black friday death

Scribbled by Steve on November 28, 2008 - Comments

I’m sure I won’t be the only person to mention this event during the weekend, but I was shocked and saddened to see reports of a death in Long Island at a Wal-Mart Black Friday event.

I’m sure others will use this incident to speak about the evils of capitalism and the pitfalls of greed, but after I found out that this was a Wal-Mart worker, not an overanxious shopper, I simply felt sad. Imagining some poor guy – in his early 30s – showing up in the wee hours of the morning to earn a little seasonal pay and dying because he was slammed to the floor by people anxious to get a cheap plasma TV or xbox is just sad.  Sad.  I hope everyone who thought it was fun to crash through the doors early in the morning to get cheap consumer goods sleeps well tonight.  Some things in our society have just gotten out of hand.  Let’s take a step back:  crashing through a discount store’s doors at 5 am to get cheap consumer electronics does not need to be a death sport.

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  • I was shocked and saddened too. It makes me wander: WHY? I never understood this kind of people.
  • Let me say up front that this is not a defense of what happened. This man died in a terrible way for a terrible reason, and what I’m about to say in no way excuses that.

    However, many, if nt most, of the people in the crowd would have been in a position where, if they had stopped to help this man, or even took a moment to go around him, they would have been risking getting trampled as well. In fact, as I recall, several people nearly were (I recall hearing about a woman in late stages of her pregnancy getting injured).

    So while I would never condone what happened, I do have some compassion for people who were stuck in a kill-or-be-killed situation.
  • It's horrible to see that black friday for us has turned into the american version of the running of the bulls. You would think preventing death is more important than a discounted TV.

    Craig
    www.budgetpulse.com
  • guinness416
    Frickin animals. The rest of the staff should have shut the doors and gone home.
  • I heard that they are going to press charges against the first 20 customers. There was a security guard at the scene who basically did nothing while this was happening. But then again, would you charge into a crowd like that and risk getting trample yourself?

    Every year something happens at a Walmart. I would think that the company would know from previous experience how to handle a crowd. They should not be allow to advertise for Black Friday if they do not have a plan for crowd control! This is too sad.

    asithi
  • vilkri
    I find it amazing that there is a large enough crowd of people out there who is so driven to catch "the one and only deal of a lifetime" that they leave a person dead in their wake. What point of buying frenzy did they reach? How did they get there? How much of that frenzy was sparked by very effective advertising?
  • Tony
    Just plain sick! I wonder who will be charged? Will anyone be charged? I've just heard this story and I wonder how it'll all play out.
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