A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said.
The unidentified worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.
Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.
Was just telling someone yesterday that not only do I not want to be at a retail outlet at 5 AM, I don’t want to be anywhere near a retail outlet any time today with the people who were at retail outlets at 5 AM.
This whole Black Friday thing was always asinine beyond belief. Now it’s turned deadly. Yes, people die in many horrible and needless ways, but this takes the cake. The culture of unbridled consumption, greed and criminality has become a cancer threatening to destroy all of us, as the economic collapse attests.
Like people can’t buy cheap plastic shit at normal hours under normal conditions. Lord have mercy.
C’mon Jon–
One anecdotal example of stupidity does not mean Black Friday is asinine….especially in Washington State where your gal Gregoire is desperate for more Sales Tax Revenue.
You, like most Leftists, seem to want it both ways. Buy less cheap shit AND have big, costly government. Can’t have it both ways Jon. Need to keep the money MOVING!!!
That said, I do most of my shopping ON-LINE. I’m already done…thanks to COSTCO, Harry & David’s and other easily access products via the Internet.
I HATE shopping in malls…period. And I would NEVER shop in one of those free-for-alls. Personal preference. But others obviously love it. They can be my guest. But some Wal-Mart guy who chose to get in the way of a stampede doesn’t mean it is necessarily bad…just unfortunate.
Not to worry, Jon! Six months from now you humans will be reduced to bartering for food and basic commodities after your stupid Republican economy collapses! I read in the business news yesterday that all the malls are going bankrupt.
@1 “But some Wal-Mart guy who chose to get in the way of a stampede doesn’t mean it is necessarily bad…just unfortunate.”
You mean like all those innocent Iraqi civilians who were rounded up by American security contractors and tortured to death simply because they were in the wrong place (their own country) at the wrong time (when the U.S. invaded their country without provocation)? Yes … unfortunate … indeed. Shit happens, eh, Cynical? I’ve noticed, though, that a lot less shit happens whenever Republicans are out of power, from which reasonable minds could conclude that Republicans should stay out of power permanently.
mr. cynical doesn’t love the baby jesus.
@2
Malls have been in trouble for a while.
@1 “get in the way of a stampede”
WTF, I put this entirely on Wal-Mart for failing to provide adequate staffing and crowd control measures for the entirely predictable mob outside their store.
If someone gets trampled at a concert, festival, amusement park, or sport stadium the venue gets rightfully blamed for not providing reasonable and prudent security and crowd control measures.
Wal-Mart fully deserves to get sued by the family of the employee and by anyone else who was injured in this mob. Hate on the lawyers all you want but this is exactly the sort of situation the tort system is for.
@6 Chris:
I challenge you and your pussy ass to try and hold back and eager and anrgy mob. Even with more employees only part of the fault is on Wal-Mart. Of course, you fail to mention placing any blame whatsoever on the insane shoppers that actually ran over the poor guy. What are they supposed to do, hire riot police? You’re an ignorant little worm my friend, and by all means do us all a favor and go shopping at Wal-Mart.
@ 8
This may be some real OUT OF THE BOX thinking for you, but, maybe instead of opening the doors and having a free-for-all entrance, the crowd could’ve been organzied with a rope line entrance like they have at amusement parks and airports.
You know, control the flow of people coming in rather than a wild, wild west stampede.
Just thinking out loud here.
By your logic there is no way to control a crowd at your place of business. And, that is simply not true.
Mark1 at 7:
Yes, because the only way to stop a stampede is to let it form unmitigated, then try to use force to hold it back with riot police. That’s how all the those unrealized stampede deaths are prevented at sporting events and concerts. With riot police….
Look at the clientele they have at this walmart and you’ll have answer to why.
It’s Obamas’ fault. He said go shopping. Obama
hates white people.
@2 Roger, this is a democrat economy, has been for the last two years. 100 percent.
As far as the crowd goes, I guarantee that
every one in that crowd is a democrat. Republicans have way, way more class.
11 – bzzzzt. I call right wing bullshit. That chimp you voted for twice said that after 9/11.
Republicans have way, way more class.
Can’t be true. The Mat-Su Barbie and Karl Rove are Republicans not to mention that Chimpanzee with the phony Texas drawl.
thank you GOD! I heard on 1 news broadcast that an estimated 128 million went shopping today, down about 7 million from last year.
Imagine if ALL those people had been pissed off about our almost complete crap health ‘care’ system (it is NOT crap for the rich pigs running it into the ground!!)
Imagine if ALL those people had been pissed off about a financial system that rewards, once in a blue moon, the creators of cool things like google, BUT that consistently rewards the scum at the top who make shitty products, or crappy decisions – products and decisions that are gonna cost all 300 million of us 7 TRILLION dollars!
GOD Bless America, home of the biggest class of stooges on the planet!
Go Shop Ya Sheep! You’re getting what you pay for!
rmm.