Boy it sure is quiet in here today. Hopefully that means you're all off enjoying the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving.

Are you getting your riot gear ready for tomorrows shopping? Or will you be bidding from the comfort of your own home?

Sara, I don't intend to fight the crowds. How about you?

Hope everyone in the US had a nice Thanksgiving!

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper Sara B.:
Boy it sure is quiet in here today. Hopefully that means you're all off enjoying the holiday.

I'm not, Sara! Working. The curse of the drinking classes (O Wilde).
There is not a holiday here until Christmas.

What is the bit about the crowds? Are there lots of people on the streets during Thanksgiving? Does it include the entire weekend, or just a day?

Mike,

Thanksgiving comes on Thursday, so that X-mas shopping can start on Friday. BIG (I think the BIGGEST – even over Eve) X-mas shopping day. The American government doesn’t think we can spend all our money in the time left, or in just a 2-day weekend. So, we get an extra day (paid holiday, and all). Also, up come all the X-mas lights and decorations – wouldn’t want our neighbors to get the jump on anyone. Yes, the chiropractors will be very busy on Monday, as will the emergency rooms for the entire weekend.

It use to be that Thanksgiving fell on the last Thursday of November, but during Roosevelt’s (Franklin, not Theodore) presidency, the last Thursday would have been the 5th Thursday. This was during “The Great Depression” (clever labeling), and Roosevelt was convinced that switching it to the 4th Thursday, and allowing Americans to spend an extra week’s worth of money they didn’t have, would eliminate the World-Wide-Depression (WWD). Needless to say, the only impact was that the lines to return merchandise AFTER X-mas were longer, and people had an extra week to spike their eggnog. The later DID help to the remove the mental depression from Prohibition (a failed attempt to have Americans not spend money on booze, which helped to get the gangsters out of the breadlines, and provide screenplays for such movies as The Godfather).


P.S. – The above is “based” on facts, with a little dramatization for weekend ratings.

In short, a good time NOT to shop if you hate crowds!

Right - think I have the picture now, Rick.
I just assumed it was a weekend thing.
I hate shopping, unless I am going to things like car boot sales, markets, radio or clock fairs or Chinese/Asian supermarkets.
Shopping malls I avoid totally! In Britain, the shopping stampede starts on Dec 26th - Boxing Day when all the sales start.

Well, Mike, Americans must like malls. From now till the duration, mall-store hours change from opening at 10 AM to 8 AM. I think also they are extended from 9 PM to 10 PM. And, there is a rumour that some stores will be opening at 6 AM. That may be to provide mall-walkers a place to spend some money. I assume that mall-walkers are not only indigenous to the States but have been spotted in England?

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Originally posted by Mike from West Yorkshire:
I hate shopping, (

I dont think we can be friends anymore Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Mike from West Yorkshire:
In Britain, the shopping stampede starts on Dec 26th - Boxing Day when all the sales start.

Same here in Australia. Everybody rushes out to buy all the discounted Xmas decorations and left over toys.

I guess its a good way to burn off some of those calories from Christmas meals though.

A tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation of girls in my family is the use of elbows in the Boxing Day sales rush!

quote:

Originally posted by Bartelby:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike from West Yorkshire:
I hate shopping, (

I dont think we can be friends anymore Mike

Aw, Lexie, not even if you do my shopping?

quote:

Originally posted by Rick:
I assume that mall-walkers are not only indigenous to the States but have been spotted in England?

Unfortunately, Rick, they have! The thing about malls, here at least, is that they are all the same - same shops, same decor, same everything. Boorriinngg!
Seen one, you've seen 'em all.
There is also the fact that smaller businesses have suffered - the ones who give great customer service, that many of the chains do not.
The 'designer*' fad also spawns mall-type shops. You know, clothes and watches made in the Far East by sweatshops; some go for £5 to markets, others have a 'designer*' label stuck on them (free advertising) for £100. You can fool some of the people most of the time.

*Designer = one who designs labels.

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Boorriinngg!
Seen one, you've seen 'em all.

I’m like you, Mike – I hate to shop. I enjoy buying – I just can’t stand the shopping. So, for me boring is better. I want out of that store as fast as possible.

Seems like I remember department stores having chairs and small sofas (love seats?) scattered around the store. Seems like I also remember there were usually older guys (not OLD-OLD, just not YOUNG) sitting (setting?) in them. They always had such forlorn looks. I think they were called “husbands”. I think they were there to feel like they were making a contribution (you know, like they had an opinion, AND, someone actually listen to it). In their case, a credit card is a shopping wife’s best friend.

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There is also the fact that smaller businesses have suffered - the ones who give great customer service, that many of the chains do not.

I guess consumers are sending a signal – “We want cheap.”

quote:

The 'designer*' fad also spawns mall-type shops. You know, clothes and watches made in the Far East by sweatshops; some go for £5 to markets, others have a 'designer*' label stuck on them (free advertising) for £100. You can fool some of the people most of the time.

At least in the States, that’s probably driven not by the store fooling the consumer, but the consumer wanting to fool their friends. We (unless you’re a hermit) all like to impress others.

In warmer climates, walking around naked would definitely cut down on some, or all, of this designer stuff. It would also reduce the market for padded-bras – even the adhesive kind.

Mike I agree with you about malls and the same ol' same ol'. I don't like to shop and I find malls very, repetitive!..When I lived in Naples, the mall had lots of sofas and comfortable chairs throughout the mall...filled with older men..smarter men!