Really really Black Friday
Christmas Spirit? What the hell?
From the New York Times: "The throng of Wal-Mart shoppers had been building all night, filling sidewalks and stretching across a vast parking lot at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y. At 3:30 a.m., the Nassau County police had to be called in for crowd control, and an officer with a bullhorn pleaded for order.[..]"
A temporary Wal-Mart worker was opening the doors at a Wal-Mart and was trampled to death by a horde of "out-of-control" shoppers when they broke down the doors at a 5 am sale...so desperate for bargains that getting first dibs on that new $400 big screen TV was more important than safety or civility.
People have lost their minds. A person died, and died horribly, because so many people needed some new toy at a discount more than they needed to stop and think about the well-being of a fellow human.
Even when other shoppers were on the ground, including a pregnant woman, even when police were trying to help this injured, bleeding man who was lying on the ground and not moving, the shoppers kept on coming.
When the store announced it would be closing because of the death, some people complained they'd been in line for hours and kept shopping.
Surely Wal-Mart knew that their first-come, first-served early morning discounts create crowd-control problems. Why didn't they have enough security in place? Where were the barricades to hold back the crowd?
Now someone is dead because of it. I'll bet this guy's family is looking for a good lawyer.
I have never been one to venture out on Black Friday, I'm not that crazy about shopping...but what are you supposed to say to something like this?
"Enjoy your George Foreman grill, Uncle Steve! Mr. Damour died for it."
Hey, it's not safe at Toys "R" Us either:
"PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) -- The shooting occurred in a crowded toy store on the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, but authorities say it wasn't related to the bargain-hunting frenzy. Instead, two men pulled guns and killed each other after the women with them erupted into a bloody brawl, witnesses said.
Authorities released few details about the mayhem that broke out at the Toys "R" Us store around 11:30 a.m. Friday, sending scared shoppers fleeing. Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said the fight was not over a toy..... [..]"
No wonder other countries think we're crazy -- you gotcher terrorist gunmen in India and your terrorist shoppers in America.
