Walmart did over 10 million cash register transactions between 6pm and 10pm Thursday alone.

[WilliamPitt]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2013/11/29/walmart-on-pr-offensive-as-thanksgiving-fights-go-public-with-protests-scheduled-for-black-friday/

Aristotle described politics as the by-product of humans being the only herd animals that can talk.

Yup.

[Logical]

1. William, I usually agree with you, but would you ban people shopping on Thanksgiving night? n-t

[WilliamPitt]

2. Ban?

It's a free country. No, I would not ban them.

But as it is a free country, I reserve the right to shit on them from great height.

[MattBaggins]

16. Fuck Yes

[Logical]

18. Make believe is fun!!! n-t

[GeorgeGist]

3. Taking the Thanks out of giving ...

since 1962.

[Lint Head]

4. Well. At least their employees received food from charity donations.

Walmart cares............................................less.

[Major Hogwash]

5. It looks like the corporations bought Thanksgiving.

Next year, they'll open their doors at 3 PM.
The following year they'll open at noon.
The year after that they'll open at 9 AM, arguing that at least they honored the holiday by staying closed for that long.

And then they will open at 6 AM the year after that.

We are a nation of lemmings.

[Gormy Cuss]

23. Yep.

And they'll pay their workers straight time for the privilege of working on a holiday.

[spin]

6. What Walmart has to worry about is how many people went to Amazon.com and ordered ...

their gifts.

I have absolutely no desire to go anywhere near a big box store during the holiday season.

Note that I realize that Amazon does not always treat its employees well. Unions are the solution to improving the work environment for employees at both Walmart and Amazon.com and also establishments such as McDonald’s.

[Logical]

8. People here hate walmart but at least some people work at walmart in the city. Amazon hires....

no one locally.

The walmart wages are a joke. Still more than amazon contributes locally.

[spin]

9. That is indeed a problem. I'm not sure how we solve it. ...

In the near future Amazon and other internet retailers may have to charge state taxes for the purchase of their merchandise. That would be a partial solution. I have read some rumors that when it does happen, Amazon will expend their operation and set up more local delivery centers and consequently may be able to offer same day or one day delivery in many areas of our nation.

I suspect from reading a number of post here on DU that Amazon.com has a large number of customers who are DU members.

I feel that over time, more customers will discover the advantages that Amazon.com offers over the big box stores.

I have bought from Amazon for the last seven years and my experience has been extremely positive. I have had only a few problems and when I did, I discovered how good Amazon's customer service is. I simply go online and type my telephone number into a "call me now" box and my phone rings. In less than a minute I am talking to a customer service rep who actually speaks English. Amazon runs an amazingly efficient operation.

[Logical]

10. I have had good luck also with Amazon. But I still feel guilty at times.....

I try to buy locally when it is stocked locally, even if a little higher.

But many times the local store does not have it. Or has to order it.

I agree, the customer service is great. And the reviews from other customers is also a nice thing to read to decide on a product.

But being able to shop 24/7 online is a benefit I like.

I agree, it is a hard problem to solve.

[spin]

15. "Progress" has drawbacks. ...

The big box stores largely replaced local merchants as they were able to sell a larger selection of products at a lower price. Amazon.com is beginning to threaten the big box stores. (I am just watching a clip on cable news about Black Friday shoppers. Sheer madness.)

What worries me is that in the future businesses like McDonalds may replace their hamburger flippers with robotic machines and where will all these low paid employees find jobs?

Perhaps one day if you live in a large urban area you will be able to order a hamburger and fries from Amazon.com and they will show up at your door in less than 1/2 hour by an unmanned drone. You will also be able to order exotic food from all over the world and have it delivered steaming hot.

Of course that is just a foolish exaggeration but the scary part is that it is quite conceivable that technology will replace many low paying jobs in our nation. Unfortunately our educational system is not producing graduates with the necessary skills to do high tech jobs.

We may have to address this problem in the future.

[Logical]

17. You are not kidding about the drones and robots.....

I am 55 so might not live to see it, but no doubt, there will be driverless cars/semis by 2030. Some think sooner. There goes taxi drivers and over the road truckers jobs. They can drive 24/7.

Drones delivering food are maybe closer than that.

Lets face it, at some point, 100 years, robots will be able to do 75% of the jobs in this country.

Who knows what society becomes then?

[spin]

19. Probably many people will not work but will receive a stipend from the government. ...

Enough so they will be able to purchase goods from the big corporations who rely on robotic labor. This sum of money will come from taxes on corporations. The very well educated and intelligent will of course find employment opportunities and will be well paid.

Of course it is possible that the government will provide make work jobs for those who wish to supplement their monthly allowance from the government.

I feel that would be a bleak future.

But perhaps computer technology will be the solution to our current problems with our educational system and we will be able to crank out very well educated graduates who will fill highly skilled jobs in occupations that don't exist today.

Of course a pandemic or a global nuclear war could reduce human population so significantly that more jobs than people are available or we might end up living in a post apocalyptic future where technology has been largely destroyed.

[Vashta Nerada]

7. I went to Walmart last night purely for anthropological purposes.

I took notes, informally interviewed a few people around me, and just observed. I didn't do any participant observation because I had no desire to participate in the Thanksgiving shopping tradition.

My conclusion: people are fucking nuts. It still amazes me that people would wait in line for a few hours just to save a few bucks on junk they don't need.

[Logical]

11. My time is not worth it. But I guess if money is tight it might be worth it. n-t

[Blue_In_AK]

13. There was a picture in our local paper yesterday

of some idiot camped out in front of Best Buy when it was 13 degrees out. I just don't get it.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. Walmart has seen my last dollar

some time ago. I hate that store.

[maced666]

14. While forcing workers in on Holiday while pointing employment gun at them.

This is sickening.
I hope each and EVERY Walmart worker finds an alternative workplace for 2014 that does not pay slave wages and breaks families apart on a holiday.

[CorrectOfCenter]

21. Yep.

At the Walmart I worked at, people that called in that night were automatically fired.

No exceptions.

People that are offended that others are suggesting we intervene in the way Black Friday is conducted can kiss my poor, broke... well, you get the idea.

[aikoaiko]

20. I don't understand why people care when other people go shopping.

[Incitatus]

22. I think it is more about workers being coerced to work on the holidays for crap pay

instead of being able to stay home with their families.