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Replies:
14
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Last Post:
Nov 16, 2006 2:53 PM
by: marilynsattic
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Posts:
204
Registered:
2/8/06
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My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 15, 2006 4:05 PM
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I'd like to share my Wal-mart story with you. Two guys have been camped out in front of our local Wal-Mart since Tuesday. They are first in line for the new Playstation 3 that goes on sale on Sunday. They're sitting outside their tent playing video games on a huge flat screen TV. Tomorrow when it's windy and rainy, you can bet they won't be "happy campers." MADNESS!!
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Posts:
2,890
From:
Haifa - city by the sea, Israel
Registered:
2/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 15, 2006 4:07 PM
in response to:
buy_with_confid...
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Yea, they are trying to get a first print.
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Posts:
2,207
From:
Cradle of Liberty Council
Registered:
2/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 15, 2006 4:49 PM
in response to:
buy_with_confid...
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This is a story from a Walmart in Philadelphia PA:
Last year just before a game system was released, a friend told me about this phenomenon, and I went to get a first-hand look.
If it weren't so heartbreaking, there would be an interesting irony to the juxtapositioning of the two groups.
On an undeveloped property behind one of the Walmart stores in Philadelphia, there's a little grove of trees & bushes. In the autumn, when the leaves fall off some of the trees, you can see a few tents, and you realize that this is 'home' to several dozen people.
Just before a new video game product is to be released, a second line of small tents springs up along the edge of the store's building.
Nobody goes home to bathe, and everybody in the 'community' uses the bushes or store bathrooms, if they can get away with it ...
Within a short while, a comraderie develops, and people share food, smokes, games etc . and up until about an hour before the store opens [that's when some of the people start to 'pack up'] - you can't tell the difference between those who are at the tent city temporarily until the $300 game equipment is available for retail, and the other people who live in their tents long term, and for whom $300 might as well be a king's ransom.
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Posts:
762
From:
hell
Registered:
2/8/06
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My Wal-Mart Story.
Posted:
Nov 15, 2006 6:43 PM
in response to:
winnettknox
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i'm amazed wal-mart lets them stay there. i guess they are not exactly on wal-mart's property. i would bet were they on that property, gone they would be, long ago.
i will say something else nobody would believe i'd say: sometimes homeless people like to be homeless. largely men, but they have, indeed, made it, how you say, a lifestyle choice. how do i know this? ah, from homeless advocacy. from taking in the ex-homeless. from chat.
perhaps i know some political squatters, too, but i am not counting these. i would also refrain, a bit, from counting the crazy-- schizophrenics who believe that, say, the l.a. county prison system is incarcerating junkies to kill them & steal their organs. yes, i understand the absurdity of that. the same person told me she saw marc bolan play after his arm was amputated-- he did bang a gong, at apparently some place like the us festival using his metal arm. now, the person who believes all of this is crazy, refuses to get ssdi for psych issues [when she obviously could] but only for physical ones [unlikely], & was afraid bet tzedek would do all sorts of nefarious things if they found her a place to sleep. i worry about this person, who spent fifteen years in jail due to the drug laws [as addict, even, not dealer. is anybody hearing me?] --but i dont mean people only like her. occasionally people do prefer to live in a tent. i believe some similar were once called hoboes? something like that.
that does not mean i think homelessness should be diminished as an issue. it does mean that i think the causes of homelessness should be examined & then eradicated. i am talking bad economics, spousal abuse, etc & ect-- study, examine, stop, eradicate. i suppose the symptom must be fixed before the cure is found, but the cure must be discovered. okay.
My Wal-Mart Story isnt even mine, but belongs to a, how they say redux, very close friend. who lost everything in a fire [caused in a large part by the police. long story, they didnt exactly set it, just put things in motion that created the opportunity. & no, drug manufacture was absolutely not involved] --very close friend of mine, who is depressed today, lost everything in a fire, had no place to live [cf causes of homelessness, above], no money, no food, very little of anything. old boots. walked into walmart, exchanged old boots for new boots. walked out.
"look at my boots," he said. "i got them at wal-mart." something like that, then he explained how he got them at wal-mart. "good place to get them that way," said i, then explained something about the politics of wal-mart. they werent particularly good boots. i dont know where they are now-- probably under something. but the walton family can afford it. after all, not only are they massive campaign donors who do not allow their employees to unionize, at least one of them is opening The Wal-Mart Museum of Art. & while it may not be named precisely that, i am not kidding about it, not in the slightest.
were i still able to freely post urls i would, otherwise i think you can find a fascinating article about this new cultural phenom via TomGram, sent out by tom engelhardt. a few months old, but still wildly both interesting & relevant, & i imagine if you search his name on google, you can still find a link to the article [probably on his website].
Message was edited to note that the head of marc bolan had long been disengaged from the rest of marc bolan years before the us festival, wherein, before the clash disintegrated they asked to be paid as much money as van halen. & so is life if one lives on the edge in los angeles.
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Posts:
14,615
From:
It's Twenty-Ten already?
Registered:
2/24/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 15, 2006 10:59 PM
in response to:
buy_with_confid...
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> I'd like to share my Wal-mart story with you.
> Two guys have been camped out in front of our local
> Wal-Mart since Tuesday. They are first in line
> for the new Playstation 3 that goes on sale on
> Sunday. They're sitting outside their tent playing
> video games on a huge flat screen TV. Tomorrow when
> it's windy and rainy, you can bet they won't be
> "happy campers." MADNESS!!
1. It goes on sale on either the 17th or 19th
2. You can bet they are going to be flipping those systems for BIG bucks. the larger of the 2 systems goes for $599 retail. Expected ebay selling price is $1300-$2000 per system. (Shortage of blu-ray disks worldwide has led to PS3 shortage). Not bad wages for 4 days.
PS3 sold out in 2 hours in Japan last week.
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Posts:
216
From:
Sunny Florida
Registered:
7/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 3:36 AM
in response to:
marilynsattic
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On the news this morning they had a brief report about people standing in line for the PS3. Some guy in his 20's said he's going to flip them for profit on Ebay. He was standing in line at a Toys R' Us in Florida.
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Posts:
752
Registered:
9/24/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 5:18 AM
in response to:
thebookrookie
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Good work, if you can get it. They are providing a service, otherwise, no one would buy it from them on ebay. don't you think that the companies that produce these know exactly what the demand is? why don't they produce enough for the demand, is it because that would cause the price to drop, retail wise. It reminds me of the cabbage patch dolls, my kids never did get one when they were young enough to appreciate it, now they are on the market and my grandkids don't even look at them or want them. It was the Scarcity of production that created the hype. I wish they would do that with books. Prices would sky-rocket.
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Posts:
198
From:
Alaska - The other Great White North
Registered:
5/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 5:43 AM
in response to:
buy_with_confid...
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My nephew and his best friend are going to go stand in line at Walmart tonight. Their plan is to have a few beers and kind of make it a party. Ok, that's all well and good but umm its been around 9 degrees (that is the high during the day!) and with windchill it's -15. He even voiced his concern that they might get drunk and pass out and freeze to death...but they are going because this game is sooo important for them to own. As the OP said.... MADNESS!
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Posts:
13,390
From:
The 19th Hole
Registered:
2/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 5:45 AM
in response to:
joan_mckim
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The same logic could apply to sellers. I wish Amazon would restrict the number of sellers. Then you would see a dramatic increase in prices. Ron
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Posts:
13,390
From:
The 19th Hole
Registered:
2/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 5:48 AM
in response to:
usedbooksforala...
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Hi Diana, Drinking beer in Alaska ! That's one way to prepare for winter. Ron
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Posts:
198
From:
Alaska - The other Great White North
Registered:
5/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 6:05 AM
in response to:
rssbooks
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Hey back! Yeah...they are gonna have to take a beer warmer not a cooler. Tell Demon I said, "Hi!" D
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Posts:
564
From:
The Great Midwest America
Registered:
2/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 11:22 AM
in response to:
usedbooksforala...
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I put two boxes and a paper bag in line a few days ago at my local Walmart. Now all I have to do is show up 15 minutes before they open and claim my spot. Woo Hoo!
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Posts:
204
Registered:
2/8/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 2:49 PM
in response to:
marilynsattic
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Our local news station in Washington, DC featured a "tent city" outside Circuit City. Almost all the young adults camping out are selling them on ebay. Some have already sold theirs for $3000! Why would anyone in their right mind pay $3000?
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Posts:
14,615
From:
It's Twenty-Ten already?
Registered:
2/24/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 2:52 PM
in response to:
joan_mckim
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> Good work, if you can get it. They are providing a
> service, otherwise, no one would buy it from them on
> ebay. don't you think that the companies that
> produce these know exactly what the demand is? why
> don't they produce enough for the demand, is it
> because that would cause the price to drop, retail
> wise. It reminds me of the cabbage patch dolls, my
Actually, not in this case. PS3 is built on Blu-Ray disc technology, and there is a worldwide shortage of Blu-Ray disks right now (affecting other tech besides PS3). Just too much demand for the component and not enough of them. Sony desp wanted to make more PS3 but can't get the Blu-Ray disks they need.
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Posts:
14,615
From:
It's Twenty-Ten already?
Registered:
2/24/06
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Re: My Wal-Mart Story
Posted:
Nov 16, 2006 2:53 PM
in response to:
rssbooks
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> The same logic could apply to sellers. I
> wish Amazon would restrict the number of
> sellers. Then you would see a dramatic increase
> in prices. Ron
They do, in electronics, which is where the PS3 sells (hence they high prices).
Oh, you mean restrict BOOK sellers....
:-)
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