[lit-ideas] Re: Black Friday
- From: "Erin Holder" <erin.holder@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 21:40:36 -0500
Reminds me of the Cabbage Patch Kids craze. I seem to recall being informed
that people would kill each other over those things back when they were
popular. I couldn't vouch for that. I was a My Little Pony kid. Now it's
PlayStation games though that people trample each other for. Some video
game (I can't remember the name of it) came out about a month ago here and
stores had what they called a "Midnight Madness" sale, where people lined up
at midnight so that they could hopefully grab a copy. I guess if you
convince enough people that the things are in demand and yet limited in
supply... Good thing I'm apathetic about these things.
Erin
Toronto
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Paul" <Robert.Paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, November 26, 2004 9:23 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Black Friday
> What in the world would possess *anyone*, much less *thousands* to stand
in
> line in the middle of the night to rush into a store with the other
thousands
> of frenzied shoppers at one in the morning?! Long lines around stores at
> 3:00 a.m.?? If any subscribers of this list are one of the crazed, er, I
mean,
> ambitious and eager shoppers who did such a thing this morning, I would
love
> to gain an understanding of why....
> --------------------------------------
> (a) For fun. Some people seem to get a real adrenaline rush from being
among the
> first through the doors. Getting one of those $10 digital cameras by being
among
> 'the first hundred customers' is like winning any other silly prize.
>
> (b) From need. If you're barely making it, buying your kids' shoes and
Christmas
> presents at 65% off even at the cost of getting up early is rational
behaviour.
>
> (c) To display toughness; stamina; fortitude; endurance: all the great
American
> virtues, here enfolded in the over-arching virtue of winner-take-all
> competition, are on view.
>
> (d) To confirm the sometimes-forgotten truth that Americans could, if they
> wanted to, play rugby, but that they just don't want to.
>
> Robert Paul
> Freud School of Motivational Analysis
> Mutton College
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