Living Car Free - Black Friday: yea or nay?

Will you be out in search of deals (bike-related or not) this Friday, or staying home and avoiding the insanity?

I'll be staying home. I despise shopping in general, and especially the rampant consumerism surrounding the holidays.

And I asked here because compared to my coworkers and some family members, I'm a cheap scrooge...hoping I have some good company on this forum ;)

Will you be out in search of deals (bike-related or not) this Friday, or staying home and avoiding the insanity?

I'll be staying home. I despise shopping in general, and especially the rampant consumerism surrounding the holidays.

And I asked here because compared to my coworkers and some family members, I'm a cheap scrooge...hoping I have some good company on this forum ;)

I'll stay home. You can still get things cheaper online anyway. A lot of those deals are "limited", i.e. bait-and-switch. I remember a woman showed me proudly an HP laptop she got for something like $500, but she had to be at BestBuy at 5AM because they had like 10 of them. I showed her similar laptop on NewEgg.com for around the price.

I love Black Friday, though I've never actually bought anything. It's a fun atmosphere. My friends and I usually just set up camp around 11pm and hang out with everybody else. Then, when it's time to go in (and things get really crazy), we just pack up our things and go home. This year I might actually buy something though.

No way, no how, uh uh, am I going near ANY retail outlet on black friday. I will be in my shop probably truing wheels on a couple of bikes and swilling beer (purchased prior to black friday) I have vacation coming up in a couple of weeks and need to decide which bikes we are hauling to the beach with us. I know the tandem goes, just not sure about the other two yet.

Besides my Christmas shopping was done a long time ago.

Aaron :)

I'm not playing that game either.

Nope, not doing the BF thing. Probably heading up to northern VT (Northeast Kingdom on the 2-wheel recumbent, assuming it all works out, for the weekend.
Plan to avoid the shops, excess turkey, and everything else.

Was a bit lax on cycling during the mid-summer to mid-fall timeframe, so this is catchup time.

Working all day, so I'll be surfing BF........and many other sites to pass the time.

The last few years, ironically, I've ended up at Seattle city center Center House which is not exactly a retail outlet but a huge food mall, so I'm not completely escaping the BF environment. So ironic. I'd much rather be taking a hike with the kids than be in a commercial setting. Maybe this year will be better: a snowy hike thru Ravenna Park in north Seattle. We can pack our own cocoa and observe Buy Nothing Day!

Nope, not doing the BF thing.

You are not doing the Bike Forums thing huh? ;)

I can't buy anything until after Christmas. The astrologer I visit on line said that all Sagittarius' shouldn't buy anything from early November until late December because we would end up not liking the thing or the thing wouldn't work properly. That works out fine with my bank account right now.

It's been years since I went out on Black Friday. I do remember going to a Kmart on a Thanksgiving Day. I was out for a bicycle ride and passed the store and was surprised it was open. That became a regular Thanksgiving Day sale for them. I don't know if all such big box stores open on Thanksgiving afternoon but some do.

I would never wake up early or stay outside overnight just to make a purchase. I'm too cynical to believe I would get there in time. I'd be the guy after the last guy to get the limited thing on sale. :cry:

I can't buy anything until after Christmas. The astrologer I visit on line said

interesting... does that apply to presents given as well?

I can't buy anything until after Christmas.

Besides, Buddha's Enlightenment Day (http://www.funsocialstudies.learninghaven.com/edu/bodhi_day.html) or Bodhi Day is coming up on December 8 and it's time to start getting ready for that.

I feel forced to participate in Black Friday. It's our patriotic duty to spend money we don't have on crap we don't need.

(Actually, I do a lot of my Christmas shopping on December 24, and the rest on December 26. At Meijer stores, they set up the cash register lines backwards on 12/26, so that people returning their gifts will be funneled into the store to spend their refund money right away!

This year I'll be riding my bike, but avoiding shopping as much as possible.

Last year was a different story. Last year, on Black Friday, I went shopping (by bike) in the 'burbs. These were supposedly the most bike-unfriendly areas I had ever ridden. You know what? It wasn't that bad. On the other hand, the human traffic IN the stores was.

Are you talking about the day after Thanksgiving? That's not Black Friday; that's Pie for Breakfast Day (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Pie-for-Breakfast-Day/166936793326645)!

interesting... does that apply to presents given as well?

It probably just applies to Sagittarians but who knows? It's mostly a warning about buying electronics or mechanical things. Read it yourself. She is very verbose and very thorough. This is not a personal horoscope. It is a monthly version for Sagittarians. Anybody wanting to see other signs can navigate the page to find her forecasts for you. She offers daily e-mail forecasts for a fee. I'm not that into it.

http://www.astrologyzone.com

http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/monthly/sagittarius.php
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I hate shopping. Thankfully, Black Friday isn't done on a big scale in Canada but some retailers are giving it a try because plenty of Canadians head over the border to experince it. Good luck to them.

Odds are I'll be on my bike enjoying the last bit of autumn.

My Reverend, that would be the one and only Reverend Billy, insists that the day after Thanksgiving is Buy Nothing Day. After a joy ride, I'll be heading over to a local "gifting" event where folks bring anything they want to give away and take anything that appeals to them. I'll probably just donate and hang out with the younguns who organize the event.

Yuck. I hate shopping. I hate crowds. I hate mornings. In short, I despise Black Friday and all things related.

Sadly, however, I work in retail, so I will be there, just on the other side of the check-out counter.

I love Black Friday, though I've never actually bought anything. It's a fun atmosphere. My friends and I usually just set up camp around 11pm and hang out with everybody else. Then, when it's time to go in (and things get really crazy), we just pack up our things and go home. This year I might actually buy something though.

I feel the same way.

There's something to be said about seeing people become happy through shopping. I like the overall festive feeling of being with a huge mass of humanity at a shopping mall. I will not be buying much if anything at all since most of my shopping was done on the internet. I'm one of the few people who like crowds, heck I work right by Times Square in New York!

[QUOTE=Smallwheels;11831522]I can't buy anything until after Christmas. The astrologer I visit on line said that all Sagittarius' shouldn't buy anything from early November until late December because we would end up not liking the thing or the thing wouldn't work properly. That works out fine with my bank account right now.
[QUOTE]

D'oh! I just bought a new computer, scheduled to arrive by FedEx today, and today is my birthday! Got a new Dell desktop unit from the Dell Outlet to replace the 7yo Dell Pentium 4 desktop I've been nursing along for the past couple of years.

I don't care much for the BF thing or most retail shopping in general but I am planning on stopping by my local REI bright and early as they are giving out $20 gift cards to the first 150 people in the door. I can usually find something I like at REI when they have screaming sales. Mostly it's thrift stores and yard sale shopping for me.

Hell nay!!!

Glad to hear I'm not alone! I feel much less scrooge-like :D

I actually need to buy stuff for a home improvement project, but no way am I leaving the house on Friday, and it's nothing that can't wait until another day. I like Buy Nothing Day and have been participating (knowing or not) for years.

I don't celebrate Christmas myself (not religious), but was raised in that tradition and so am expected to pony up gifts to all my family. This year, with the exception of my little nieces and nephews, everyone is getting fancied-up jars of home canned jam, preserves, etc. Anyone else going with cheap DIY/homemade gifts?

D'oh! I just bought a new computer, scheduled to arrive by FedEx today, and today is my birthday!

Happy birthday! I imagine many years it's overshadowed by T-giving, huh?

Glad to hear I'm not alone! I feel much less scrooge-like :D

I actually need to buy stuff for a home improvement project, but no way am I leaving the house on Friday, and it's nothing that can't wait until another day. I like Buy Nothing Day and have been participating (knowing or not) for years.

I don't celebrate Christmas myself (not religious), but was raised in that tradition and so am expected to pony up gifts to all my family. This year, with the exception of my little nieces and nephews, everyone is getting fancied-up jars of home canned jam, preserves, etc. Anyone else going with cheap DIY/homemade gifts?

Just about everyone in our family has everything they damn well need to survive (and then some). With a few possible exceptions of the youngest folks and the oldest folks we usually buy a heifer (http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.2663295/?msource=QTAK1020028) or a few ducks (http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.2667667/?msource=QTAK1020037) in their name(s)...there was the year we wanted to get my youngest brother an ass, but mom put a stop to that one :D

Aaron :)

Glad to hear I'm not alone! I feel much less scrooge-like :D

I actually need to buy stuff for a home improvement project, but no way am I leaving the house on Friday, and it's nothing that can't wait until another day. I like Buy Nothing Day and have been participating (knowing or not) for years.

I don't celebrate Christmas myself (not religious), but was raised in that tradition and so am expected to pony up gifts to all my family. This year, with the exception of my little nieces and nephews, everyone is getting fancied-up jars of home canned jam, preserves, etc. Anyone else going with cheap DIY/homemade gifts?

Everyone on my Christmas list is getting homemade cookies in homemade boxes. My war torn years in retail gave me an intense dislike for overblown Christmases. I have a selection of groovy Christmas music that only gets played on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My homemade Christmas tree and ornaments are on display for 10 days. I cook up a storm. On Christmas Day my love and I eat the food, have a walk in the quiet streets, and watch a movie at the theatre. No rushing around the malls. Even better, my ears haven't been assaulted by non stop Christmas music since Halloween! BEST GIFT EVER!

Everyone on my Christmas list is getting homemade cookies in homemade boxes. My war torn years in retail gave me an intense dislike for overblown Christmases. I have a selection of groovy Christmas music that only gets played on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My homemade Christmas tree and ornaments are on display for 10 days. I cook up a storm. On Christmas Day my love and I eat the food, have a walk in the quiet streets, and watch a movie at the theatre. No rushing around the malls. Even better, my ears haven't been assaulted by non stop Christmas music since Halloween! BEST GIFT EVER!

This sounds like a great Christmas!!

I went to BFs in years past just to witness the spectacle of the thing and to say I was there. The nostalgia wears off rather quickly and you're left really tired after fighting the crowds and everything. It's pretty ironic that the biggest retail day of the year is the day after thanksgiving....

I think Black Friday will become a new tradition in Canada, retailers love the chance to extend the Christmas shopping season and prevent Canadians from cross-border shopping. Can't blame them, really, but I won't be taking part.

We stopped buying gifts for Christmas few years ago(except for few very minor things for coworkers and such), when we realized that we really do have everything we need, and prefer to spend time together, rather than running around the malls looking for stuff nobody wants. We all have too much stuff anyway, and it's ridiculous how many people put themselves in debt because the commercial on TV said so.
It took a couple of years to get over the guilt and strange feeling, but it's quite liberating. Support Buy Nothing Christmas, donate to charities instead.

Staying home from the maddness!! It seems that most of those so called bargins are items that the price was jacked wayyyyyyy up a few months before then brought down to "normal" price for the maddness sales and now it looks like a great price!! Or like some have stated, there's only a few of the listed item. Hoping it will be warm enough to go out for a short RIDE, away from the Mall down the road!!! :O

It's pretty ironic that the biggest retail day of the year is the day after thanksgiving....

Not ironic at all, rather a carefully orchestrated conditioning process designed to get our pockets opened. :rolleyes: And a convenient day because many people already have it off. One of the benefits of age is that I can still remember a time when it didn't exist. :D

Staying home from the maddness!! It seems that most of those so called bargins are items that the price was jacked wayyyyyyy up a few months before then brought down to "normal" price for the maddness sales and now it looks like a great price!! Or like some have stated, there's only a few of the listed item. Hoping it will be warm enough to go out for a short RIDE, away from the Mall down the road!!! :O

+1

Have papers to grade. And I'll be reading Cicero's De Natura Deorum tonight at the pub across the street from my house, with a colleague and my dad. The fourth Latinist is out of town.
My wife has me watching the kids now while she's doing errands. She bribed me by riding her bike instead of driving.