For Those Unprepared, Will It Be Like This..??

[Niele da Kine]

I try to not even go into town between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I usually end up sneaking in and out quickly once or twice anyway. Not on Black Friday, though. We don't buy much retail, just about everything - including presents - comes from yard sales. Our friends not only know this, but they've got to the point that they are looking forward to it since we get them really neat stuff. We haven't a clue what it will be when we see it, but we will see something at a yard sale and we will think "oh! John really needs this!" and for a meager amount of money, it follows us home. Usually these things are really expensive if we would have paid retail. Last year's happiest gift recipient got a rifle sighting kit or rifle reboring kit or some sort of precision work on your rifle kit. I'm not exactly sure what it was all about but the fellow having the garage sale had really expensive stuff and there was a kit for doing something to rifles so we told him who we were thinking might like it and since he liked how our friend sounded and they were both Marines so he gave us a really good deal on it (it was also fairly late in the day). Our friend was astounded at his gift, he'd been wanting one, whatever it was, I'm still not exactly sure. Apparently new they go for more than several hundred dollars. I'm glad he liked it.

Anytime there is likely to be a break in the supply chain, the stores around here instantly run out of rice, spam and toilet paper. I've also heard that Honolulu is six meals away from starvation, but fortunately, we are on a different island. Our last Mayor had been the Director of Civil Defense for decades and his response was "we can always eat the cows" when asked about things like shipping strikes.

For us and most of our neighborhood, we are good for several weeks without a store run but we are rural and far away from town.

 

[AL]

I hate to shop. Hate it. But I usually go with my sister on Black Friday. We aren't a huge city and are definitely in the South. People tend to behave here.
One time we went, the store had hot chocolate and Christmas music playing for the people standing in line. Once inside there was a cashier who had to hand-key every single UPC code for every single item. She looked horrified at the huge line.... and people joked with her and sat on the floor, saved places in line,e tc..

We were cutoff for a few days after Hurricane Ivan. Interstate bridge to the east was destroyed, Interstate bridge to the west was closed, Gulf of Mexico is our southern border and the little highways north had trees (and roofs and toilets and..... ) across them. I stayed with my folks since I live in a trailer. We had a packed freezer, cooked on the grill and roasted hotdogs etc (even though they have natural gas so oven etc worked it was TOO HOT to use them in a house with no AC).

ETA - we also developed quite a tolerance for MREs that the military brought for us.
There were literal mile long lines for fuel. Crazy stuff (google Ivan and Pensacola. Great photos out there)

 

[Denim Deb]

I've seen stores where they only let in a certain number of people at once in BF. Works fine-unless you have a crazy mob. And, I've heard of people where the one person will go and get in line while the other does the shopping. I know for many stores around here, in order to keep the lines moving, they have it set up like they do for the lines in an amusement part. Then, just one person goes to a cashier at a time. You actually spend less time in line when they do it like this. There's never any guess work involved for which line is the shortest.

 

[Nick]

Unruly Black Friday mobs are a Sunday School picnic compared to what things will be like after the SHTF (I'm thinking the most likely scenario is the final plunge of the dollar and subsequent hyperinflation). Some of you may have seen the video of the crowd at Target trampling people, but some of the mob slowed down and moved to the side after security guards told them to do so. But when it's a matter of the last can of food on the shelves, civilized behavior and acknowledgement of authority figures trying to restore order will be out the window. I'm stocking up precisely so when TSHTF, I won't be getting killed by the dozens of people beating each other up for the last can of ravioli. I'll be at home eating and keeping a low profile until the first or second wave of chaos passes, then I'll see who's still around and regroup with my friends and the neighbors I trust. But in the middle of the storm, I'm not brave enough or stupid enough to take a chance if I don't have to.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Everyone thought I was nuts, but all I bought was a few nice things for my kids......mostly online and a little here and there. Kept things really down to Earth. As for the rest, I insisted on crocheting slippers for all the nieces and nephews. I believe in God, but I know Jesus wasn't born for me to go broke every year.

Panic shopping is a mess. I live in LA and before a bad storm, you don't want to be out of anything. I went once to Delchamps for sandwich meat and bread......no! I grabbed the last can of spam and an old lady grabbed it from my hand and said,"Its mine!" and I placed it in her hands and said,"Take it! I'm not having a fist fight over a can of spam." All the customers around us started laughing. Then I discovered they didn't have bread, so I went to the frozen section and bought some frozen dough. Several people approached me with sad faces saying they needed bread, so I advised them to get the dough......within seconds the dough was out. I heard complaints, so I asked a lady if she had a bread machine...so I told her to get some flour and yeast.....a rush to the flour/cake isle. I just like to keep all that stuff in healthy supplies here.

 

[Denim Deb]

Around here, it's the bread, eggs and milk that get sold out any time there's the possibility of snow. I went shopping once b4 a storm, and that was only because I had not been able to go shopping earlier in the week. The line in the store went all the way to the BACK of the store. If I hadn't needed food, I would not have gone shopping then. I've never had to again.

 

[savingdogs]

We lived in Los Angeles during the time of the riots after the Rodney King verdict. It was an awful scary time. The little pocket where I lived was okay.....everyone was watching on TV in their homes, and luckily I was home when it started.

But the place quickly turned to anarchy in all the towns surrounding us. People running into stores taking stuff. I saw my usual shopping markets and such being mobbed, and suddenly masses of people thought stealing from the supermarket was just OKAY because everyone else was doing it, right? I was appalled. The good people hid in their houses, the bad people saw it on the news and rushed out to steal, and the poor police and emergency services were overwhelmed. Because of a COURT VERDICT? Then for months and months afterwards, people were "selling" expensive things for incredible prices that they didn't "need." It was a sad lesson in human nature.

We started making plans at that point to get OUT of the big city. Even though our little pocket was fine, it was just luck. The world is an unpredictable place and you just can't necessarily trust that people will be smart or nice when TSHTF. We hope our little corner we picked now is far enough out of the way!

 

[Denim Deb]

I remember seeing pics of that on TV. It was nuts! Glad you were safe during it.

 

[Mackay]

I went to home depot the day before Thanksgiving this year... they were getting ready for black Friday.. and some of the signs were up on appliances...

MAN! they were good sales! and I was ready to buy for the new house but my husband didn't want a fridge sitting around in a box in the middle of construction.. I was saying tough luck bud, live with it, but he wouldn't go for it and since he controls the check book these days.. I had to let go..

but they had a black Ammana fridge side by side 25 sq ft for $700!!!!
and sitting right next to it was a whirlpool (or was it maytag?)
that was exactly the same for about 400 more! and I mean exactly the same!

So when the house is done I'm heading for Home Hepot on black friday.. and you know what? Lowes, if they carry the same item, will beat Home Depots price by 10%

Be aware that these two stores are very competitive.. (In Idaho Falls they are literally around the corner from each other) when we bought the windows for the house we were getting 10% off on the first I think it was up to 2500 dollars spent in a single order cause my husband is a vet... but when we went to the cash register to pay the cashier she said that they had to met Lowes offer which was better (up to 5,000 in a single order) than Home Depots so we ended up getting another $250 off the windows for a grand total of $500 off!

I think we should have a Lowe's vs Home Depot thread to keep informed on what the sales and deals are

 

[i_am2bz]

I was shocked when I ventured to Walley World the day after our big snow storm last weekend, & the store had NO eggs...I mean, not a single solitary egg. (Not that *I* needed any; thank you, girls! ) There was still bread, milk, water, etc. Don't know what it was about everyone suddenly needing eggs...:/