Friday” is a month long event.
Its terrifying honestly... but thats why we're on this channel.
It's because society is full of brain-dead, greedy sheeple
"best deals" nahh it's a marketing tactic where the price of the black friday "deals" will go up before black friday, then the "sale" price is the normal price you'd pay in March.
It'd be like a normally 1500 dollar tv being listed on black friday as "was 3000 now 1500!! Save 50% now!!"
‘Murica
I would like to add a note mentioning that not all stores are like this. For a handful of years, my brother in law, sister, and I would go to best buy on black Friday to get some good deals. We would get there an hour or two before opening and there was always a good line of people, but nobody was angry or rowdy. In fact, just about every year, we'd have conversations with other customers and it was awesome!! After that, we'd go stand in line for a store that would give out gift cards to the people in line. It was so much fun!! We've never seen anything close to what you see from these Walmart stories on the news.. we eventually broke the tradition though and just started hanging out at home now lol
The term, "Black Friday," is a reference to the retailers attempting to increase their profits to get "out of the red" (debt) and go "into the black" (profit). It is unfortunate this detail of the origin of the event was never mentioned in this "History" piece. Still, this is an interesting review of the Fascinating Horrors which have happened on this day.
Good job! You win one cookie. Have a day.
Actually, that's a myth.. it started in Philadelphia in the early 50s as how the police described the shopping congestion and traffic after Thanksgiving
The original history of Black Friday is an absolute nightmare that most people are unwilling to accept. Most Americans still have their heads in the sand concerning the billions of dollars generated by chattel slavery. Full stop.
I'm a retail worker. I usually take Black Friday off. This year I didn't get a chance to put my day in. I dread this Friday especially since I'm working register. To all you other retail workers, stay safe out there.
Thank you all for the support.
And BTW I AM looking at finding another job. Also to any who are questioning why I've been able to get BF off, I plan it a few months in advance. I just didn't this year.
As a former retail worker myself, I wish you good luck and take care.
If there is one excuse to drink on the job, it’s this. I’m truly just kidding. I wish you a happy thanksgiving with a great nights sleep so you’ll have the patience to deal with the crowds.
🥺 Please take extra precautions and be aware of your surroundings. I pray for all of your well being. 🙌🏾
BlackOutBlackFriday. Don't go in. Them firing you would be severely shooting themselves in the foot with a rocket launcher.
You will probably be ok this year. From watching the riots in sure everyone has already got what they need either for free or for 90% off earlier in the year
As a retail worker that has seen several Black Friday's, I can attest that these are when you see customers at their absolute worst. I always tell them that Cyber Monday sales are much safer and more items in stock. Nowadays both Wal-Mart and Sam's Club are a bit crowded but not like angry mobs thanks to the massive shifts in online shopping.
I work the tills on black Fridays and it's usually between a 16-18 hour shift. I've had to perform cpr on some people by the end, I've seen coworkers have mental breakdowns by the end, Black Friday and Boxing Day are truly the worst days of the year in my eyes. Thank you for telling people to just do cyber Monday instead.
I worked a couple times on black friday, usually as a stock or replenish worker, and have people push me, kick me, and even follow me to the stock rooms to get stuff. Only violence was on electronics and bedding departments. Working the registers is not much fun either, with people trying to scam you or stealing. I don't know how its called, but they would try to pay with hundreds, then change to twentys, back to 100s, and try to confuse you, into thinking they gave you a 100....
My wife used to work at Macy's. She never saw anything crazy, but rude and/or aggressive customers were very common. Because she didn't drive, I picked her up every day. Getting in and out of the mall between Thanksgiving and Christmas was almost torture.
Fellow retail worker here. Cheers!
I’ve worked retail, and most shops where I live have the sales all month, instead of on just Friday.
I live by ‘shop what you really need’. When I see the masses rushing to the shops on Black Friday I truly feel free. Free from absolute idiocy.
I distinctly remember the incident in Valley Stream. I was 8 years old and also lived in downstate NY, some 50 miles away. After that point, I became afraid to even enter a store on Black Friday. I did not do so until 14 years later, this past Friday, when I was working at a shoe store in the local mall. Glad to report that, although it was quite chaotic, no one was trampled.
How American to dedicate a day to Thankfulness only to trample people to death for a TV the very next day.
So true.
As an American, it makes perfect sense. Thanksgiving is not a day dedicated to thankfulness. Thanksgiving is a celebration of the violent racist takeover of a country, including genocide of hundreds of cultures. It is completely American to continue this concept by murdering people to get a crappy television set that was manufactured in lower quality to be sold on this particular day to gullible people who fall for the ads.
@@stephencoldbear It was a party that got out of hand. No matter what skin color. 'Murica is still controlled by the crown of england. The term racism has no substance anymore and why are peoples fee fees hurt over anything from decades or centuries ago. Do work son and contribute to those that are less fortunate
@@stephencoldbear actually, that is the 4th of July. Before US independence there was no persecution of the native peoples of North America, just the odd clash. Shortly after US independence and the revolutionary war, the persecutions and genocide of native Americans began, kicking off with the Gnadenhutten massacre in 1782.
@@gdubya83 Satan controls all the governments of the world! Luke:4:5&6 2COR.4:3&4 1John 5:19 ! The Anglo-American is just the latest & last ascendancy!
Very thankfully, ISAIAH 9:6&7 KJV will quite soon put an end to this mess !
I once saw a lady tell her kids to go cry in the middle of an aisle, and when people came to check on them she looted their carts! Black Friday is monstrous!
🤣
Wtf
Godless fleshbags.
Dude… 👀 I so wasn’t ready for this comment 😩🤣🤣🤣🤦🏾♀️
Yeah, I've worked retail for over 20 years and have some stories myself. Once saw a woman who wanted some toy. I can't remember what the toy was, but it was one of the 'hot toys' that year. This little kid, who had to be around 5 or 6, was carrying it around and this woman just walked up, grabbed the kid, and walked off with him. He screamed and cried and attracted the attention of the mother, who walked up to the woman as she was taking the toy from the child.
The mother and the woman got into a fight and when the 'kidnapper' realized she wasn't going to get away with the toy, proceeded to throw it down on the ground and smash it. As the mother was trying to calm her child down, the other woman just walked up and got in line to buy the rest of her purchase as if nothing had happened. Of course, security came and escorted her out to the waiting police.
I’ve worked over 15+ yrs in retail and the level of anger and pettiness always continued to astound me each year, No matter where I worked. A deal will always seem to be worth more than a human life…
Black Friday is by far the most embarrassing thing we have in this country. When the PS4 and XBOX 360 came out, there were so many robberies of shoppers coming out from Black Friday deals. It's a disgusting day.
I’ve never actually been in a store on Black Friday, given that my mom would always go or just wait until Cyber Monday to shop. This year I have my very first job (in retail) and will be working the register on Black Friday. Pray for me guys 😔🙏
edit: Thank you for the well wishes guys, ya’ll are giving me the confidence boost I needed! I will say I work at a Navy Exchange (so it’s military and NATO people who have been generally pretty nice and agreeable) so hopefully it won’t be nearly as bad as I’ve been imagining lol
Oh god, I pray for your success.
I'll pray for you, be sure to have comfy shoes and all.
Fuck. Good luck.
I’m in the same boat, but I’m opening the doors and keeping check on capacity limits. I’m sorta fucked 😂
Yes my friend good luck with your first time on the front lines; what store are you working at?
I'm a veteran of OIF and OEF. After coming home, I worked at Toys 'r' Us for a holiday season, and saw more reprehensible behavior from civilian shoppers than I did from people living in a literal war zone. It was that experience that cured me of any faith I had in humanity. I'm sure there are decent people out there, but the vast majority of people make me sick.
i mean, to be fair, the crazy middle class people getting in a fistfight at walmart is probably not the majority of people, if that makes you feel better
Thank you for your service.
*(gives you big hugs)*
Don't worry, good sir/ma'am. I can assure you that there are, indeed, still many, MANY good people in the world; you don't have to look very hard to find them. :-) And thank you for your service! ☺️ You helped to free a nation from the cruelty of a tyrannical dictator, & have improved the lives of so many Iraqis as a result. You are a true hero(one)!
@@heliveruscalion9124 that's the thing, it was lower middle-class and lower-class folks too! Something about discount pricing turns some people into animals. I literally watched a 80-something grandma stuff over $1k worth of XBOX games into her sweatpants, and then try to fist fight a cop.
@@yakacm there are scores of my brothers and sisters that deserve your gratitude far more than myself, but I appreciate the recognition.
I had a black friday experience. I took off that Friday so I could get a great deal on a laptop I wanted. I went to a Best Buy electronics store at 3:00 a.m.... The line went around, behind, and in front of the store all the way into the parking lot. I turned around, drove back home, and went to sleep. That was my first (AND last) ever Black Friday experience LoL.
I think the worst thing besides that poor man dying is that no one was punished for it. No one had to face what they did/contributed to. No one learned from their mistakes... It makes me feel so empty and unresolved
Black Friday weekend story: My family was in Palm Desert (near Palm Springs, CA) for the holiday weekend. We were doing casual shopping midday at a place that wasn’t crowded; we heard a crazy amount of police sirens and fire trucks nearby but couldn’t figure out what was going on. Turns out, at the Toys R Us across the street, two families got into an argument, and two a$$holes pulled out handguns and had a running gun battle through the store. Miraculously, thankfully, the only people shot were the two men with guns. They killed each other. In a gun battle. In a Toys R Us, full of parents and their kids. The store closed a few years later, and now that building is . . . a Walmart.
That is appalling.
I read that story while looking up information on the first story mentioned (the guy getting trampled in 2008). It's awful! If I remember correctly, the women started it and then the husbands pulled the guns on each other.
Sounds like the men kiiiiiinda had it coming, but it's a shame that they had to pull that shit. I hope the other customers are okay mentally...
Glad your story had a happy ending as far as the 2 losers are concerned...And thankful nobody else was hurt
I salute those patriots for exercising their god-given rights to bear and employ firearms in the name of freedom and consumerism. I‘m also obviously making a cynical joke and very happy no innocent bystanders were involved.
As a US citizen, this has always been a “hell no” day and a yet another reason why it can be embarrassing being American. The day after being grateful for what you have these people act like mindless animals for a stupid sale.
Edit: Kind of shocked at the lack of mean comments accusing me of being unpatriotic and stupid. Thank you, people. Happy Thanksgiving.
A lot of people *are* mindless animals.
Went a few times as a teen, always left with like a new hat or just a few sweatshirts. There is absolutely nothing you need at Target to wait 3hrs in line for. I’m mid20s now and haven’t gone since. Absolute waste of time, it’s better to sleep in and have Thanksgiving leftovers
It's not just America. It's a consumerist blight regardless. No need to go brawl at Walmart when I can enjoy some peace and quiet at home; dinner's already done, after all.
Of all the Thanksgiving traditions for other countries to adopt from America, Black Friday? Ugh! Have the family gathering and feast instead.
Especially when you can get better deals on cyber Monday and the week before Christmas too.
Black Friday is hardly a thing anymore with all the online sales, “pre” sales, “post” sales, Cyber Monday, etc. Stores used to offer extreme discounts but I haven’t seen that done in years, probably because of all the chaos and problems it caused.
I used to work at Wal-mart and I'm not surprised customers refused to leave even after being told someone was dead. wal-mart customers love treating the employees like the dirt beneath their feet
As soon as the photo came up I started feeling profoundly sad, and it just got worse as you explained. The idea that ANYONE would care more about shopping than the fact that they literally trampled a man TO DEATH is so unbelievably disgusting.
Retail Workers: THANK YOU. The work you do makes it possible for people to feed themselves, clothe themselves, maintain social ties and enjoy life. Your work is important and you deserve so much more respect. I hope someday soon people can learn to value blue collar jobs as they should. Stay safe.
Truer words never spoke.
It’s consumerism and late-stage capitalism embodied: stuff>people. I think what’s truly sad is that so many people in the US have been poisoned by individualism that they will trample over human bodies for cheap items.
Black Friday should be banned in my opinion. In the UK thanksgivings is not celebrated so I see no reason for Black Friday to exist in the UK
Participation in Black Friday or anti-union practices by business is pretty much full on makes them an undesirable place to work, whose competitors will easily be able to entice workers to leave just for health and safety, let alone food stamp subsidized wages to make oligarchs wealthier.
1% of people are psychopaths, 1% are sociopaths - both lack empathy. 1% are narcissists on top of that. That's already millions of people, so don't ge surprised when this Capitalist Toaster Delux is worth more to them than you and everyone you love.
Kind regards one of the 1% schizophrenic.
9 year retail worker here, Black Fridays honestly are honestly when you see the worst of what people can be. Verbal abuse from people, physical altercations between guests and the unfortunate workers who get caught in the wrong place. It’s taken any sort of magic out of the holidays of thanksgiving and Christmas.
I think you see the nature of how most people really are.
How the hell have you survived NINE years of retail?!?!
I recently spent seven years with Sears. I've seen a steady decline in the decency of humanity, especially on Black Friday, or as they tried to call it once, "The Pre-After-Thanksgiving Day Sale." Stop and ponder that for a moment. While I had and partially still enjoy the festivities after Thanksgiving, my years there solidified my outrage and contempt. Thankfully, no permanent injuries in my time, but I have seen people injured, and I've seen people turn rabid on each other for items that will only be $10 or $20 more later.
One of the worst examples I recall is one year when our store opened a few hours earlier than the rest of the mall. People didn't care. As a mob, they broke down the containment barrier which was tested to withstand over 12,000 pounds of pressure. Without pause, the 'shoppers' rampaged through the rest of the mall, breaking down doors and barriers, and snatching away who knows how many items. I know the damages were in the millions.
What's laughable is when some people try to condemn me for my opinions, what job I've had, or just about anything. I'm frequently called opinionated and ignorant. They have no idea. I know it will never happen, but I sincerely wish we lived in a world where everyone had to work one solid year of retail sales before they turned 30. Yes, I mean everyone, including the wealthiest of wealthy. It wouldn't stop all problems, but at least a few people would think twice.
@@TinyScorpion44 wow some privilege you have some people actually have to work retail for their entire life. You think it's easy to feed a family in this capitalist hell hole strip mall we call a nation.
Ten retail Christmases have completely destroyed my love of the holiday season.
I have NEVER been to a store or even shopping on a "Black Friday" I shop for christmas gifts through out the year, picking up gifts one at a time, always have. I usually sleep during that time, after spending Thanksgiving with much loved family and friends.
I’ve just listened to 6 of your videos in a row and I’ve been a subscriber for aaaaages. You are easily the best on CZcams at this kinda content in my opinion. You’re detailed, your speaking voice is pleasant and easy to listen to, the info included is relevant (you don’t waffle on ever), the background music doesn’t drown you out, etc. I whole heartedly hope you keep doing these videos! Well done, bud! ☺️
It is truly shocking that Walmart was never held accountable for their staff members death. We have known for a long time that poorly managed crowds can be deadly, and their failure to prepare their stores with an adequate crowd control strategy is criminal. Yes, many of the individuals within the crowd also behaved abhorrently, but none of this would ever have happened if it wasn’t for the greed of the large corporations who perpetuate this shitty tradition and seemingly have no care for the welfare of their staff.
Disturbing, but not that shocking. Retail workers are hardly treated as people by their corporate employers. Money above all to them.
@Self Made Auto Like what you are sort of doing right now by grouping all Americans in this check box?
I honestly wish retailers would just stop doing Black Friday, but since they would lose potentially millions of dollars over it, it more than likely won't ever happen. If some of the stuff that's already happened hasn't tainted it for retailers, nothing ever will.
@Self Made Auto -It was their fault though. If they had adequite security, and set down the rules for which the sale will continue (or not), chances are pretty damn good that things would've turned out different. Let the consumers know what won't be tolerated, and have security there to handle it.
Venues like concert halls & arenas ARE held responsible for creating an artificial environment that promotes violence and crushes.
Bars ARE held responsible for giving already-drunk persons more alcohol.
Individuals ARE held responsible for yelling "Fire!" in a theater as a prank.
These artificially-created situations - cause injury & death.
Corporations? NOT held responsible; when they scam the public by advertising 75% discounts on $6-10,000 electronics - but only plan to stock 20 in the store.
Corporations are NOT held responsible - when they create atmospheres of rage - knowing they'll attract crowds of thousands, and less than 1% are able to "win."
Corporations are NOT held responsible - when they know year-after-year, crowds surge dangerously through the front doors - but they do not enlarge them.
Funny - how other venues are.
Corporations are NOT held responsible - when they do everything to create a whipped-up, paniking mob - but drain community resources by calling police instead of hiring security.
THIS - needs to all change!
And for what? A strategy to get people IN the store - to buy other products instead. Nobody should get hurt for this. No employee should be taken from their families during holidays for this. The police should be ELSEWHERE. This can all change - if we don't blame the victims.
Black Friday all falls apart if laws state they MUST honor the sale price for everyone - even if they run out of stock. That law - and it's over.
One of my nephews was a WalMart manager, and was on duty one year for the extended family Thanksgiving gathering. When he returned after his shift, he was exhausted and looked almost shell shocked, from having to try and supervise Black Friday chaos. The experience figured very strongly in his resignation letter….and we were all thankful he got home safely from his shift.
To be thankful that someone returns home safely from a shift at *walmart*.
What has the world come to?
this is one of the few things on this channel that I actually remember hearing about and it has forever turned me off of ever wanting to go on a black friday shopping trip. I do all of my holiday shopping online from the safety and warmth of my couch
Your voice is what makes these videos! I could literally listen to you talk for hours! 💕
Nothing more terrifying than consumerism
It's wild how we go mad at such sales and seemingly just...lose our humanity? Truly chilling
Those Elmo's are not so tickly
Luckily not all humans are like that.
Particularly considering the arbitrary crap these people line up for. Completely ridiculous.
I don't know if it's a case of losing our Humanity; this behaviour, along with a lot of other reprehensible acts are unique to our species unfortunately! 😬 Like when someone acts in a depraved way, we say they're "an animal" or their acts are "inhuman", when in fact that kind of dysfunction is about as human as it gets...
Consumerism is not selfish greed like this and remember it's the corporation that caused this not the base consumer.
My family forbids anyone from going anywhere on black friday. They are terrified something bad will happen.
My parents still try to forbid me from driving anywhere on New Year's, for the same reason.
I cannot imagine wanting anything so much as to put myself (and others) in such horrific situations as the Black Friday sales. That is one day I have always made sure to take as a day for myself, eating Thanksgiving leftovers and reading a good book.
Amen. Holidays *should* be for relaxation and a relief from the rat race, not an extension of it.
It's so strange to hear these horror stories about Black Friday, because every experience I've had has been really positive. People in the same area have asked others father down the line what they are looking for, promising to help. Or groups around the movie sections making agreements to trade movies from their side in return for the same. Maybe it's just because I'm from a small town?
As someone who has been to multiple Black Fridays, I completely agree. Most of these negative comments are from people who have NEVER been to a single Black Friday and are talking out of their ass. All of these violent cases make up less than 1% of all Black Friday activities; they rarely happen. If you actually go, you'll notice it just looks like a normal busy day but at 4am.
People are doing Thanksgiving wrong if they aren't in a food-induced coma until Monday.
True
☺️ good point
pass the gravy...
The term "Black Friday" has its origins in the accounting world. When ledgers were done by hand, red ink was often used to note losses. When a company goes from losses to a profit, they are "in the black" as opposed to being "in the red." Traditionally, retailers operated at a loss throughout the year until the busy holiday shopping season. The day after Thanksgiving was and is a busy shopping day and often when a company starts making a profit. "Black Friday" sales are used to get shoppers into stores to hopefully purchase higher margin items to put the company "in the black" from an accounting standpoint.
Oh so that’s what it is.
Interesting - thanks!
Great comment, thanks.
having two different colored inks makes it a lot easier to keep track of when doing the accounting, and seeing pages full of red meant a company was bleeding and on life support till it bled to death.
I was surprised this wasn't pointed out in the video to explain the context of the term.
In 2004, I worked at Target in northwestern Minnesota (USA). We had special training for dealing with customers, but the fact that there were procedures to avoid getting trampled was sobering. When it came time to open the doors, the person unlocking them had to run from the side, quickly use the key, then continue running along the side until they were clear of the door. All of the staff had to stand off the central aisles, near something sturdy.
My mind boggles at the fact that upon learning about a human beings death at least some people in the shop refused to leave.
The fact that Black Friday is still as popular as it is with the internet is baffling. Best part of shopping online is that you usually have anywhere from a weekend to a whole month of sales, and you don't have to deal with the selfishness of people.
I think people crave the excitement and the adrenaline rush of Black Friday, it gives a sense of purpose to their otherwise boring lives
@@dylanwade2020 If these people want a sense of purpose they should read a book or eat a piece of fruit.
There’s also a lot of people that can’t access the internet.
I think its as simple as lowering the prices.
@@CH67guy1 Those things only give pleasure when there is a richness to life that usually isn't present in the lives of poor people. When you're surrounded by fast-food, fruit always tastes worse. When you're surrounded by movies, books always are more boring.
Humorously, in the US at least, many stores quietly release discount electronics for July 4th and no one tramples anyone. I got a top tier 50" 4K Smart TV for $229 on July 4th and the store was nearly empty. Also humorous, most US stores actually INCREASE prices on Black Friday, calling them "deals" and people risk life and limb to pay more for unnecessary nonsense than they would on any given Tuesday.
'Cause people are stupid... and entitled. It's a bad combo. I don't know what was worse, lifeguarding in Wisconsin Dells or retail pharmacy... paradoxically, my brief stint working at ShopKo had better behaved customers than most of my service jobs.
@@KirstenMarie_MS3 Service jobs are supremely underappreciated. I worked in restaurants for 10 years: Dirty, hot, hard work under constant pressure and entitled customers for poverty wages. It's no wonder restaurants can't keep staff anymore; people have just had enough. That, and currently so many jobs have shortages that it's easy to find something better.
@@KirstenMarie_MS3 fuuuuck working in the Dells.
Those J1 students tho 😍🔥🤤
@@victoriousf.i.g.3311 I hear you. I bussed and waited tables all through high school and during college. Saturdays and Sundays at IHOP were insane. I needed the whole school week to recover and do it all over again.
@@missbacon9770 Lmao... I guess at least being a CPhT comes with less sexual harassment than being a barely dressed lifeguard... Most of the time. (Not saying you're guilty of it. Just a general observation.)
Went to one Black Friday sale at a Walmart. I was so disgusted with the TV I twisted my ankle for, that I took it back by Sunday.
I am a nomad. Typically homeless. I worked at Bestbuy several years ago. I remember making Thanksgiving dinner outside of my van in 2 feet of snow, Watching people roll in mass to the doors so they could camp outside waiting on a bullshit idea of saving money on products that were already marked up. The next day was hell. I didn't even get to enoy my holiday because i knew the manic consumers were coming and i'd have to deal with them.16 hours of hell was what I faced. I ended up quitting corporate jobs and became a wildland firefighter in the PNW. I will never again, give up my life for disgusting consumerism.
Can I get hired if I have some criminal record?
I used to work in a fabric store and was always scheduled on Black Friday. I actually enjoyed working that day. For once we were fully staffed, the managers planned our breaks properly, and the customers were... Happy. I know, it's hard to believe. They knew the wait times would be very long, and were understanding. We passed out packages of sugar cookies. It's not the same anymore, since the sale goes for a full week. But just know that for many years customers lined up around your local JoAnn's at 5 am and didn't fight. (at least not at my store)
Sewers and crafters have a *lot* of patience. You have to, to make an article of clothing out of two sticks and a long piece of string. I worked retail for years and perversely enjoyed Christmas--but I worked for small Mom & Pop stores. You had your horrible people, but it wasn't a combat situation. My best wishes to everyone facing the onslaught this year.
JoAnn’s has such a calm and wholesome vibe. It doesn’t surprise me that their customer base are more polite lol
I think overall Joann's clientele tends to be grannies and people who are otherwise very chill and patient so...this makes sense! LOL
Joanne's still shouldn't be opening their doors at 6am on Black Friday, let your employees sleep a little longer!
People don’t storm stores for fabric sales 😂 on Black Friday.
I have never understood the desire to physically go and shop at a store on Black Friday. I get anxiety from just looking at the pictures of those crowds. I once went with a friend to Walmart in a tourist location on Thanksgiving night and it was insanely crowded due to starting Black Friday sales early. Never again lol.
I'd rather pay full price than deal with this
Yep, I’m way too claustrophobic to go shopping on Black Friday or the day after Christmas. No thanks!!
I went to a gas station a few years ago forgetting it was Black Friday until a 20min drive took over an hour. never again.
I enjoy the black Friday deals but can't do the crowds. I went once to a Black Friday when it opened & it's not worth it unless you are going for specific electronics. So if I go shopping on Black Fridays now I go a few hours after they open. Still find good deals without the most of the crowds & choas.
I'm not sure honestly. I think bc people talk about the "fun" of camping and going into stores. I don't understand it at all
I used to worked at a Sam's Club retail store for 5 years and I only had a few arguments with customers on Black Fridays. One was nearly physical but my coworkers held me back to prevent anymore problems.
Maybe it's just the area I live in, but I've noticed over the last several years that 1. stores spread out black friday sales over multiple days, and 2. the deals aren't as good. Stores still get really crowded if you go out during black friday, but it's nowhere near as insane.
As a retail worker, thank you for covering this. Even at Petsmart and Starbucks people lose their ever-loving minds.
I will step on a child's face if it means I can get a cute sweater for my dog at 40% off.
It's pretty sad when retailers value profit over the safety and lives of their employees. I'm thinking the responsible party in the walmart employees death is WALMART. Maybe if they were sued and faced charges for injuries to employees they would take the situation more seriously. I think black friday sales are just plain dangerous and unnecessary.
I work at Starbucks in a grocery store and HOO BOY. Customers have just been the absolute worst this week, I'm beyond relieved I have Black Friday off even though I feel so bad for whoever is doing those shifts.
@@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368 nah- the sweater would have to be at least 50% off ;)
What the hell is going on at Starbucks on a Black Friday?
My late wife, who hailed fro Massachusetts, was incredulous to learn on moving to the UK in 2009 that we had recently and enthusiastically embraced this most American of traditions.
She couldn't understand why we would knowingly subject ourselves to something that was so notorious for causing damage, injury and conflict back home.
I refuse to buy into it, especially as I am well aware that many of the 'deals' are manufactured or illusory, but recognise that retail staff don't often have the option of staying home and letting the insanity run its course.
Black Friday to me epitomises all the very worst aspects of American consumer capitalism and the selfish behavior and herd mentality of human beings, especially when in large crowds.
Fuck capitalism,return to communism.
The selfishness, the willingness to literally hurt another person for a thing you don't even need (a thing that will end up in a landfill in a couple years anyway, like we really need more trash on this planet), the fact that corporations do this knowing it's underpaid employees who will end up dealing with the worst part of it...
Every aspect of it is plainly sad.
I'm sorry for your loss.
...but could she cook a good chowdah?
@@HolyGoddessMotherAnne Lmao, capitalism gave you everything you needed to post that comment, and probably from a $1,200 Iphone. Capitalism bad!
Here's to help you understand. ASDA UK backtracked on this, but in the first place they're owned by...
Walmart. Reason number two: £££££££$$$$$$$$
Man, I remember this incident so much. All for some stupid deal. I've worked too many Black Fridays myself. In fact, I've only missed one, this past year because I was sick and quarantined at home. I do remember that where I used to work at, the year after this happened, we started a ticket system. The managers would make up tickets for all the hot or big items in the sale and then distribute them to the people in line. One per family and they didn't get the item until they were checking out. They also created a single line through the store, so that you could only go one way. If you left the line, then you had to go to the back. It did help quite a bit, but we still had problems.
I don't remember Black Friday being a big thing until the 1980s. Then it seemed retailers went nuts with door busters and upping each other. Bigger discounts, earlier openings, etc. Glad to see it's finally waned due largely to on-line sales. The current weeks long promos is safer and more profitable for most retailers.
When I worked at Target the management and training all made it very clear- if someone tries to steal something, or if there is an unsafe situation involving customers/looters/mobs, GET AWAY AND STAY AWAY. It is 1000% not your job to die for a TV or game console.
Of course, I’m cynical enough to believe they only do that because of the previous loss of life and the potential for lawsuits should anything else happen, but it’s good to know that’s where we’re at now.
The safe way to do it is like a shop does in the UK. you order the item from a kiosk, get a ticket - bit like ordering a burger - pay for the item, then it is brought to you after payment.
Here, you would just get robbed in the parking lot.
They're "guests" even when stealing :)
That you even had to have this training is just sad! Yet another aspect of being American that is tough to stomach, although seems like badly behaved shoppers isn't just confined to the US. My friends in retail can't stomach Christmas, I totally get it!
oh yeah 100% it's to avoid liability if an employee gets injured. Every chain retail store has a "loss" estimate baked into its budget to account for stolen/damaged/otherwise unsellable goods, and it's _much_ cheaper to write off your entire loss budget than it is to pay out for a wrongful death case. it's a rare case where the employees' interests and the company's interests align in the same outcome.
There are certain events/situations that make me embarrassed to be a human being sometimes. The actions of some people on black friday over saving some money is a BIG one.
As a retail worker, people can be creepily obsessed with prices ahead of Black friday. Constantly following and lingering around while you mark pricetags to be changed after closing, the day before Black friday, really makes you question the public psyche.
I was at a January big sale day just after the xmas ( 1974)
This was in the far north of England, at that time of year the weather was freezing yet despite this, my friend & i camped outside the big department store that i wanted to visit as they had large discounts on some expensive leather handbags which i was determined to " bag"
After a cold night but happily entertained by a great crowd around us with not a hint of hostility, the doors opened
As we were pretty close to the entrance & in great shape ready to run through the doorway safely, i caught my foot on a piece of rubber matting just inside the doors which catapulted me into the surging crowd
All i remember was flying through the air, bodily pressure then nothing.
I came to on a camp bed with a young chap sitting by me.
I started to sit up when i felt woozy.
The guy explained hed been in the crowd when id crashed into him then others fell but hed managed to drag me away from the scene into the store & i was now in the stores sick bay.
I was actually unharmed, only a few bruises & amazingly many of the shoppers had stopped running & maintained a proper queue & helping anyone who had fallen.
Later on there was tv footage of the drama & the large stores owner had commended the crowd for displaying such concern & care for anyone who'd fallen
He'd even informed staff to get the names of those fallen & those who'd helped then we were told any item we had queued for we would get at even half of the sale price!!
Even so i got an even bigger bargain !
The guy who had rescued me?
I ended up marrying him
We were together for 14yrs but ended up divorcing but very amicably & we are still the greatest of friends!
I also still have the gorgeous leather handbag i was able to buy at a fraction of the cost & it holds more than the usual paraphernalia, it holds good memories.
I still think the January Sales are good & still in our city, many of the large stores serve hot drinks & display such goodwill to camping customers & ensuring the shoppers conduct themselves in a safe way, in the years since my accident & through many such sale camp outs we have been the hight of decorum & have not launched into the store until we were clear of the crowds
I did camp out just a few yrs ago at at huge store & was delighted to learn that store staff came out to give us tickets to whichever department we wanted to buy goods & our names given against our ticket number
Which was then taken to the relative department so when the doors opened it was so calmly entered by shoppers as there was no need to run or push through & we WALKED to whichever area we wanted!
I think this is a great idea & should be implemented by big stores during sales plus more security at doorways to stop the bullying tactics by those members of the public who show no respect
Thank you for this, F.H. i love your channel its just so good & i agree with others yr theme music is so comforting despite the horrors 🇬🇧👧
Some still wanted to shop even though someone died. They cared more about their cheap goods. I remember this because since then walmart like other retailers started opening on Thanksgiving.
Nice TV
Yeah I took a day off work, drove for an hour to get to the store, trampled a guy to death for it and saved $15.
FH, I thank you for covering this. That man was truly a victim of greed. Imagine, his family must detest Christmas. So horrible.
Completely unrelated but I found it interesting that I spent four years in the UK and other Commonwealth countries and never once heard a bullhorn referred to as a "loud hailer" lol
Binged watched these or as many of those I could find. They are BRILLIANT.
I'm in my 50s and remember my mother doing Black Friday shopping as a kid and my older sister always did too. I never set foot in a store on Black Friday and never will. Even without the violent mob scenes, I find it ridiculous to wait for hours in the cold to push and shove through insane crowds to buy stuff.
Yeah! The holidays should be way, way more about you & your loved ones (and God for those of us in the church). It should not be about spending money we don't have on stuff people don't want so you can pretend to care about them. I'm not against gifts, but make it human centered, not stuff centered!
Home is better.
@@gohawks3571 we're atheist but still celebrate the holidays. On Thanksgiving, we don't necessarily give thanks to a god, but are grateful for whatever family and friends may be joining us at our table. For christmas, without belief or religion, again the main focus is being with family and friends and also bring a little joy with gifts. Being atheist we have no real reason to celebrate Xmas, but we make our own meaning and it simply represents joy to us. Joy shouldn't require one to battle greedy mobs or go into debt. We've gone from well off, to poverty to lower income but surviving and our celebrations have stayed within our means. As an aside, food banks and toy charities can always use some help for those who can. I remember the years when our holiday dinners came from boxes of donated ingredients and the only toys my children received were due to the kindness of strangers. So, please give, y'all!
Specially stuff a week later is put on sale for the same price.
We had to go once for something urgent (we were traveling and something got left at home) and NEVER AGAIN.
I’ve always had to work Black Friday at my previous job. It was the day where no one was allowed to take the day off because we needed “all hands on deck”. Lines halfway back the store for hours and cashiers that hopped in on register so other cashiers could get their breaks. I worked 11 years of it and completely refuse (to this day) to buy anything on that day if I could help it. Not even groceries. I now work in a grocery store and honestly, I love how un-chaotic Black Friday is compared to my last job.
I worked at craft stores for years, and to this day (14 years later) I find I still wake up at 4 or 5 that Friday and think, "I don't have to work today." The first year, two women got in a physical fight over a box of ornaments. Freaking *ornaments.* I'd thought things like that were urban legends, but nope.
I work at the largest pet supplies store in country its not as bad as most other store but its always all hands on deck, we arnt allowed to take off. But it always sucks, people have the shortest fuse and i have to clean up so much stuff afterwards, id never go out if i could.
@@ididitlikethis2273 I've never gone shopping on that day. Ever. And I'm old. The whole blatant consumerism thing is a huge turn off. No thanks. Hate crowds.
@@ididitlikethis2273 They tend to be the messiest people ever. It’s not job security to just lay things wherever you please-something I heard a woman say to her kid one night when they (the kid) knocked something to the floor and the kid went to pick it up.
I remember a day, December 24th 1964. Still the most exciting, and joyful day of my life. Being downtown last minute Christmas shopping with my mom, at the largest department store of the Time. F & R Lazarus. It had 6 shopping floors and during the holidays almost the entire 6th floor was made into a winter wonderland full of toys, Santa, and his elves and more. Parents could "SAFELY" drop their kids on the 6th floor and continue shopping. Snow flakes were falling the size of quarters to about 2 feet of snow already on the ground. One of the things I noticed as a 10 year old boy was the joyful, happy faces on everyone. If you locked eyes with a perfect stranger, they would nod and wish ya a Merry Christmas and continue on. Since this Black Friday crap has come about, there have been many fights in the stores over sale merchandise. Angry "HUSSLE~BUSSLE~PUSH & SHOVE" people everywhere. Now they are fist fighting over parking spaces in the parking lots before they get into the stores. Never have and never will participate in any of it and never will. It is a total joke and I can't believe how crazy it makes these idiots. It should be OUTLAWED!!!!
Having worked US retail, German Black Week is chill af. You can shop online just as easily as in store so if you don't want to go out (which is a SUPER bad idea in Germany rn) you're not really missing out on a lot. There's always enough stocks that even if you go shopping toward the end of Black Week you can still find the cheap phone or TV you were looking at. I live right beside a very large shopping plaza and Saturday was pretty wild this year. We have 2 Christmas markets taking up a lot of space so it was tight getting to the train in between all the guys carrying 65 inch TVs.
"One man promptly removed his shirt and used his belt as a whip to keep the crowd at bay."
That's not even a crime, that's just dangerously based.
he sacrificed himself to save the workers
Grandad Robert Freeman was not taking any shit that night
Paul Blart moment
I’ve only worked at a grocery store and while thanksgiving was incredibly busy until dinner time, Black Friday was absolutely dead. I’m so thankful I’ve never had to work in a retail store Black Friday and my prayers go out to those who do. I think the adidas store with shutting down the sale made a good call.
I worked in retail in my late teens and early twenties. I found that Christmas Eve was worse than Black Friday.
In Denmark, prices are usually raised and then put on Black Friday offers. You typically save half of what the price was raised.
In some cases, it is even worse.
I was looking for a band saw, I would wait until Black Friday and see what the price was. The price had risen 42%.
It's the most expensive day of the whole year to shop.
I worked at Wal-Mart on Black Friday. Had never heard of it by that time. I was 4 months pregnant. That day ended with me in the hospital due to another off-duty employee (she did lose her job) climbing up on the pallet I was escorting, causing it to be stopped for safety purposes. Within moments the pallet of much sought after TVs was falling everywhere. The guy pulling the pallet did what he could to protect me but I still got covered in severe bruises and had to have my daughter monitored to ensure no harm befell her. I have never, ever worked or participated in a Black Friday again.
Even when I worked in a retail store that didn't do Black Friday deals, the customers were the absolute worst. Dude, we're a small, used book shop. Why are you acting like this?!
Lol
Customers are ass holes. The whole mentality of "customer is always right" has mad some so incredibly entitled, it's mind boggling.
I’m a senior citizen, so I’ve seen Black Friday (rather, I prefer to still call it the day after Thanksgiving) evolve from a fun shopping day to a day of horrors dealing with greedy people.
For the first few years, when stores opened at around 6 a.m., my friend and I had our sales ads in hand and gleefully set out for the Mall. Not many people did it, so we enjoyed getting the bargains with few shoppers around. By the time the stores started getting crowded around 10 a.m., we were usually completely done shopping for our treasures, and went home to enjoy the rest of the season!
The last time I ever went shopping the day after Thanksgiving was the day a young mother placed her baby in its carrier on the floor to block an aisle. That was about 30 years ago, and I knew then that the fun and charm of early shopping was over.
I was right.
The fact that a mother used her baby as a blockade is very strange. Im assuming she was banking on people respecting the child’s presence. But, if that were to happen today, I would not be surprised in the slightest-shocked, but definitely not surprised-if someone pushed the carrier out of the way.
I’m in my 50s and started going to the mall to shop the day after Thanksgiving when I was in college. At the time, stores waited until then to put up their decorations and to have Christmas things available to purchase. As you say, it was fun and charming. Everyone was in the Christmas spirit and things were all lit up and cheery. I continued doing that for many years. My last straw was in a Walmart (what was I thinking?..) on the night of Thanksgiving. I think it was midnight. There were Legos for a great price. In my defense, I had never experienced this before. A man had his maybe 4 yo little boy with him and when the employees started taking the shrink wrap off of the display, the dude abandoned his son and basically dove into the crowd. The little guy was terrified. I took him by the hand and brought him out of the middle of the aisle. When the dad emerged from the pile of people, he wasn’t even dismayed to see that some stranger was standing and holding his little boy’s hand. He didn’t even acknowledge me. Good thing I’m a good person. I hate to think what could have happened. All for some cheap Legos.
@@jworth7203 • My sentiments exactly. On a positive note, though, you and I were able to experience the charm in those early days, and we’ll always have our memories
@J Worth……if the kid still has the Lego set…..It could be worth a lot of money on eBay today.
I worked Black Friday once when I worked at Macys about 12 years ago! We opened at midnight! The crowds had gathered at every entrance of the store as they were entrances on all sides! North, South, east and west! I worked in cosmetics which was right in front of the south entrance! You could literally see people pressed up against the glass staring you down! It was unnerving! Reminded me of Dawn of the Dead! Anyway when we opened our doors the crowds rushed in and fanned out! You had to literally ran and jump out of the way because they would mow you down if you didn’t! That was surreal! It was almost frightening! The only good part for me is my commission was thru the roof that day! We worked on a hourly wage but also got commission on out sales if we made goal!
I worked retail security back in the mid-90s. I remember we had a large brawl breaking out on Black Friday between grown adults over the Tickle-Me-Elmo doll. I have never gone out on Black Friday for the sales, and usually make it a point not to leave the house until Monday because the whole weekend is insane.
I was a kid in the 90s and I still remember the carnage caused by Tickle-Me-Elmo fever. That one toy convinced my parents not only to never participate in Black Friday but to go grocery shopping earlier in that week just to avoid the mess.
That was a big one!
I even recall the special Christmas ornaments that Target would give out on Black Friday back in the 90s. The sales they didn't care for, it was that little decoration that the first thousand or so people got was all they were after. If I even bother, I tend to show up closer to the end of the sale period (which I think is noon) so that I can see the carnage they leave behind.
I worked in the toy section of Target in 93 during the start of Power Rangers. I still can't believe what I witnessed from grown adults. Pathetic! Lol
I read a story somewhere about two old ladies beating each other with their canes over the last Tickle-Me-Elmo.
My dad worked as a Manager at Sear's back in the late 70's and early 80's. Around that time the store had an event called "Rug Riot" where they would purge their vast supply of rugs by as much as 90% the initial asking price, with some of these rugs being 1000$ it suddenly made folks care an *awful* lot about rugs and the promotion usually led to complete unrest. He vividly recalls having all escalators hotwired to go upstairs and even that wasn't enough for the surge.
One Rug Riot event led to a man being thrown off a second story balcony and two people were stabbed over a single rug which forced the event to be cancelled mid-day. He had the newspaper article in particular back in our old house but I can't seem to find any mention of it online.
I once stopped an imminent fistfight by asking the two would-be combatants if they really wanted to go to jail over a spot in line (which was what their argument was about). People are insane. They'll ruin their lives over the smallest, dumbest idiocy.
@@stormbornapostle5188 Very much so. It seems a disturbing amount of people seem to dismiss this as nothing but an American Sensation but much like the video suggests this is a worldwide phenomenon if left unchecked. Canada stopped Rug Riot years ago before anyone even died despite the money Sears made off the fiasco and I'm happy to see a lot of European countries are enacting similar measures.
I appreciate your contribution to maintaining that important piece of history. I mean it, if we don’t talk about history, we’re doomed to repeat it
🤯
My first nursing job was a night shift...by 5 a.m. we had difficulty KEEPING staff present until 7 a.m. The complete lists my coworkers boasted made me ill. They WERE involved in a local B Friday problem...sickening consumerism by staff making less than $10/hr at that time! I get they might have made bargain purchases, but...what about our elderly residents relying on their care, which was so off focus, we had a few falls during the night. Makes me sick...
In Spain they brought that idea years ago, but there are no problems because the sales are so ridiculously small that nobody cares.
Aside from the trampling, the pepper spray woman is an all-new kind of audacious.
Spraying mace in a crowd where there are children, paying for her crap like nothing happened, then suing the store because she think THEY made her do it?
Now there’s a Giga-Karen!
Final Boss for all retail workers.
I always blame Walmart for the sharp decline of my Christmas spirit.
I worked Black Friday at kohls a couple of years ago. I have no memory of my entire shift except for a single glimpse of a moment where I remember being in the middle of the store while multiple lines of people wrapped around pretty much every department, waiting to check out. The rest of my shift is just a black hole in my memory. If I try to remember any other part of it, I'm met with nothing except a feeling of intense anxiety. That alone should tell you how unnecessarily stressful that event is.
I only shopped on Black Friday once. Thankfully, it was during the afternoon. The lines at the now-defunct Toys R Us Times Square store were long but not *too* long!
I hate crowds at the best of times, but I have always refused to go anywhere near a store on Black Friday. A friend of mine got punched in the face simply because she was walking past the items one idiot wanted. She hadn't even touched the display but was still attacked. Makes my stomach churn. Then hearing this, that someone died and people refused to leave? Disgusting!!
I know! It's ridiculous. They really should have had two options leave or get arrested. Can black Friday just be canceled? It just ain't worth it.
In Tucson where I used to live after 2008 swat officers in full gear would patrol the malls and officers would watch stock and make sure it was orderly. Incident became very rare afterwords I guess the presence of officers in full riot gear made them all polite
"Christmas doesn't come from a store." - Dr. Seuss
^^^thankyou. That is why my 7 year old is going to get a proper size and durable quality doll house that is being built by her father and I as we speak. Handmade, from the heart, and she is going to absolutely love it. Even the older kids are helping with it. We want something that is going to last at least a few generations not a few weeks.
@@amethyst5538 That's wonderful! Something that can be handed down. You guys are awesome :)
@@Boxermom0317 we try our best. It isn't perfect. I would love to have a "storybook"!Christmas but even at 41, I haven't decided exactly what that is yet.😂
@@amethyst5538 I'm sure your 7 year old will think it's perfect. :)
Thank you. As yet another person who worked retail for several years, I especially appreciate that. We need more Dr. Seuss. I don't care what some people recently claim. He wasn't 'problematic,' and never will be.
I was so confused when I went shopping in Japan and saw Black Friday signs… they don’t even have thanksgiving so it’s so strange haha
After working retail, I can say this day is by far the worst day of the year. People are so, so horrible.
So fun part about black friday is that most "deals" are just the normal sales price for every other time of yr except two months before black friday and a month after christmas. So theres no real point to do black friday due to this and the fact that most honest deals are online until the tuesday after black friday. Theres a reason why most stores are "closed" on thanksgiving now since thats when black friday normal starts so its no longer allowing line ups before they open or opening at midnight on friday.
Edit: i only know this cuz i worked at Target for a yr (i watched all the sales happen since they put stuff up days in advance. the vacuum cleaners had me laugh. or how they put the black friday sales tag on with a doubled "original" price and the "sales" price being the real original price) and got black friday off. They didnt call me in for it cuz i had so many hrs for that wk if they have me more they would have had to give me overtime and insurance. I also worked for Amazon and left right before their holiday bs started. Most of the sales are items that have been dropped repeated in the warehouse (concert floors) that they just told us to put back on selves until someone purchased it. So mostlikely broken.
it is sick. want want gimmie gimmie. For items that are just junk
It's exploitation of the stupid.
And quite often the items are outdated - just to clean the stock of products that they were unable to sold because of poor quality etc.
I worked in a certain box retailer years ago in the claims department and I can tell you that a lot of the major black Friday merchandise was returned as defective with in days of purchase. Most of the big ticket items like cheap electronics were obscure brands that were never part of regular stock.
@@courtneyguerrero8150 yeah when i worked retail i mean a few kids toys were popular shiz, then yanno the main/big gaming consoles, but everything else was...stuff I wasn't familiar with but was super marketed as if it was "new" and cool
The only thing I liked about Black Friday was I got out of normal stock for a few hours to go unpack kids toys from the special Black Friday delivery area in prep.
But if you don't have kids, most Black Friday "deals" are things you'll see year round or elsewhere.
I worked for Wal-Mart for six years in the early 00s, when I was in college. Black Friday and the run-up to it was always the worst. The Christmas shopping season in general brings out the worst in people - I worked in Electronics and was often told I personally was "ruining Christmas" when stuff was out of stock (which happened frequently). This kind of abuse from customers was especially common in the week before the holiday. The last minute shoppers were always frantic, resentful and angry, and they took it out on us. It was such a horrible time in my life I quit celebrating Christmas altogether. Hard to find any joy in the season when you've seen the rotten core of capitalism up close.
I feel you :/ I worked at Kohl’s for 3 years and I’ve had my fair share of awful experiences during the holidays. Hope you’re doing a lot better now!
@@Daft12345Punk I stole from you guys all the time lol
Yeah retail for 10 years. Christmas had only become nice lately due to my nieces and nephews. Before that it was just a day off between shifts.
I think it's more the rotten core of materialism and how rampant it is in today's society/culture.
@@koibitonoyami Yeah I definitely think it’s more that than anything else.
I go to the mall on Black Friday often, but only enter to get food or use the bathroom. Instead, I have a couple of large store bags full of empty boxes, and I walk around the packed parking lot trying to get cars to follow me.
Yes, in Australia we often refer to the worst day of a bushfire which has included fatalities as either black or ash Wednesday, Saturday etc. And a very old one was actually black Friday. So when the black Friday sales started being a thing here I found it quite odd to seemingly name a sale after a devastating fire with massive loss of life. I guess no one else found it weird, its now part of the normal sales cycle.
I watched footage of a crowd outside a store seconds before opening. There was this "dad" who was obviously pumped up and was explaining to his child what she/he has to do. I will never forget the panic and fear in that child's face. Then the door opened and all the cattle started pushing towards the entrance. The "dad" grabbed the now screaming child and joined the zombies. **** parents
I've read YT comments in which a 10 yo was talking about his experience with BF. I made the comment out there about what's a 10yo doing at a store at midnight? The kid answered "Shopping. DUH".
@@eadecamp It's ridiculous that we as consumer are actually consuming ourselves.