TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
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Consumers line ouside the Abercrombie & Fitch clothing store, as consumers line on the early morning hours Friday. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

It's all about the deal

BY Dave Ross  on November 21, 2012 @ 6:01 pm (Updated: 7:51 am - 11/23/12 )

Who says Americans aren't shopping? Recession or not, when Black Friday comes, we line up. Even when credit is so tight we're forced to save up first.

Because we are a deal-based culture. Other countries, like the French, maintain this quaint obsession with quality; they will tell you that value is remembered long after price is forgotten. But for Americans, it's all about the price.

We want a deal. Actually, we want more than a deal. We want to feel like we got away with something. Hence the term "Doorbuster." It sounds like breaking and entering.

Just one caveat: it may turn out that prices aren't actually that low on Black Friday.

The Wall Street Journal found that watches and jewelry actually get more expensive in November. One wristwatch was listed at $600, and sold on Black Friday for $379, but it was actually cheapest in March when it was down to $350.

Stylish winter boots: $135 on Black Friday, but had you bought them the previous September, you would have paid $85.

The best time to buy flat screen televisions is actually October.

But I have to admit, no matter what the Journal says, the ads sure do make you feel like you're getting a steal even if you're not.

Look at this: 92" flat screen TV $2,819.99, but you get a $400 coupon, which brings it down to 67 cents per square inch of screen. How can you NOT get it? The screen is six and a half feet wide! You can post Amber Alerts., even as you help your country's economy.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Looking for a "War on Christmas"? The battle rages at this very moment
    November 23, 2012 7:14 am
    It's time for the conservatives to trot out their annual complaint. "The liberals are making war on Christmas!"

    Yup, must be all the *liberal* owners of these major retail chains responsible for turning a religious holiday into a street-walking ho-ho-ho. Silent night plays on the MUZAK machine. Automated misters spray artificial "pine" scent into the air. Meanwhile, screaming fistfights break out over the artificially limited examples of consumer junk that might actually be priced under market.

    If there isn't a "war on Christmas", there ought to be one on the dismal spectacle of desperate Americans lined up for consumer goods. If the Soviet Union were still around, it could make good use of footage of Americans lined up around the block waiting for a store to open, or scuffling over the limited supplies actually available once the doors "busted" open.

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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Chuck, how dare you pre-empte my use of the lines from the old Soviet Union?
    November 23, 2012 7:42 am
    Of course, this (today - and last night) is not any sort of a 'war ON Christmas'. Even though Christmas is America's only officially designated religious holiday, it's only Dec 25, after 12:01 AM, so until that time (but even then ignored) it's subject to the same desicration of original purpose as ML King Day and Memorial Day. ... And even priests shop.

    The real so called war on Christmas will start (again) once some atheist or such complains that said 'Silent Night' on the MUZAK is an endorsement of religion or that somehow a Christmas tree (even if called a holiday tree - and even though the old Soviet Union had 'new years trees') is deemed by some obscure court somewhere (or the 9th Cir.) as representing Christ. ... Then the Game is On. A good bit of holiday folly for both sides while the rest of us concentrate on the true meaning of the holiday season - buying stuff we don't need because it's on sale.

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  • kcandjc00 wrote...
    Oink Oink
    November 23, 2012 9:36 am
    Everywhere there's lots of piggies Living piggy lives You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.
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  • cdbtx wrote...
    Gould
    November 23, 2012 9:45 am
    Wait - it's the conservatives running the business and the liberals in lines at the stores.. because a fiscal conservative knows that it's nothing but marketing hype...

    A fiscal conservative understands the value of their time and that rather than sitting in line for a week to save $200.00 is not a smart fiscal decision.

    Not sure how fanatics spending hours to save a couple of dollars is related to fantatics spending millions trying to prevent a nativity scene in a public park are comparable.

    Not sure how a tolerant atheist making vile accusations against a tolerant Christian is related to a liberal rushing in a store fighting for a sweater is relatable..

    Even your Far Left Bob Beckel - thinks the atheist fighting the war on Christmas is absurd and hateful...Of course Beckel is a fiscally conservative Liberal.. who is smart enough to know that standing in line for hours is not smart... but in the mean time... buy his latest book while you're waiting..

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