Party City to close 45 stores due to world helium shortage

Meltdown99

Party City to close 45 stores due to world helium shortage

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/party-city-to-close-45-stores-due-to-world-helium-shortage?fbclid=IwAR1ae_ptEpCHEcesBtw-5NbmMBwf8Vznx8GfzZAsWFvD3mIKn6pelVGHY7U

"Party City is not a huge contributor to that trend since most of the global consumption goes into cooling down medical devices and cleaning rocket fuel tanks

Halifax2TheMax

Meltdown99 said:

Party City to close 45 stores due to world helium shortage

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/party-city-to-close-45-stores-due-to-world-helium-shortage?fbclid=IwAR1ae_ptEpCHEcesBtw-5NbmMBwf8Vznx8GfzZAsWFvD3mIKn6pelVGHY7U

"Party City is not a huge contributor to that trend since most of the global consumption goes into cooling down medical devices and cleaning rocket fuel tanks

I thought it was because of keeping that Team Trump Treason blimp up in the air?

Meltdown99

Halifax2TheMax said:

Meltdown99 said:

Party City to close 45 stores due to world helium shortage

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/party-city-to-close-45-stores-due-to-world-helium-shortage?fbclid=IwAR1ae_ptEpCHEcesBtw-5NbmMBwf8Vznx8GfzZAsWFvD3mIKn6pelVGHY7U

"Party City is not a huge contributor to that trend since most of the global consumption goes into cooling down medical devices and cleaning rocket fuel tanks

I thought it was because of keeping that Team Trump Treason blimp up in the air?

Lol

brianlux

Whenever I mention this to people they are, like I was years ago, surprised to learn that helium is a limited resource and once it's dissipated into the atmosphere, its gone.  It can't be retrieved and we can't make more helium (it's an element).  So how strange that we have been wasting this resource on party balloons and nonsense all these year when scientists have know these facts for a long time.  Why was this not talked about?  Has the party balloon lobby been that strong?  Once again, we humans prove ourselves to be  a very, very strange creature.

Meltdown99

brianlux said:

Whenever I mention this to people they are, like I was years ago, surprised to learn that helium is a limited resource and once it's dissipated into the atmosphere, its gone.  It can't be retrieved and we can't make more helium (it's an element).  So how strange that we have been wasting this resource on party balloons and nonsense all these year when scientists have know these facts for a long time.  Why was this not talked about?  Has the party balloon lobby been that strong?  Once again, we humans prove ourselves to be  a very, very strange creature.

We humans like to waste resources on the dumbest things...

benjs

brianlux said:

Whenever I mention this to people they are, like I was years ago, surprised to learn that helium is a limited resource and once it's dissipated into the atmosphere, its gone.  It can't be retrieved and we can't make more helium (it's an element).  So how strange that we have been wasting this resource on party balloons and nonsense all these year when scientists have know these facts for a long time.  Why was this not talked about?  Has the party balloon lobby been that strong?  Once again, we humans prove ourselves to be  a very, very strange creature.

We as a species are firmly committed to short games over long ones and will continue to pay the price for that.

mace1229

I would be willing to bet that helium has nothing to do with Party City closing stores. But it just sounds better from a PR perspective to say they are closing stores to save helium than to admit no one shops there anymore. 

mace1229

brianlux said:

Whenever I mention this to people they are, like I was years ago, surprised to learn that helium is a limited resource and once it's dissipated into the atmosphere, its gone.  It can't be retrieved and we can't make more helium (it's an element).  So how strange that we have been wasting this resource on party balloons and nonsense all these year when scientists have know these facts for a long time.  Why was this not talked about?  Has the party balloon lobby been that strong?  Once again, we humans prove ourselves to be  a very, very strange creature.

What do you mean we can't make more? Helium is a natural decay of many nuclear reactions. Just wait a few million years and we'll have more.
And what is a better use for a natural resource than a gender reveal party that requires 20 balloons? I can't think of a single thing. 

PJ_Soul

brianlux said:

Whenever I mention this to people they are, like I was years ago, surprised to learn that helium is a limited resource and once it's dissipated into the atmosphere, its gone.  It can't be retrieved and we can't make more helium (it's an element).  So how strange that we have been wasting this resource on party balloons and nonsense all these year when scientists have know these facts for a long time.  Why was this not talked about?  Has the party balloon lobby been that strong?  Once again, we humans prove ourselves to be  a very, very strange creature.

It is shocking. Not only have we been wasting the helium, but also using it to litter the land and waters with fucking balloons, and then animals eat them and choke on them, etc. I can't believe purposefully releasing a balloon into the sky is legal anywhere, but it is.

brianlux

mace1229 said:

brianlux said:

Whenever I mention this to people they are, like I was years ago, surprised to learn that helium is a limited resource and once it's dissipated into the atmosphere, its gone.  It can't be retrieved and we can't make more helium (it's an element).  So how strange that we have been wasting this resource on party balloons and nonsense all these year when scientists have know these facts for a long time.  Why was this not talked about?  Has the party balloon lobby been that strong?  Once again, we humans prove ourselves to be  a very, very strange creature.

What do you mean we can't make more? Helium is a natural decay of many nuclear reactions. Just wait a few million years and we'll have more.
And what is a better use for a natural resource than a gender reveal party that requires 20 balloons? I can't think of a single thing. 

LOL.  Right, who needs friggin' MRI's anyway?*      

*(I've had two!)

Meltdown99

Another store that is bad for selling Helium balloons is the dollar tree...

brianlux

Meltdown99 said:

Another store that is bad for selling Helium balloons is the dollar tree...

Everything Dollar Tree sells is bad news.  Cheap crap- most of which is made of plastic- sold mainly to low income folks.  It gives them a false sense of buying power, assuages a void of desire for a short while.  Creates fodder for the land fill.  A poorer man's and woman's Walmart.  There is not one good reason on earth these stores exist.

Meltdown99

brianlux said:

Meltdown99 said:

Another store that is bad for selling Helium balloons is the dollar tree...

Everything Dollar Tree sells is bad news.  Cheap crap- most of which is made of plastic- sold mainly to low income folks.  It gives them a false sense of buying power, assuages a void of desire for a short while.  Creates fodder for the land fill.  A poorer man's and woman's Walmart.  There is not one good reason on earth these stores exist.

No argument from me.  The last few years I have been buying more expensive/better quality clothes...trust me...it's worth the extra money.  

brianlux

Meltdown99 said:

brianlux said:

Meltdown99 said:

Another store that is bad for selling Helium balloons is the dollar tree...

Everything Dollar Tree sells is bad news.  Cheap crap- most of which is made of plastic- sold mainly to low income folks.  It gives them a false sense of buying power, assuages a void of desire for a short while.  Creates fodder for the land fill.  A poorer man's and woman's Walmart.  There is not one good reason on earth these stores exist.

No argument from me.  The last few years I have been buying more expensive/better quality clothes...trust me...it's worth the extra money.  

I wish more people would see this.  With better quality goods, in the long run you save money, make fewer trips to the store, and put less crap into the landfill.  But when you say that, you'll get all kinds of arguments like "But I can't afford the more expensive items."  To which I respond with a few questions like, "Do you keep a budget? or "Do you spend money on fancy lattes or eat out when you could make your own meal?"   Except for the most poor (and at time I've been damn poor), it almost always comes down to making choices.

mace1229

My old principal used to say "cheap is expensive."
The dollar store is great for buying cards! I actually don't like it when someone sends me a card and I see a $4.95 tag on the back, I Just think how i would prefer just a sentence on a piece of paper you actually wrote yourself and $5 cash instead. I buy all my cards at the dollar store, 2 for $1! And they pretty much get the same point across. 
That's pretty much all. Maybe occasionally something I intend to use only once. Like a cheap toy for my kids to travel with because I know there's a 90% chance it will get lost in the airport, but I want to keep the occupied with something new on the plane.

PJPOWER

My first reaction to the “anti-ballooners” was that I thought they were making balloons biodegradable these days...but apparently they are not as biodegradable as the makers were claiming.  There is a helium plant near my area, so warnings of helium shortages have been on the radar around here for a while :(

PJ_Soul

brianlux said:

Meltdown99 said:

Another store that is bad for selling Helium balloons is the dollar tree...

Everything Dollar Tree sells is bad news.  Cheap crap- most of which is made of plastic- sold mainly to low income folks.  It gives them a false sense of buying power, assuages a void of desire for a short while.  Creates fodder for the land fill.  A poorer man's and woman's Walmart.  There is not one good reason on earth these stores exist.

I agree with this. But I admit that I do buy the occasional gift bag and a pack of that tissue paper used with them at dollar stores, because the quality of those two items are literally no worse at dollar stores than anywhere else, at a fraction of the price. But that's it. I've never bought anything else out of a dollar store in my life because everything else is just such low quality I don't want it. That said... I understand why people with basically no money go to them - they really have no other option a lot of the time. For them, dollar stores are a godsend, really, so that is one good reason for them to exist, even though the good part isn't coming from the direction of those who own them or sell to them. I would encourage all of those people with no money who go to dollar stores for housewares, like dishes and stuff, to go to thrift shops instead, like Value Village or wherever. Those places have way higher quality housewares for just as cheap, if not cheaper, plus a lot of them are connected to charities.

brianlux

I'm totally against releasing helium balloons due to the waste of helium as well as the trash.  But I might let this one go far, far away: