Whaa!

If I think long enough about it I get angry — that sense of entitlement that seems to take over when people don’t get what they want. You know…the people who feel they deserve something just because they are there. Here’s a perfect example from the Daily News in NYC:

Cops had to calm furious shoppers at Circuit City stores around town yesterday as bargain hunters discovered that laptops advertised at $200 were in short supply.
“They bum-rushed the store and we couldn’t control the crowds,” said a shaken manager at the Rego Park, Queens, store, where cops had to quell an angry throng of more than 500.

“We tried to go outside to give out vouchers to people who were waiting in line first, but it became impossible. We had to call the cops,” said the manager, who said he was too fearful to give his name.

Shoppers said Circuit City had only itself to blame. The electronics chain plastered the city with ads touting the discounted Toshiba notebooks - usually priced at $799.99 - but had too few of the computers available at each store, they said. The ads promised only a minimum of 15 at each location.

“They make us wait here for three to four hours and we leave with nothing. They played us,” said Zeshan Haider, 33, of Jersey City, who got in line at 3:30 a.m. outside the Circuit City on E. 14th St. in Manhattan only to walk out empty-handed.

“It’s irresponsible for the stores to advertise sales, get people all riled up and angry when they’ve only got like 30 computers in stock,” said a police officer who responded to the Manhattan uproar.

Calls to Circuit City corporate headquarters in Richmond, Va., were not returned yesterday.

Originally published on November 26, 2005

Ok, the ads promised a MINIMUM of 15 at each location. The stores opened at 5am so what in the HELL makes you think that if you get in line at 3:30 in the morning that you will get one of these? The ads didn’t promise that EVERYONE IN LINE would get one. Yes, you would hope they would have more in stock than that, but to be honest, I wouldn’t have expected that many. People in my neck of the woods were lining up at Circuit City’s starting at 10:30 the night before - 7 1/2 hours before opening! THAT’s what you do if you really want something. Good lord whiny asses!