Cut-price madness

[Hagar]

I never understood what gets into people to cause this sort of mass hysteria. All for the sake of some cut-price self-assembly junk. Pathetic.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4252421.stm

Crush chaos at Ikea store opening  

Ikea was founded in Sweden in 1943
Several people were hurt in the crush as thousands flocked to the midnight opening of Ikea's newest store.
The shop stayed open for just 30 minutes because of safety fears at the store in Edmonton, north London.

Five people were taken to hospital, one with chest pains, and up to 20 suffered from heat exhaustion.

Police said the stabbing of a man, in his 20s, near the store at about 0130 GMT was unrelated. He was also taken to hospital where his condition is stable.

Ikea said its flagship store, the biggest in England, had to close because of an "unforeseen volume of customers".

This is the last place you would catch me, especially after midnight.

[C]

Sad sad people...

[Smoke2much]

Bunch of total morons.  Most of them with "Chest pain" and "Heat exhaustion" that decended on the hospital would have been a complete waste of time and resources as well.

[Jared]

Geez... :-/

[commoner]

Sad sad people...

[Hagar]

[quote]Well Charlie this is a poor area and there were many bargains..so maybe. just maybe, it was the only way these "sad, sad people" could get a nice bit of gear..worth a thought eh?

[commoner]

I would say it was a case of pure greed rather than poverty. Makes me wonder how these people would behave in a real crisis. There were plenty of really poor people in this area during WWII. I'm sure there was the occasional punch-up but people often had to queue patiently for hours to get enough food to feed themselves & their families. Things have changed a lot since then & unfortunately not for the better. IMHO

Hagar..I don't know your age but I personally lived through WW2 and yes, people did queue in an orderly fashion for stuff at the drop of a hat, in fact the old joke that you didn't know what you were queuing for 'til you paid for it was true in many cases....we were in desperate times....the difference is that the greedy ones then, weren't in the queues....they bought their "extras" on the black market from other greedy bas***ds. People haven't changed, they never will, there will always be those who seek advantage by any means eh? ..IYHO things have not changed for the better, and maybe you are right in many ways..but my kids and grandkids now have a standard of living and health care that even those "Spivs" of the war years would have killed for...

..I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt and I have NO doubt if push came to shove, they would do whatever was required of them as we did then..

..just my thoughts Hagar, just my thoughts..commoner

[Hagar]

I take your point Commoner & it's a very good one. You're quite right that human nature doesn't change. There will always be Spivs & greedy bastards. I was born during WW2 & don't remember any of it myself. However, I well remember the rationing & the shortages we still suffered for many years afterwards. The standard of living has definitely improved out of all comparison with those days. One big difference is what people regard as necessities.

I don't class the stuff they sell in Ikea as necessities of life. Some people seem obsessed with this sort of thing now. In your example they didn't know what they were queuing for until they paid for it. Now they don't seem to worry what it is or whether they have any use for it as long as it's a "bargain". People might be better off now but instead of going somewhere interesting on Bank Holidays they take the family for a treat in a DIY store for goodness' sake.

I'm sorry but I don't have your faith in human nature & people seem generally far more cynical & greedy now. You only have to observe what happens if there's a rumour of a shortage, let alone an actual one. During a recent scare I heard of people round here with several supermarket trolleys filled with bread they ended up dumping as they couldn't possibly eat it all or fit it in the freezer. Blow you Jack, I'm alright. I think if it came to "push & shove" it would be the survival of the fittest, which is after all the law of nature.

[Smoke2much]

And that, folks, is why it's Grumpy's Lair.

Sad thing is that I'm as cynical as Doug but barely half his age.  The mysteries of life LOL.

Will

[C]

[quote]

[Omag 2.0]

Ikea in Belgium? HUGE stores, lots nad lots of people all wanting to go during the weekend... stress... anger... long queues ...

Me? I go during the week about one hour before closing time! The space, the silence, the very short queues...  

You'll find lots of stuff there, good quality but assemble yourself... ( wich I find cool!) ... but you have to look around for a while before you find the thing you search for.

But I'd never ever go to an opening! Even if there are bargains. Never!

[commoner]

...mmm....A good discussion this and many valid points made....But just think on this..We didn't have Microsoft FS9.....and how deprived is THAT.. commoner

[zeberdee]

I think Ikea has a lot to answer to on this one, what did they expect when selling leather sofas for

[beaky]

Jeez Louise, and I thought the 1/2 price sales at Century 21 were bad... somebody tossed a stink-bomb inside the store  at the last one I went to.

[Politically Incorrect]

Sort of reminds me of seeing on the news about those "wedding dress sales", hundreds of women fighting over dresses they don't even know if they will fit into LOL!!

I always look for a bargin but this is rediculous!