"a big fight" and the follow-up
[email protected]
This morning I was on the phone at 6:35 talking to my husband who was at
work. I heard the bedroom door open quietly.
Usually at 6:30 everyone's asleep, so it was unusual. It was Marty (16), and
he said he needed to talk to me about his plans for the day. I asked if he
wanted Keith to hear it too, and he said sure, so I stayed on the phone. He said
"I want to go with Ryan. He wants to pick me up in half an hour."
I waited. I smiled. I said "Okay, but... where?" I kinda thought by the time
and manner of the asking it was an out-of-town trip. No. "To stand in line to
buy an XBox 360."
So we discussed money and logistics and such, and it was a go.
I got up and came to help Marty checklist his day and not forget anything
They'll be inside a WalMart, so honestly, just about anything he had forgotten
would be there, and I wasn't too worried. It wasn't like standing in a line at a
campground 20 miles from running water.
We talked about the other people's day, and Kirby's working, but Marty had
Kirby's money already--they're going together on a system with money they've
both been saving. (Kirby is 19.) Then Marty said "He's going to stand in line
too, but with [some other friends]. We had a big fight about it last night, but
don't get on him about it because it was my fault."
I asked him if they had hit each other. No. Were there mortal insults? No.
I asked if he wanted to tell me about it, and he said no, that Holly (14)
could tell me.
When I was a kid, I wouldn't have trusted any other kid in our family (my
sister and two same-age cousins) to tell my side of anything, or to give a
neutral account of anything.
Holly will probably really enjoy telling me, because she's very interested in
interpersonal stuff of all sorts.
When Kirby was awake and getting ready for work, I said "Marty says you got
in in a fight last night, but that it was stupid, and that it was his fault."
Kirby said, "It WAS stupid, and it WAS his fault." He didn't sound angry or
frustrated, just matter-of-fact.
I said, "Are you both going to be okay?"
"Yeah, we'll be okay."
Holly's still asleep, so I don't know what it was about or how bad it was,
but it wasn't TOO bad, because they didn't break their plan to share an XBox,
and there wasn't soul-wounding name calling or physical violence.
So that's a bad day at our house. NOT TOO BAD!!
Sandra Dodd
http://sandradodd.com/unschooling
=============================================
That's what I posted at unschooling.info while the boys were still out in
lines to get XBox 360.
Yesterday Holly and I talked about it some more. I told her that if there
was no hitting or name calling, it wasn't really much of a fight. She agreed
it was just an emotional discussion. I asked her if either of them said
anything mean, and she thought about it, and came up with the meanest thing having
been Marty to Kirby, saying something like "I don't know your friends and I
don't trust their plans."
We laughed. He didn't even say "I don't know your stupid friends and I
don't trust their stupid plans."
She said he told Kirby that he knew Ryan better, and would rather stand in
line with him.
As it turned out, they didn't let kids substitute for others in line anyway,
so the whole original plan WAS an unworkable plan.
Everyone of those two groups who wanted the system got one, but the world is
woefully undersupplied for that system and they scalpers are out selling them
for twice their price. Kirby says the next shipment is supposed to be
December 23, but that will keep LOTS of kids from getting one for Christmas.
Parents won't be able to stand in line to get them. Amazon isn't even taking
orders for them.
Store security escorted people out to their cars so they wouldn't be robbed
in the parking lot.
What made it possible for Marty to stand in line at WalMart for sixteen or
eighteen hours was that he didn't have to go to school. What made it possible
for them to stay at WalMart until after midnight, ditto. But there are
others who don't go to school whose parents probably just said no, you can't.
They were in a safe place with people they liked doing a cool and legal
thing.
Gail (and Brenna and Logan) visited them in line, and took Marty some food.
THANK YOU for that, Gail!!
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
work. I heard the bedroom door open quietly.
Usually at 6:30 everyone's asleep, so it was unusual. It was Marty (16), and
he said he needed to talk to me about his plans for the day. I asked if he
wanted Keith to hear it too, and he said sure, so I stayed on the phone. He said
"I want to go with Ryan. He wants to pick me up in half an hour."
I waited. I smiled. I said "Okay, but... where?" I kinda thought by the time
and manner of the asking it was an out-of-town trip. No. "To stand in line to
buy an XBox 360."
So we discussed money and logistics and such, and it was a go.
I got up and came to help Marty checklist his day and not forget anything
They'll be inside a WalMart, so honestly, just about anything he had forgotten
would be there, and I wasn't too worried. It wasn't like standing in a line at a
campground 20 miles from running water.
We talked about the other people's day, and Kirby's working, but Marty had
Kirby's money already--they're going together on a system with money they've
both been saving. (Kirby is 19.) Then Marty said "He's going to stand in line
too, but with [some other friends]. We had a big fight about it last night, but
don't get on him about it because it was my fault."
I asked him if they had hit each other. No. Were there mortal insults? No.
I asked if he wanted to tell me about it, and he said no, that Holly (14)
could tell me.
When I was a kid, I wouldn't have trusted any other kid in our family (my
sister and two same-age cousins) to tell my side of anything, or to give a
neutral account of anything.
Holly will probably really enjoy telling me, because she's very interested in
interpersonal stuff of all sorts.
When Kirby was awake and getting ready for work, I said "Marty says you got
in in a fight last night, but that it was stupid, and that it was his fault."
Kirby said, "It WAS stupid, and it WAS his fault." He didn't sound angry or
frustrated, just matter-of-fact.
I said, "Are you both going to be okay?"
"Yeah, we'll be okay."
Holly's still asleep, so I don't know what it was about or how bad it was,
but it wasn't TOO bad, because they didn't break their plan to share an XBox,
and there wasn't soul-wounding name calling or physical violence.
So that's a bad day at our house. NOT TOO BAD!!
Sandra Dodd
http://sandradodd.com/unschooling
=============================================
That's what I posted at unschooling.info while the boys were still out in
lines to get XBox 360.
Yesterday Holly and I talked about it some more. I told her that if there
was no hitting or name calling, it wasn't really much of a fight. She agreed
it was just an emotional discussion. I asked her if either of them said
anything mean, and she thought about it, and came up with the meanest thing having
been Marty to Kirby, saying something like "I don't know your friends and I
don't trust their plans."
We laughed. He didn't even say "I don't know your stupid friends and I
don't trust their stupid plans."
She said he told Kirby that he knew Ryan better, and would rather stand in
line with him.
As it turned out, they didn't let kids substitute for others in line anyway,
so the whole original plan WAS an unworkable plan.
Everyone of those two groups who wanted the system got one, but the world is
woefully undersupplied for that system and they scalpers are out selling them
for twice their price. Kirby says the next shipment is supposed to be
December 23, but that will keep LOTS of kids from getting one for Christmas.
Parents won't be able to stand in line to get them. Amazon isn't even taking
orders for them.
Store security escorted people out to their cars so they wouldn't be robbed
in the parking lot.
What made it possible for Marty to stand in line at WalMart for sixteen or
eighteen hours was that he didn't have to go to school. What made it possible
for them to stay at WalMart until after midnight, ditto. But there are
others who don't go to school whose parents probably just said no, you can't.
They were in a safe place with people they liked doing a cool and legal
thing.
Gail (and Brenna and Logan) visited them in line, and took Marty some food.
THANK YOU for that, Gail!!
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: SandraDodd@...
Everyone of those two groups who wanted the system got one, but the world is
woefully undersupplied for that system and they scalpers are out selling them
for twice their price. Kirby says the next shipment is supposed to be
December 23, but that will keep LOTS of kids from getting one for Christmas.
Parents won't be able to stand in line to get them. Amazon isn't even taking
orders for them.
-=-=-=-
We ordered---and PREPAID---for Duncan's in October when Ben got a bonus. The store called Monday and said that we *needed* to pick it up between 9:00 and 9:00. Cam and I got there around 11:30 or so---store was really quiet. One of the employees is a friend of Cameron's. They made plans to meet later that evening at our house for something musical. When Brandon got here, he told us that the store only received 23 360s! They'd ordered over 100! And that, unopened, they were going for as high as $2500 on e-bay!
Ben said we ought to have a talk with Duncan and see whether it would be worth it to *him* to sell it on-line! <G> I doubt he'd be all that interested! <g>
Now I need to buy a $60 game to go with it!
~Kelly
Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://liveandlearnconference.org
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
From: SandraDodd@...
Everyone of those two groups who wanted the system got one, but the world is
woefully undersupplied for that system and they scalpers are out selling them
for twice their price. Kirby says the next shipment is supposed to be
December 23, but that will keep LOTS of kids from getting one for Christmas.
Parents won't be able to stand in line to get them. Amazon isn't even taking
orders for them.
-=-=-=-
We ordered---and PREPAID---for Duncan's in October when Ben got a bonus. The store called Monday and said that we *needed* to pick it up between 9:00 and 9:00. Cam and I got there around 11:30 or so---store was really quiet. One of the employees is a friend of Cameron's. They made plans to meet later that evening at our house for something musical. When Brandon got here, he told us that the store only received 23 360s! They'd ordered over 100! And that, unopened, they were going for as high as $2500 on e-bay!
Ben said we ought to have a talk with Duncan and see whether it would be worth it to *him* to sell it on-line! <G> I doubt he'd be all that interested! <g>
Now I need to buy a $60 game to go with it!
~Kelly
Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://liveandlearnconference.org
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
liza sabater
Has it ever occurred to people that the scarcity is intentional? That
Micro$oft is undersupplying stores on purpose as part of their
marketing hype? Remember, there is no law that obligates Micro$oft to
satisfy demand.
Theoretically they loose money on the boxes. So creating a demand
because people cannot find them is a way of expanding their market.
How does this relate to unschooling? glad you asked!
* the hype aroound 'good' mainstream education as the product of a
few 'good' schools or a few 'good' teachers
* food/eating habits; especially when it happens around candy
* TV and gaming privileges at home
Creating scarcity to exploit profit ... oldest trick in the book.
Because, don't we extract a profit out of controlling food, play and
learning?
/ liza
Micro$oft is undersupplying stores on purpose as part of their
marketing hype? Remember, there is no law that obligates Micro$oft to
satisfy demand.
Theoretically they loose money on the boxes. So creating a demand
because people cannot find them is a way of expanding their market.
How does this relate to unschooling? glad you asked!
* the hype aroound 'good' mainstream education as the product of a
few 'good' schools or a few 'good' teachers
* food/eating habits; especially when it happens around candy
* TV and gaming privileges at home
Creating scarcity to exploit profit ... oldest trick in the book.
Because, don't we extract a profit out of controlling food, play and
learning?
/ liza
On Nov 24 2005, at 07:22, kbcdlovejo@... wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SandraDodd@...
>
> Everyone of those two groups who wanted the system got one, but the
> world is
> woefully undersupplied for that system and they scalpers are out
> selling them
> for twice their price. Kirby says the next shipment is supposed
> to be
> December 23, but that will keep LOTS of kids from getting one for
> Christmas.
> Parents won't be able to stand in line to get them. Amazon isn't
> even taking
> orders for them.
>
> -=-=-=-
>
> We ordered---and PREPAID---for Duncan's in October when Ben got a
> bonus. The store called Monday and said that we *needed* to pick it
> up between 9:00 and 9:00. Cam and I got there around 11:30 or so---
> store was really quiet. One of the employees is a friend of
> Cameron's. They made plans to meet later that evening at our house
> for something musical. When Brandon got here, he told us that the
> store only received 23 360s! They'd ordered over 100! And that,
> unopened, they were going for as high as $2500 on e-bay!
>
> Ben said we ought to have a talk with Duncan and see whether it
> would be worth it to *him* to sell it on-line! <G> I doubt he'd be
> all that interested! <g>
>
> Now I need to buy a $60 game to go with it!
>
>
> ~Kelly
>
> Kelly Lovejoy
> Conference Coordinator
> Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
> http://liveandlearnconference.org
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------
> ~-->
> DonorsChoose.org helps at-risk students succeed. Fund a student
> project today!
> http://us.click.yahoo.com/9.ZgmA/FpQLAA/HwKMAA/0xXolB/TM
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> ~->
>
> "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
>
> Visit the Unschooling website and message boards: <http://
> www.unschooling.info>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
[email protected]
In a message dated 11/24/05 8:18:45 AM, nyc.blogdiva@... writes:
conspiracy theorists.
One thing about the video gaming systems is that they have been REALLY GOOD,
unlike new releases of computers or VCRs or whatever, that will have glitches
and need work. Unlike releases of new automobiles, which are thrown out
however, and recalls are common.
-=-* the hype aroound 'good' mainstream education as the product of a
few 'good' schools or a few 'good' teachers-=-
No one plans that. There's no big secret control-moon where the director is
orchestrating fake weather and educational scarcity.
-=-Creating scarcity to exploit profit ... oldest trick in the book. -=-
It's not created scarcity, it's probably more like most
engineering/manufacturing projects that fall behind schedule, but this one is MORE behind, because
their market is particularly expecting something that will work excellently
well no matter how 12-year-old boys treat it.
It's not the company that's profitting from the scarcity, it's scalpers.
Microsoft could have sold as many as it could have delivered on Monday, and
would have benefited immediately from having delivered more. They didn't have
more. They COULD have had more, and had to deal with frustration and complaint,
but that's not likely to happen. Nintendo is the same way. Some games
have been held back for months after announced release dates for them to get them
glitch free.
-=-Because, don't we extract a profit out of controlling food, play and
learning?-=-
Not that I can see. Unless it's the satisfaction of feeling in control, but
it's fleeting and comes back to bite the parents in the butt anyway.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> -=-Has it ever occurred to people that the scarcity is intentional? ThatWell it probably has, but Kirby and those who follow that industry aren't
> Micro$oft is undersupplying stores on purpose as part of their
> marketing hype?-=-
>
conspiracy theorists.
One thing about the video gaming systems is that they have been REALLY GOOD,
unlike new releases of computers or VCRs or whatever, that will have glitches
and need work. Unlike releases of new automobiles, which are thrown out
however, and recalls are common.
-=-* the hype aroound 'good' mainstream education as the product of a
few 'good' schools or a few 'good' teachers-=-
No one plans that. There's no big secret control-moon where the director is
orchestrating fake weather and educational scarcity.
-=-Creating scarcity to exploit profit ... oldest trick in the book. -=-
It's not created scarcity, it's probably more like most
engineering/manufacturing projects that fall behind schedule, but this one is MORE behind, because
their market is particularly expecting something that will work excellently
well no matter how 12-year-old boys treat it.
It's not the company that's profitting from the scarcity, it's scalpers.
Microsoft could have sold as many as it could have delivered on Monday, and
would have benefited immediately from having delivered more. They didn't have
more. They COULD have had more, and had to deal with frustration and complaint,
but that's not likely to happen. Nintendo is the same way. Some games
have been held back for months after announced release dates for them to get them
glitch free.
-=-Because, don't we extract a profit out of controlling food, play and
learning?-=-
Not that I can see. Unless it's the satisfaction of feeling in control, but
it's fleeting and comes back to bite the parents in the butt anyway.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Jennifer Coleman
My son (16) spent the night in a Target parking lot to get one, and
it already had a glitch- which they know about (microsoft), they are
sending a prepaid box, he has to send it to them for repair or
replacement, they are sending it back within 10 days with a free
game for the inconvenience. ($60 for game value). Also, they
answered at 1:30am Thursday morning when he was having problems. So
I also doubt any consiracy and they have provided great service (so
far), and are also fixing at their total expense. By the way- the
glitch is that it freezes during gameplay- it was actually mentioned
in our local newspaper as I guess there are many with this "glitch".
He still says it was worth it. ;)
jennifer
it already had a glitch- which they know about (microsoft), they are
sending a prepaid box, he has to send it to them for repair or
replacement, they are sending it back within 10 days with a free
game for the inconvenience. ($60 for game value). Also, they
answered at 1:30am Thursday morning when he was having problems. So
I also doubt any consiracy and they have provided great service (so
far), and are also fixing at their total expense. By the way- the
glitch is that it freezes during gameplay- it was actually mentioned
in our local newspaper as I guess there are many with this "glitch".
He still says it was worth it. ;)
jennifer
--- In [email protected], SandraDodd@a... wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 11/24/05 8:18:45 AM, nyc.blogdiva@g... writes:
>
>
> > -=-Has it ever occurred to people that the scarcity is
intentional? That
> > Micro$oft is undersupplying stores on purpose as part of their
> > marketing hype?-=-
> >
>
> Well it probably has, but Kirby and those who follow that industry
aren't
> conspiracy theorists.
>
> One thing about the video gaming systems is that they have been
REALLY GOOD,
> unlike new releases of computers or VCRs or whatever, that will
have glitches
> and need work. Unlike releases of new automobiles, which are
thrown out
> however, and recalls are common.
>
> -=-* the hype aroound 'good' mainstream education as the product
of a
> few 'good' schools or a few 'good' teachers-=-
>
> No one plans that. There's no big secret control-moon where the
director is
> orchestrating fake weather and educational scarcity.
>
> -=-Creating scarcity to exploit profit ... oldest trick in the
book. -=-
>
> It's not created scarcity, it's probably more like most
> engineering/manufacturing projects that fall behind schedule, but
this one is MORE behind, because
> their market is particularly expecting something that will work
excellently
> well no matter how 12-year-old boys treat it.
>
> It's not the company that's profitting from the scarcity, it's
scalpers.
> Microsoft could have sold as many as it could have delivered on
Monday, and
> would have benefited immediately from having delivered more. They
didn't have
> more. They COULD have had more, and had to deal with frustration
and complaint,
> but that's not likely to happen. Nintendo is the same way.
Some games
> have been held back for months after announced release dates for
them to get them
> glitch free.
>
> -=-Because, don't we extract a profit out of controlling food,
play and
> learning?-=-
>
> Not that I can see. Unless it's the satisfaction of feeling in
control, but
> it's fleeting and comes back to bite the parents in the butt
anyway.
>
> Sandra
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>