"I'm doing this for my kids."

[Bicoastal]

I had the news on Thanksgiving afternoon, and was legitimately shocked to hear this come out of a guy's mouth. He was a guy in New Jersey who went to a Best Buy on midnight, Thursday, so he could be first in line for Black Friday.

What's shocking to me is that this guy felt like he was doing a better service to his children by buying them a brand new marked-down flatscreen plasma TV than actually enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with them. When his kids grow up, will they have fond memories of spending the holidays with their family? Possibly not, but they'll sure have pleasant recollections of all the movies they watched on Blu-Ray.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

1. Perhaps he spends enough time with his children

the other 364 days a year that what they will remember is how he was willing to stand in line for more than 24 hours to buy a television the family really wanted at a price they could afford.

Perhaps those of us who could always afford to take a pass on these Black Friday ritualistic sales orgies should have more sympathy for people who aren't so fortunate? Just asking....

[Warpy]

3. This is mob pychology driving a mob scene

and really needs to be discouraged. People are getting hurt every year in these rushes to grab.

Thanksgiving is the one holiday retailers haven't managed to co-opt. So they're trying to erase it and this is wrong.

I don't get all judgeypants on poor folks who need these bargains if they're ever going to get anything decent. I just suggest they watch the prices during inventory season because those prices usually beat Black Friday to death.

And if their kids have computers, or if they know how to use them and have ATM or credit cards, I suggest online shopping. That beats the March prices in bricks & mortar stores most of the time.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

4. I agree.

Sadly, our least economically secure fellow Americans are frequently also our least informed. Furthermore, many save all year in order to buy Christmas presents for their families.

Driving the size of these crowds are people who can well afford to shop elsewhere...that drives me nuts when stores have "limited availability" Too many Americans have the same mentality as Wall Street bankers, they can never have enough stuff, nor pay too little for it.

[4th law of robotics]

2. It's pretty common for people, on their death bed to lament:

"I wish I'd spent less time with my family so I could die with more stuff"

[BlueCaliDem]

7. Spot on. My exact thoughts when I read the OP. eom

[TwilightGardener]

5. That's a shitty lesson to teach your kids.

[LiberalEsto]

6. If his kids are young, they'll enjoy the box it comes in

more than the tv.

[TheMadMonk]

8. Big screen CRT, yes. Flat screen? Not so much.

Box is only 6 inches thick after all.

And unfortunatelty, the TV is one of the few things capable of taking complete hold of a kid's attention for hours on end, because it's constantly changing imagery, caters to the short attention span which normaly keeps them in near constant motion.

[REP]

9. People often use The Children as an excuse to do/buy/say/legislate what THEY want

Lots of people just stop thinking as soon as they hear "children." For example, not questioning whether the guy in this anecdote a) exists b) wants a new TV for him c) wanted to get away from a tedious family get-together or after-dinner chores or d) some combination of the above.

[Raine]

10. For me the most precious lasting things in my childhood are memories of holiday family time spent

together especially with both my parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles all gone. I remember very few of the gifts I got but I remember the time together. Sad that those kids and many others will never have those warm loving memories.