Just my quick 2 cents - the above clip symbolises for me everything wrong with our consumerist society and where it's ultimately headed.
I remember when they had the crush at the Myer stores in Melbourne and someone was killed - I'm pretty sure the new year sales have been toned right down since then. malachii
Sounds like some of the more full-on mosh pits I've been in (came out of one needing 6 stitches in my back). Difference is your ears aren't still ringing three days later (but your bank account has been depleted).
Boxing Day Sales have been going on for as long as I can remember. I have a 100yo great Aunt who used to line up at 5.00am every year to get a bargain and be at the front of the frenzied crowd. This is back in the 1950's Im talking. The difference is that most of the bargains were essentials like fridges, washing machines and clothes. Not I-things and the latest playstation must-haves.
Imagine how pleased the retailers must be... "Wow, we've managed to create an event where people physically fight each other for the privilege of buying stuff from us!" Pulling a gun on someone to steal their phone I can understand. Pulling a gun on someone so you can then take the phone to the cashier and pay for it? We have well and truly entered Bizarre-O Land.
But they don't realise it's not actually good for the economy anyway. Peter covered it pretty well I think : [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WATn7PMOTLo[/youtube]
Not quite. The sales didn't used to actually be on Boxing Day, they were on the day after. Still a normal trading day. Thankfully I've moved well on from it but I worked for a major retailer at the time they trialed the Sale to actually be on Boxing Day in the Sydney CBD rather than 27th December. They asked for volunteer staff as it was recognised that it was a proper holiday. And as retail staff it was a blessing to get 2 days off after the slog of working December, before the worst day of the year to work: The Day after Boxing Day. We all said amongst ourselves we thought no one would turn up, surely being at home with your family on a holiday was preferable to fighting through a crowd. It was preferable to us! Of course management were right and the low-rung staff were wrong, it was a hit and the next year the actual Boxing Day opening spread to Bondi Junction and Parrmatta. To illustrate how stupid and fickle people can be, I remember watching the news on that second year of Boxing Day opening and they played a couple of girls who said "Yeah it's a family tradition, to come here on Boxing Day" I remember saying at the TV: No its' not, this is only the 2nd year you can do it! Fast forward 10 years, everything is open Boxing Day, nothing is special, forget relaxing with your family, come to the city and be squeezed into a building that would be a firetrap with the amount of sale zombies crammed inside. I was glad to finish my studies and leave retail. They were always pushing. Pushing later Saturday closing and earlier Sunday opening. Pushing longer and longer holiday trading. Eventually it was all about pushing credit cards on people who just want to buy a set of undies. I was glad to leave. It's only been about 10 years. And we think of 364 day trading as the norm now. It'll be 365 before long.
My family sold petrol for 30 years. Started around 1970. In those days the station and workshop would be open from 7am to 7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm Sat and 8-midday Sun. Many servos didnt open at all on Sundays. Xmas day and most other public holidays we closed. Xmas day trading was actually illegal for several years, but we would open for a couple of hours so people had a chance to get some fuel. In the 80's and 90's we used to open at 6.00am Xmas day and trade until lunchtime. People would be banging on the windows to start the pumps for them while we were trying to close down and pack up. One day a nice person said "You are ruining my families Xmas Day!" as I was leaving to go home for late lunch (already missed lunch and all waiting for "Santa" to arrive) with my clan. I said "How about my Family? Am I not entitled to spend some of my Xmas Day with them?" If you want to see shopping pandamonium, go to a Service Station/Convenience Store on Xmas Day when the supermarkets are shut. Sell more Energisers in one day than the rest of the year combined and every grocery item youve got that everyone else forgets to buy already....like bread and milk and cream....and petrol.
Thats a whole other industry in terms of customer demands. Christmas Day trading must have made you feel terrible. Amazing people can't just get petrol/bread/chocolate on Christmas Eve. Not like you're strapped for cash and get paid on Christmas is it?
Very true, society has a very fine veneer. Things can get real pretty quick given a desperate situation (Like half price iPhones and 2 for 1 oven mitts).
I bet if they had the right to bear limbs that aren't legs this sort of thing would never happen. Isn't that how the argument goes?
