New meaning of Black Friday. Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Frid

[no_hypocrisy]

Source: New York Daily News

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.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html

---

Reminds me of the last lines of a Woody Guthrie song: Look what your greed for money has done . . .

[tekisui]

1. Jeesus, how stupid.

Such a pointless way to go.

[rcsl1998]

170. WalMart Takes Life Insurance Out On Many Workers Where WalMart Is The Beneficiary

Is that the case with this poor soul?

[BrklynLiberal]

185. I remember reading that was one of their "better business " practices.

[proud2BlibKansan]

268. A lot of companies do that

[TheEuclideanOne]

213. I was thinking the same thing until I saw their prices on XBoxes

[Name removed]

236. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hlthe2b]

2. Good God... Dying a horrendous death on behalf of Walmart!

Compounded tragedy....

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Wal*Mart better pay up to the families who suffered losses.

[rurallib]

9. More likely WalMart had a life insurance policy on the employee

with the company as beneficiary. That used to be their policy.

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Yeah, no surprise there. Can the families bring a wrongful death suit against them? It's not

like Wally world can claim this as an act of God or anything.

[rurallib]

15. Something tells me they have probably already started intimidating

the family and let it be known that the company has no responsibility. Sure the family is probably grief stricken but some things must be taken care of immediately.

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. My bet is they offer a small amount of money in exchange for not being sued. Probably give them

a song and dance about the risk of going to court and winding up with nothing.

[1monster]

86. That does happen. A very successful business woman, whose huband's business

depended largely on her business, was seriously injured in a Huge Discount Chain Store (don't want to name it because I don't want them gunning for me, but you can surely guess which one) when an inexperienced fork lift operator hit her.

She sued. The Huge Discount Chain Store lawyers, with the court's consent, forced her to take an I.Q. test, with which she did not do well.

Then the Huge Discount Chain Store lawyers were able get a drastically low award based on the planted idea that she did not have a large earning capacity because of her poor scoring on the I.Q. test.

The award barely covered medical costs to that date (of courese, her legal fees, too) and didn't address future medical care costs needed as a result of the accident, or that, because she was unable to work for several months, both her business and her husband's business were decimated to the point they ceased to exist.

Moral of story:

1. When suing BIG BUSINESSES, always get the absolute best lawyer/shark money can possibly buy.

2. Always sue for legal fees as a separate issue.

3. Be prepared for any low-down, unfair, quasi-legal tactic the other side can throw.

4. Be prepared to be in court for years, if necessary.

5. Be aware that they will use any tactic to break you down. If you give up the fight, they win.

[GreenPartyVoter]

127. Excellent post. More people need to be aware of this information. There must be groups out there

that assist poorer people in this situations and help them make the best choices possible?

[Sherman A1]

106. A small amount in the form of

Wal Mart Gift Cards would be my bet.

[Hugin]

83. Here's how Wal-Crook will get out of any litigation...

"Wal-Mart said it was saddened by the death of the man, who was working for a temporary employment agency serving the discount retailer, and by the injuries suffered by shoppers."

Wal-Junk will use the fact he wasn't working for them as a way out of liability.

[yardwork]

152. Bingo. Wal-Mart won't pay a dime. They hire temps for this very reason.

That poor man.

[CountAllVotes]

162. it says here he was a temp. maintenance worker

34 years old. What a hell of a way to go. This is plain sick. The only thing I can say is that I am glad that WalMart at least closed the store for the day. It should be closed permanently!

>>Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville, Ark., called the incident a "tragic situation" and said the employee came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," co-worker Jimmy Overby, 43, told the Daily News. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too. ... I literally had to fight people off my back."

Nassau County police said the 34-year-old worker was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m. The man's name was not released and the cause of death was not immediately known.

A police statement said shortly after the store's 5 a.m. opening time, shoppers "physically broke down the doors, knocking (the worker) to the ground."

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081128/wal_mart_death.html

:dem: :kick:

[SemperEadem]

182. a maintenence employee is not a security officer, which is who they needed

to have to deal with large crowd control issues. Why did they not have adequate security in place to handle these... ...people?

This still was done on Walmart's property and handling crowd control was most likely done at the direction of a Walmart supervisor. They aren't going to be able to skate away that easily.

[yardwork]

222. I hope not. Wal-Mart created the unsafe situation and put everyone at risk.

I read that one of the shoppers was also knocked down and suffered a miscarriage as a result.

[CountAllVotes]

240. one thing is for sure

This man's wife (if he has one) has a worker's compensation case to file. It would be filed against the temp. agency that hired him off to WalMart. WalMart will likely walk away from this but the temp. agency will have to deal with the ramifications I suspect.

In any event, this whole "episode" tells us much about the very sick, greed ridden society that we live in.

May this poor man RIP!

:dem: :kick:

[progressivebydesign]

99. No, they should sue the SHOPPERS they are the ones that did it.

No one forced those people to act l ike violent thugs to get cheap electronics... You could tell me today that I could get a MacBook for 50 bucks, and i Still wouldn't behave like that. Hell, I wouldn't even show up, knowing that others act that way.

The "shoppers" are the ones that broke down the door, according to authorities, the poor guy didn't have time to get out of the way. These stupid sales have to stop, because people cannot be trusted to act like humans.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

112. Bullshit. Wal-Pigs created the situation where this happened

If you only have ten loss leader computers in the store and people know this, it causes this kind of stampede to get to them.

It's like inciting a crowd to riot. Yes, the crowd did the rioting, but the Sarah Palin incendiary speaker is at fault as well.

[GreenPartyVoter]

131. It happened on Wal*Mart property under conditions they provided. They could easily have

put up a cable and stationed extra people to control the influx of shoppers in order to avoid such a situation. And given that this sort of thing has happened before Wal*Mart can't claim that it never occurred to them that such a thing was possible.

Not that I think the shoppers' behavior wasn't atrocious, but in the end it comes down to Wal*Mart's crowd management technique.

[Window]

215. Exactly.

[minnesota_liberal]

156. Wrong!

Sure, the shoppers performed the act that resulted in the worker's death, but they didn't act together, most couldn't be identified and any of them could claim that those behind them were forcing them forward.

On the other hand, the store created the dangerous conditions, can be identified, could have forseen the problem and should have taken steps to prevent it.

[Le Taz Hot]

259. I happen to agree with you.

I know I'm not falling in lock-step with the program here, but don't the shoppers have ANY responsibility??? I went to Penny's on Black Friday morning (4:00) and there was a long line of shoppers. They opened the door, everyone filed in (most were like me, half asleep) in an orderly fashion and did their shopping. Maybe, just MAYBE we can wait for an investigation before we start absolving PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY TRAMPLED THIS PERSON TO DEATH and throwing ALL blame onto Mao Mart.

[understandinglife]

61. "Dead Peasant's Insurance" ....

One of the hottest recent discoveries by investigative journalists is the sleazy practice known as which is allegedly used by some of our best known big corporations — such as Wal-Mart and Enron. Officially called Corporate-Owned Life Insurance (COLI), this practice has been going on below the radar since the 1980s, and P&J were turned on to it by our favorite lefty in the bullpen, Dick Walton. P&J agree with Dick Walton when he says, "Just when you thought corporate America could sink no lower, you find that your imagination cannot equal that of these fiends."

Here’s how it works. Big companies with a number of low-paid employees (the practice is also known as "dead janitors’ insurance") buy life insurance on those low-ranking employees — sometimes without their knowledge — to get tax breaks, as well as to collect benefits when a covered employee died. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, "Corporations gain not merely from the tax-free life insurance benefits they receive when current or former employees die, but also can borrow money against these policies. Many companies even deducted the interest on these loans from their taxes." It is legal in some states, but not in others (which have emerged from the ghoulish Dark Ages of squalid business dealings). For some of these companies, death benefits go to pay for executive bonuses and perks.

<clip> There is not anything for sale in Wal-Mart even free that is worth a human life. We should be ashamed of ourselves as a country for lapsing into such mindless consumerism. Even in a time of economic trouble, too many amongst us would rather mindlessly consume than reflect on what the most important things are in life.

Indeed. Enough.

[arikara]

142. I heard that they keep it going

even after the person doesn't work there anymore. Its sickening what they can get away with.

[1monster]

164. Supposedly, Dead Peasant Insurance is illegal in Florida, but some

corporations still carry DPI on current and former employees, puchased in another state.

If one knows that a company has DPI on a loved one who passes on, one can sue the company for the benefits. It has been done, successfully.

However, no company who has a policy of DPI is going to admit that they have such a insurance policy short of being legally forced to do so.

[Bette Noir]

184. This needs to become illegal nationwide.

[Posteritatis]

161. It's Wal-Mart; they'll bill the victim's family for cleanup, probably (nt)

[emilyg]

226. I blame the unruly mob not the store.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Unbelievable. I hate our consumer mindset in this country. I used to buy into it but

the older I get the more I despise it.

[rucognizant]

149. I did too............

15 or 20 years ago, when you could get neat UNUSUAL items from different countries, ( at Pier 1 Imports )
But now it's the same old no matter where you buy it. One size fits all,and it breaks next week!
I stopped buying enything I didn't REALLY need 20 years ago!

[LaurenG]

5. How desperate does a group have to be to trample someone to death?

Did they even notice or did they just keep running toward their holy grails? :cry:

[file83]

66. What's even more sickening....the store stayed open and customers saved $$$!!!!

Walmart is literally making a killing.

[progressivebydesign]

100. No. they closed the store down. It's in the article. n/t

[FloridaJudy]

163. Will they sue the dead woman's family

For the loss of revenue? I wouldn't put it past them.

[emilyg]

227. They closed the store.

[kath]

245. Only for a few hours.

Story says they opened up again at 1 p.m.

[jmowreader]

69. More like "insane" than "desperate"

Fucking Wal-Mart. A few days ago, they did a big radio blitz offering a great deal on an HDTV--"minimum five per store." The maniacs who absolutely couldn't live without the TV (which they were going to put on eBay, of course) were the ones who did this.

I blame Wal-Mart about 80 percent and the greed of the American public 20 percent for this man's death. No one NEEDS an HDTV.

[MicaelS]

80. True, and no one NEEDS a job in retail sales

But plenty of people have them, and that's how they support themselves and their families. Amazing how so many people in this country just "know" what other people "need". They must consult have Magic 8 Balls or some other woo-woo crap. :sarcasm:

[jmowreader]

124. A job is a need; an HDTV is a want

You might WANT an HDTV very badly, but you don't actually need one.

Now, if it was the last bag of flour in the state after a hurricane, then MAYBE I could see trampling people for it. But a toy? No.

[bushmeister0]

157. Imagine what all that phrenetic human energy could accomplish if it was aimed

at something useful like a march on congress for universal health insurance or something else people actually NEED, not just want.

[eShirl]

129. "Amazing how so many people in this country just "know" what other people "need"."

[Butch350]

237. It really doesn't take a lot of imagination my friend!

[ekwhite]

247. Bullshit

People do not NEED an HDTV. Has anyone ever died from lack of one? People need food, water, air, shelter, but not a freaking TV.

[clear eye]

180. Amazing how some people are so addicted to stuff that they truly

can't comprehend the difference between desire and necessity even when it is pointed out. They even equate a job with a fancy TV, as though a person would die w/o an upscale TV. Pitiful, simply pitiful.

BTW, since no one that confused can write anything I could possibly find worth reading, I just "ignored" the two posters who proclaimed that conviction. They really seem to be identifying more with the tramplers than the guy killed. The dead man's family are experiencing the meaning of "need" firsthand now that they have lost a wage earner. I only hope I am not unlucky enough ever to encounter those sociopathic posters in person.

[Bette Noir]

186. It's those "Quantities strictly limited" sales that need to stop.

And the "Door Buster!" sales that have the prices going up by the minute. They're a serious danger, as demonstrated by this poor man's death.

Poor man. Literally, killed by a "Door Buster!" sale.

[progressivebydesign]

97. they do this every year, last year they knocked some woman unconcious.

People are greedy and rude.

[cliffordu]

6. A perfect punchline on the joke that is Christmas in this country.

Jesus.

[JI7]

7. they should let few people in at a time.

maybe hand out some kind of passes and allow a certain number to go at a time.

this just sucks.

[hlthe2b]

8. They want the chaos... Suggests big demand on TV....

and heaven knows these mega corporations want their splashy PR.

[BattyDem]

79. Apparently, that's what happened

I just saw the story on my local news (NYC). People began lining up at 10:00pm last night. According to a witness, the store let some people in at 5:00am and told the others to wait. I assume they did that for crowd control purposes, but the report didn't say. However, the rest of the people on line got mad and pushed through the doors. They literally broke them down and took them off the hinges!

WTF is wrong with people?! :wtf: :shrug: :cry:

[MUAD_DIB]

85. It is a mob/herd mentality. People revert to their instinctual monkey nature

when they are in large groups.

If there had been 5 people waiting instead of 500 then they would wait somewhat patiently, but they would never act out they way they did.

The group gives the individual the sense of power and invisibility.


I never go out on black Friday. Crowds of people and Malls really don't mix that well; especially in hard times.

[valerief]

91. Right. That's why I avoid sports arenas, too. nt

[DeepBlueDem]

128. And the constant fighting. I was tricked into going on Black Friday once

1. The store didn't have my item in stock (BULLSHIT)
2. I walked past 3 fights in the lingerie and fragrance section. That was the year when the first came out. In addition two car wrecks in the parking lot (Hit and runs)
3. finally, the items are marked down further after the Holidays.

I will never go into a store on Black Friday

[JI7]

220. what a bunch of thugs , fucking disgusting

and this guy was actually trying to help .

[clear eye]

181. The guy who was killed was trying to do just that--

slowing down the onrushing horde.

I just moved away from Long Island last year. One thing I don't miss is the preoccupation w/ "shopping" as a hobby.

[Xenotime]

10. How is this possible with the economy they way it is?

Where do people get the money to spend?

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. Wal*Mart is pretty cheap compared to a lot of places. Perhaps there were

a lot of former Macy's shoppers who downgraded? They might still have the buying power to actually be able to get something.

Me, I like to shop over the internet as much as possible. Screw crowded stores. x(

[AZ Criminal JD]

70. It is called working

Don't believe all the economic drama stories or maybe you spread them.

[Waiting For Everyman]

232. Stories? Drama? Is that you, Phil Gramm..

pointing fingers at "whiners"?

Maybe Santa will bring you a pink slip of your very own... so you can become more knowledgeable about your opinion on what isn't happening.

[harmonicon]

13. who's going to jail?

Someone should, for life, or a very long time, for this. This is totally fucked up.

[file83]

71. My question is who punches his time clock?

It's morbid, I know, but someone has to make that decision. How fucking creepy. Do they punch him out at his time of death? Do they pay what he is owed for that time period to his family?

Being that it is Wal*Mart, they'll probably fire him for no call / no show, cancel his insurance benefits, and sue his family for the fun of it.

[progressivebydesign]

101. The SHOPPERS who did this should go to jail. n/t

[harmonicon]

145. them and others too, I would think

It was someone's job to put this man in this dangerous position.

[gypsymuse]

14. How horrific..

I can't believe people would really do this to another human just to run in and save five bucks.

[onehandle]

16. Wal-Mart kills and supports Chinese atrocities.

Oh NO! What did I say?

Forgive me, future Chinese masters!

I'll now apologize, Bush style.

[DS1]

18. fucking animals

[Peregrine Took]

233. On behalf of animals I respectfully request that you withdraw that

perjorative term.

[AusDem]

that's horribly sad

and a really ironic analogy for unrestrained capitalism trampling the common worker

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

19. Bet this becomes the plotline for a Law & Order episode

where they can talk about the horrific nature of this--and DA McCoy can prosecute the "Mal-Wort" for depraved indifference. Sadly, that's probably the closest to justice we'll see in this case.

[Pharlo]

158. Actually, there was an episode of Law and Order recently

where there were 'consensual street fights' happening in the park. One guy was killed. The DA's office was unable to prosecute because the video of the fight was posted anonymously online. Since the DA's office dropped the ball, the guys brother and some friends started a fight in the park with the guy who killed his brother and some of his associates. Eventually, a lot of people wound up injured and some dead - including a man who was completely uninvolved and was there with his family. Eventually, the DA's office just charged the entire group as terrorists.

I guess mob mentality is a form of terrorism. Whether at a riot in the park or in the doorway of a WalMart.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

168. Oh yeah, I saw that

and I remember wondering why in the world such things were still happening in the world.

Jack McCoy, the DA (played by Sam Waterston), is a crusading type. A few seasons back he went after gun manufacturers for making a weapon it was easy to modify into a type that is banned. That's why I figure McCoy would go after MalWart if something like this happened on his turf.

[BrklynLiberal]

189. That was a good one...

[FloridaJudy]

167. I love your sig line!

My congregation's ministers are a married couple: he's a Zen Buddhist and a she's a Sufi. Makes the sermons interesting.

[tblue37]

219. I'm thinking _Boston Legal_, with Alan Shore doing the rant. nt

[UpInArms]

20. there's something terribly wrong with this country when people

have to become shopping mobs and kill others to "save" a few pennies on some cheap and worthless crap sold by one of the creepiest of corporations

my thoughts are with the families that have lost so much

[Xenotime]

22. Agreed. There is blood on EVERY FUCKING ONEs hands who..

showed up that morning. Criminal charges need to be brought.

[skepticscott]

132. so what are you saying?

That someone in the middle of the crowd who was being pushed forward by 200 people behind then should go to prison because they couldn't stop without being trampled to death themselves? Great idea. Perfect justice.

[Acadia Blue]

211. Yes! I never shop on Black Friday. And rarely go into Wal Mart.

[NRaleighLiberal]

21. Sometimes I think we've peaked as a species and are now in steep decline. NT

[drmeow]

172. We are DEVO n/t

[Historic NY]

23. Amazing to go and buy even cheaper Chinese crap...its not worth it.

[TrogL]

24. May be it's time to ban limited supply loss-leaders

Yes, you can still have your cheap-priced piece of crap to get people in the door. You just need to have enough of them to prevent stampedes.

Same with "the latest toy" like Elmo or the newest game console.

[Hansel]

117. Exactly.

Retailers do this because the know it works. They play on the emotions of people with some combo of low self-esteem, guilt (I can't give my children everything, but I can afford this) and greediness (I can sell them for 2 to 3 times what I paid for it). Retailers, knowing exactly what emotions they are playing to, advertise to death that there are limited quantities and no rain checks. So get there early!

Then often cold and always tire people who have been in line all night start an almost flight or fight crankiness with the other people around them. They think "I deserve this, I was out here all night" and their territorial instincts kick in. Those who are not at the head of the line make it known through body cues that the 1st 5 entitled people in line better get out of the way, and walla, conflict and mob mentality.

Stores should never be able to sell something a cut-throat prices without having adequate stock on hand or rain checks. And since all of the elements that killed this person happen every year, the store has no excuse for denying culpability in this person's death. Any good attorney should be able to wring a few million out of Wal-Mart for their part in this person's death.

I put 99% of the blame on the retailer. They loaded the gun, handed to the customers, goaded them into being there and purposefully created the emotional and anxious environment that led to this man's death.

[Meldread]

25. Everyone in those crowds should be arrested and put in jail.

It isn't Wal-Mart's fault that some people can't control themselves and act like stupid farmyard animals. Stepping on that man is definitely an act of manslaughter. It defies rational thought.

I hope every person in that crowd who stepped on him goes to jail.

[wtmusic]

26. I'll ascribe some of the fault to WM

and the other big chains who egg on the hysteria, and obviously didn't have adequate control measures in place.

[peacetalksforall]

34. Wal-Mart created the setting - allowing a few things to be sold at really

low prices and making it an annual event that they count on and the public supports.

I don't know what it is they are selling, but it's obvious they are only selling a few at a price that drives people to stampede. They could come up with a safer way. It only takes brains and imagination.

Watch, they are going to say that the people expect this from them.

[Politicalboi]

133. Until we see a video

We will get a better look as to who or what happened to the poor store clerk. Wal-Mart should take responsibility for this. They should set up rope lines outside the store single file into the doors with police or security front and back of lines. One at a time. PERIOD. Those who fail the test get booted. It's sad but it would help the mob mentality. They need to look at it like a concert and control the sheeple.

[file83]

72. Considering that Riot Control Police arrest peaceful people at peace rallies...

You would THINK that the store would have been immedietley surrounded by Riot Control Police and EVERYONE not working for the store, in the store, be rounded up and arrested for being involved with a VIOLENT mob.

It's a fucking riot by every definition of the word: Breaking down doors, killing, pillaging...

But in the name of "capitalism" it goes on without a peep from law enforcement. When it's peaceful protesters not harming or breaking anything, they get the 3rd degree treatment from tear-gas, tasers, fire hoses, sound canons, billy clubs, rubber bullets, etc...

Nice world we live in. Makes a lot of sense.

[dana_b]

111. yes!

you are so right! Peaceful protests are seen as potentially dangerous situations but dangling a few carrots (in this case 5 HDTVs) in front of a mob of 500 is seen as "okay and normal? Wal-Mart is partially responsible and definitely those who trampled or ran around the man. I feel sick.

[Raksha]

208. That's a very good point!

[Downtown Hound]

235. Truer words were never spoken

If this had happened at an anti-war rally, that place would have been surrounded, bombarded with tear gas, raided, and everyone in it looking at serious jail time.

[quakerboy]

250. We are speaking of Wall Mart

I'm pretty sure they have sovereignty. More so than Iraq, at any rate. How are US riot Police going to impinge on the territory of State of Greed?

[yardwork]

73. It is Wal-Mart's fault for creating the dangerous situation. They didn't protect people.

If you create a dangerous situation and somebody dies because of it, you can be sued. For instance, if you have a pool in your backyard without a fence and a little kid wanders into it and drowns, you are liable under the law.

Wal-Mart should be liable.

[Acadia Blue]

212. Penny pinching Wal Mart. No security, and no planning.

[progressivebydesign]

102. abso-fucking-lutely!! I wouldn't behave like that, regardless of the "deal"

These people do this every year, even for lesser sales. I can't imagine one person I know acting like that to save $$ on electronics, or whatever. I mean.. isn't that the spirit of Christmas? Acting like a violent mob, breaking down a store's door, and trampling people to death to get presents???? Or is it get things to sell on EBAY???

Walmart has GOT to stop these crazy promotions, BUT people have to stop acting like thugs. They should be in jail.

[skepticscott]

137. see my post 132 above

are you really saying that all those people should go to prison because they tried to keep from being trampled to death themselves? Wal-mart bears the primary responsibility for creating a dangerous situation and not providing adequate security.

[bushmeister0]

159. Make them all work as temps at Wal-Muck for the rest of their lives!

AP:

"Witnesses told the Daily News that before the store was closed, eager shoppers streamed past emergency crews as they worked furiously to save the worker's life."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081128/ap_on_re_us/wal_mart_death

WTF!?

[Boudica the Lyoness]

178. As a farmer I object to that remark

(John Cleese voice here) about animals. Farmyard animals have more sense than to act like humans. The rest of your post I agree with.

[harun]

27. What a culture. I wonder if the people responsible for killing this poor worker learned

any lessons from this. I don't think I am optimistic about that.

[BrklynLiberal]

190. Thge news said that people kept rushing in after the guy fell down, was crushed, and

even while the Firemen were doing CPR on the guy. It appears no one gave a crap about the guy..including Wal-Mart.

[harun]

266. Not surprised. We live in a society of the "I" not the "We".

We don't treat people with dignity any more.

[CitizenPatriot]

28. and some red state moran

already politicized it by saying in a comment "typical blue state". Huh? Moran musta never watched the news and heard about the wall-mart moms for palin. or who voted for palinoscopy.

How sad.

[strategery blunder]

29. Sadly, this happens every single year

Not that a corporation would care, it just wants the numbers. :(

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

30. absolutely walmart has some responsibility in this - crowd control is

managements responsibility = they set up the scenario where many many people are set off like race horses, and have to funnel threw a small opening, so only a few can get the the "prize", and from what I have seen there were no type of barriers or line management in front of the store entrance.

The people were guilty of stupidity and greed, but it all could have been handled better and avoided if Walmart had put up some sort of line management and had some security out there. Walmart is totally culpable imho.

[MisterP]

204. this happened in Dec. '05 at WalMart: they took the last DVD player

out of the box and threw the box into the crowd: whoever got it got the DVD player
All the time they're busy spying on nuns and howling that they're the only place their beleaguered, churchmouse customers can $ave. It's like DeLillo's "Mao II."

[slackmaster]

31. That gives me images of Dawn of the Dead for some reason

I'm staying home.

[d_b]

47. my first thought

[valerief]

92. OMG. You're sooooo right. nt

[stubtoe]

32. It's time we made a serious effort to de-escalate the Christmas shopping / giving feedback loop

as a culture. We don't need all this crap to be happy.

[Wednesdays]

38. Doubt if very many of those shoppers were looking for gifts to give

It's all about "me, me, me," don'tcha know? :eyes:

Talk about invoking primal instincts! They're so keenly aware of mob psychology, Wal-Mart can get hundreds of people to act like animals!

[progressivebydesign]

110. Bingo! They sell this stuff on EBAY. You always see it the next day after Black Friday.

They aren't giving these things away as gifts.

[dana_b]

114. Amen!!

do something good for someone else. I'll bet they'd remember it more than some random piece of junk that was given to them.

[GOTV]

121. It's not like it hasn't been tried ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day

[ekwhite]

248. I bought nothing today myself.

I haven't gone out on Black Friday in years.

[shadowknows69]

33. Are all those eager shoppers going to tell the recipients of their gifts

That an innocent man died to get them their cheaper IPod? This country has officially gone insane. We should be put out of our misery like a suffering dog.

[liberal N proud]

35. Who do you blame, Wal-Mart or the morons going after the deals?

The stores could manage those things much better. They want the hype and the crowd running through the stores chasing down one of those 10 HDTV's that there are 2000 people waiting for.

A local Best Buy set up shopping carts outside the store to control the crowd on the way in. You had to walk single file through the line of carts along side the store to get in. It kept those people who rush the door at the last minute at bay.

[Thickasabrick]

36. Wal-Mart! This happened last year. They could have set up plans

to stop it from happening again!! Greed kills.

[liberal N proud]

39. Exactly

I have made suggestions year after year to the local Wal-Mart manager how to handle the crowd. In one ear and out the other.

[progressivebydesign]

107. BOTH! But the mob is more to blame. I know of no one that would act that way..

..regardless of the deal. Walmart should have stopped this practice long ago when they realized how fucking AWFUL some people can be. But any REASONABLE person would not act like that, regardless of the enticement. That is what I'm thinking this morning. Yes, Walmart should have stopped this practice, but... there is no amount of savings in the world that would force me to act like that. The people do this to sell it on EBAY, not for gifts.

[liberal N proud]

138. Mob mentality

A few charge the door and many others go along because they get wrapped up in it. Still others are swept along to avoid being trampled themselves.

[The Backlash Cometh]

37. What was on sale that would cause such a commotion?

[liberal N proud]

41. $400 Laptops, $600 Flat Screen TV's

[file83]

74. Fry's Electronics has a laptop on sale for $299.

I expect at least 3 people to die at that sale.

[dana_b]

116. I saw that advertised last night

and it scared me. I really did think there would be a stupid riot over those things.

[slackmaster]

49. Remember Cabbage Patch Dolls?

Probably something equally lame.

[704wipes]

228. yeah, like Teddy Ruxpin

[RobinA]

244. I Worked

in a department store in the year of the Cabbage Patch doll. The toy department was on the top floor. When they opened the doors, people ran up both escalators to get to the dolls. I watched it first hand. I don't know if you've ever tried to walk up a down escalator, but you've gotta be moving to actually reach the top. These people made it up the down escalator like it was standing still. Scary.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

40. I do hope,.....

probably against all odds, that the police seized the surveilance videos and that all the people who participated in this melee can be prosecuted for this manslaughter. Additionally, the managers of this store and this firm must share some culpability in this crime. This should not go unanswered.

[Wednesdays]

43. You really think the surveillance tape will see the light of day?

This is Wal-Mart we're talking about. You know...the one with billions of assets and teams of high-priced lawyers, and has stuff like this swept under the rug.

I'd be surprised if there is any punishment on anyone. Someone said this same kind of thing happened just last year...has anything changed since then?

[jwirr]

42. Obviously greed and materialism is more important than life. nt

[NOW tense]

44. P.E.T.W.W.

People For The Ethical Treatment of Walmart Workers

My thoughts go out to the family of the person that was trampled by the sickness that has caused our economic turmoil.

We as a nation need to redefine what our paradigm of enough looks like.

[d_b]

45. what a buncha fucking freaks

zombie assholes, all.

[Blue_Tires]

46. i'm surprised that hasn't happened more often in these stampedes

[liberalmuse]

48. Good God, that is so senseless.

Did they shut down the store? Did people stop and gather their wits about them and think, 'My god, is a human life worth a fucking sale at Wal Mart? I'm so ashamed!' Or did the shopping continue? Why do I think it was the third? Long Island. Is that the place where they have those crazy bridal dress sales?

[yardwork]

77. The article says that the shopping continued.

[MUAD_DIB]

98. They used to have the bridal dress sales at Filenes Basement in Boston.

Never get in the way of a future bride and the dress she has her eye on.

Oh, the humanities...

[scarface2004]

50. christmas zombies unleashed!!!

by the great anti christ walmart

[acmavm]

51. This is surreal. Apparently the humanity in a lot of humans is nonexistant.

Just give 'em some cheap crap they saw advertised on t.v. and they think they've found the meaning of life.

[CitizenPatriot]

52. Images of the French Revolution come to mind

the people killing one another over a loaf of bread while the fat cats sat back and judged the starving for their brutality and vulgarity.

I know that I-Pods are not a loaf of bread; but the same people who created a culture of must-haves and profit off the belief system so carefully fostered in America of consumerism are now... saying how gross the people are who trampled this guy.

It's all so sad. I also found it astounding to read what people view as must-haves in a cut-back Christmas. Wow. this is a really sick culture and we need help. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families. What an awful holiday memory.


edited to add: I am referring to the Wal-Mart execs, not anyone here, when I say fat cats judging the masses. Just a picture I have in mind of them over their fed-exed in from Burgandy dinner tonight.

[DogPoundPup]

53. Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede

Source: New York Daily News

A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.

The 34-year-old 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.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html

[BridgeTheGap]

54. What a sick society this is! What will it take, armed guards!?! n.t

[kestrel91316]

55. WTF is WRONG with people????

[demodonkey]

56. Cops should have shut everyone in the crime scene (store) IN, and held them all responsible...

...including the shoppers who trampled the poor guy, AND management.

My God.

[shadowknows69]

96. Hell yes they should have

When a mob tramples someone there is no one killer in the deal. All these vile consuming animals are responsible for this man's death as is Wal Mart Inc. for not having the sense God gave a cheap Chinese coffee table.

[gristy]

57. Lots of things can incite a riot or a stampede. The sad part of this story is

that this stampede was entirely preventable. Stores need to get out of the business of riling up their customers and if they do and this happens, they should be held accountable in the courts.

[demodonkey]

58. Great way to celebrate Christ's birthday. Just great....

Get your cheap laptop or TV, even if it means trampling another human being.

If Jesus was around there this morning, I imagine he'd be really pissed. I know I am.

:grr:

[OneBlueSky]

59. and 200 people just kept rushing past and over this man . . .

I'm sure that many, if not most, of them consider themselves "good Christians" or "good Jews" or good whatevers . . . and yet they show zero compassion and zero empathy for a fellow human being just so they can be assured of getting a cheap X-Box or Wii . . . and when asked, every one of them will defend their actions in one way or another . . .

we live is a sick, sick materialistic society where most people look out for themselves and don't give a shit about anyone else . . . you see it every day . . . this episode is just an extreme manifestation . . .

[DollyM]

65. I can believe it . . .

My 80 year old mother is a greeter at our Wal-Mart and had to be there at 6 this morning but the store opened at 3. I hope the early morning lunatics got there early and got it out of the way. She has worked at Wal mart for the past 12 years and says that Black Friday gets a little worse every year with people pushing and shoving. She is just a tiny thing so I worry about her and wish she would quit work but I know she can't afford it with the rising cost of living. I wish we could help her but we are both out of jobs and she is just grateful she has a job.

[yardwork]

78. Hugs to your mother and your family.

[progressivebydesign]

104. And the majority of these "doorbuster shoppers" SELL the shit on EBAY the next day!!!

They aren't doing it for presents... they do this shit every year, and they sell the item on EBAY to buy what they want. They try to grab as many of the things as possible, and sell them. And every year someone gets seriously hurt.

[Serge A Storms]

60. all for some cheap crap that will wind up in the trash by feburary

its scary to realize these are the folks around us every day

[RoccoR5955]

62. Try Buy Nothing Day today...

...Adbusters has been doing this for almost 20 years now. One good way to protest the blatant consumerism, and avoid the crowds!
http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

[DogPoundPup]

63. THE OUTRAGE SHOULD ALSO BE the store stayed open with a dead person lying in the door!

[KittyWampus]

87. No, they closed the store.

[valerief]

93. Probably only because it was the scene of a murder. nt

[progressivebydesign]

108. No, I'm sure they were HORRIFIED that their fellow employee was killed by those assholes.

Can you imagine what that would be like? Of course they closed the store.

[valerief]

123. If headquarters said to keep it open, it would stay open. Coworkers feelings play no role in these

decisions. End of story.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

64. So, this is what the world falling apart looks like.

I always wondered. God have mercy on that poor guy and the woman who miscarried.

[Bombero1956]

67. I lay the blame with the store manager

The store I took my daughter to this morning had a line a quarter mile line. There were 3 police officers there to control the shoppers and direct traffic. When the doors opened the people entered in an orderly fashion. My guess is that the manager of this store didn't want to spend the extra money to ensure everybody's safety and now this young man is dead.

[DS1]

75. I blame the frenzied greedy shitheads who can't control themselves

like human beings.

[Skittles]

68. disgusting

a terrible reflection of a consumer mentality gone wrong

[iamahaingttta]

76. The End of Consumer Capitalism

My god, this is fucked up!

Hopefully, this marks the beginning of the end of consumer capitalism.
I know that I never ever ever set foot in those big box stores, and I don't buy any cheap Chinese-made crap that I don't fucking need. More and more people are coming to feel this way. Hopefully this kind of thing will be enough of a wake-up call that we can begin to dismantle this entire system we are stuck in that is based on nothing more than selling junk to the peasants.

I'm all for people having nice things, and those things being readily available to anybody who wants them, but the entire structure of our civilization is built on a scam. We are living in interesting times, and they are going to get even more interesting.

Hopefully, at the other end of it, we can build a system that's more rational. I'm not counting on it, however. We are, after all, human beings...

[prole_for_peace]

81. Yet another reason I don't shop at Walmart.

They rile their shoppers up so much with their "great" deals that these things are bound to happen. Other stores have really great early sales but they let everyone in the store in an orderly fashion. Walmart likes the news images of these people, and I use that word loosely, pushing and shoving to get in. Great advertising and free...


on edit: reading the comments on the article, it seems like some people were much more upset with the baby than the man who was trampled. They are both sad events but the man was actively killed by the crowd and seems like a much more condemable death to me.

[eilen]

273. The news said the baby was fine.--no miscarriage nt

[Danmel]

82. This is what happens when people's status is so dependent on STUFF

This is seriously disturbing. Makes me even more glad that I am not a thing person. I never bought things just to have things- I just buy what I need. Even in a good economy I can't think of anything I'd rather do less than be in a mad throng of crazed people lunging for stuff. ( Well, it's probably better than being in Zimbabwe or Mumbai or undergoing chemo, but you know what I mean!)

[LiberalEsto]

84. Baby Jesus would weep...

This absolutely breaks my heart.

What we call Christmas has regressed so far from its origins that it would be unrecognizable even to people from 70 years ago. Instead of celebrating a miraculous birth, it's become a festival of crass, ugly greed.

I blame television advertising and ruthless corporate executives for manipulating too many Americans into this mind-set. What they've done has destroyed Christmas.

I'm not a Christian -- I'm a pagan Unitarian Universalist who celebrates the winter solstice. I would never dream of celebrating our solstice holiday by going to a WalMart at 3 am to fight for a lower price on some stupid status item that the media has convinced me I absolutely must buy. There is nothing sacred or holy about such an idiotic practice.

Now some poor young guy is dead, and his loved ones have to come to grips with their loss and the horrible way he died. I'd like to know his name so we could shout it in the streets. Maybe he should be made a saint and martyr in a war to reclaim Christmas from the corporate greedheads who created this monstrous distortion.

[KittyWampus]

88. I embrace your past paragraph whole heartedly. This fellow's death must not be in vain.

[tilsammans]

122. Very well said

It's all about ratcheted-up greed on the part of the industry, the store, and the shoppers. "More, more, more" is the mindset. At any cost.

Christmas hasn't been Christmas for a long time, and this is a tragic example of how low things can go.

:cry:

[Bette Noir]

198. A movement. That's what we need.

Drinking and smoking are a fraction of what they used to be, because it became socially unacceptable to drink in excess, or to smoke at all. We can do the same thing with the culture of Too Much. Make it be cool to give small, sentimental, handmade gifts, or invitations to dinner or a show, instead of luxury items we can only afford by breaking down doors to get the "quantities strictly limited" at deep reductions.

[LiberalEsto]

205. Oddly enough I'm giving a sermon about that Sunday

As a member of the Sunday services committee at my Unitarian Universalist congregation, I lead a couple of services every year, even though I'm not a minister.

The one I'm doing this Sunday is called "Simple Gifts.' It's about what really makes Christmas Christmas (or Winter Solstice, Winter Solstice). The idea is that the holiday shouldn't center on gift-giving. I just re-wrote it a bit to discuss the death of the store worker.

The following Saturday we're having a "Hanging the Greens" celebration to decorate the church, along with workshops for kids on handmade gifts and information on simplifying holidays and our lives in general. We have an active Simplicity Circle that focuses on ways to downscale and enrich our lives.

Lots of UU congregations are doing this around the U.S., and I'm sure other religious denominations are also exploring ways to make Christmas more meaningful and less commercial.

I think there is already a movement, but after this Black Friday I hope and pray there will be a lot more people interested in participating.

:hi:

[lebkuchen]

89. People would be liable in Germany for this

not only for creating the problem, but for not stopping to help someone in need. It's against the law to just "move on" if you're at the scene and don't offer assistance. In fact, it's against the law to drive without an emergency kit in one's trunk.

It's on video. Will there be prosecutions or is this "acceptable behavior" in the US?

[valerief]

95. Has Bush been prosecuted for his war crimes yet? No, it's an anything-goes crime culture here. nt

[lebkuchen]

120. until consequence is established....

Americans' cut-throat greedy "me first" attitude, whether at Walmart or the White House, will continue.

It's a sad culture....reminds me of watching a body riddled with cancer slowly deteriorate and eventually "consume" itself.

[mvd]

134. Hear hear!

Also, it's up to us individually to keep the holiday spirit alive, because all too often, things like this tragedy define the holidays.

[Kajsa]

221. That is what we need in the US,Lebkuchen,

If people don't have the common decency to stop and help
someone in need,

make it a &*#$ law that they do so!

Kudos to Germany for doing just that!

[lebkuchen]

269. I think Americans are concerned about lawsuits/bureacratic hassle if they do help

In Germany, you're guaranteed legal problems if you DON'T help.

[Kajsa]

278. Excellent point, Lebkuchen.

I think you are right.

[HEyHEY]

90. free market capitalism at it's worst.

[Psephos]

More like mob behavior at its worst

It's why I don't go to arena concerts anymore.

[progressivebydesign]

94. How awful. People are pigs. I don't blame Walmart entirely, I blame the shoppers.

There is NO reason for them to act like fucking criminals to get DVD players cheap. It's not like a goddamn food riot in famine-infested country. I have long thought that Walmart and other retailers were wrong to have these "Doorbusters", because people are violent and greedy. This shit happens every year, REGARDLESS of our economic situation. I mean.. c'mon. Would any of you actually trample other people to get cheap electronics???

Yes, the people are to blame in this - and Walmart should have known better. These "shoppers" physically "broke down the door" and trampled the worker and other shoppers. The police should have arrested most of them. I'm sick of this behavior.

[mvd]

136. Walmart could have done more, but I agree..

that stampede was just ridiculous. It's like there's little regard for fellow humans anymore, and that attitude has been exacerbated by these 8 long years.

[lebkuchen]

139. I heard that the pregnant woman miscarried

I hope that is misinformation.

Walmart hasn't responded yet. They're probably preparing for lawsuits.

[bushmeister0]

165. A woman at Kay Bee Toys got crushed trying buy a Mutant Ninja Turtle for her kid

back when I worked there in the early nineties. Our manager had to grab her kid and pull him over the register to keep him from getting crushed, too. The woman was alright, but after that whenever we got another shippment of MNTs in we always had security, the ailses were blocked and people had to get tickets.

There were mothers and their kids but they were totally out numbered by all these F'n losers trying to get every MNT they could get to resell for way more who used their size to push ahead.

We learned our lesson the first time, what's Wal-Muck's excuse?

[Touchdown]

253. I was there for Super Mario 4 or Super Metroid or something.

Some big huge, massive, can't miss, nuclear meltdown Nintendo game arrived just before Christmas at Best Buy. We had 3 boxes of them.

The manager got 3 of us, each with a box, at left, center and right of the store. A 4th was by the door directing the mario fans our way. We just knelt on the floor and handed them out. Nobody was hurt. However, hearing this story, I shudder to think what would've happened to me, already on the floor, if that crowd 15 years ago was like this one.

[Wetzelbill]

103. That's sad. These people are adults?

Or close to it? Honestly, I understand hitting a good sale and all, but it's shameful and embarrassing how goofy we get in this country over these things. Was getting in that door a few seconds faster really worth somebody's life?

[ksimons]

105. they've posted some pics prior to the door opening

looked like a nutty set-up - no planning - Walmart is going to be sued to the ends of their budget I'm sure

[progressivebydesign]

109. The people BROKE down the door ahead of opening time. All to sell that shit on EBAY.

How utterly Christian of them.

[DS1]

115. they broke it down?

that's laugh out loud ridiculous

[gristy]

119. No doubt. Walmart is the guilty party for willfully setting up conditions for this stampede.

They will get their ass sued to kingdom come, and it also wouldn't surprise me if criminal charges are brought against Walmart.

Hopefully this will lead to changes in the conditions stores like this set on their sales as well as the way they advertise them.

[durablend]

147. Nah...

They'll get fined and a slap on the wrist, and the Nassau County police will get a nice donation from Bentonville. Pretty much the extent of it...

[BrklynLiberal]

192. Could it be called criminallly negligent homicide on the part of Wal-Mart??

[jberryhill]

113. I hope they all said "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays"

Because you wouldn't want to ruin the sanctity of it all.

[lebkuchen]

126. one worker at the door to control order....

Walmart was completely unprepared and seems out of touch with economic conditions, not to mention the culture it helped to create.

[RamboLiberal]

256. NYT says 6 - 10 workers were trying to hold crowd back

By 4:55, with no police officers in sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had become a rabble, and could be held back no longer. Fists banged and shoulders pressed on the sliding-glass double doors, which bowed in with the weight of the assault. Six to 10 workers inside tried to push back, but it was hopeless.

Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him. Others who had stood alongside Mr. Damour trying to hold the doors were also hurled back and run over, witnesses said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html?ref=nyregion

Still, piss poor planning by this Walmart.

[OhioChick]

118. How tragic...

Just proves how Americans still want that cheap Chinese shit. :shaking head:

[quiet.american]

125. Sick. Disgusting. Horrifying. I can't think of a word strong enough to describe this.

I've NEVER understood the herd mentality around so-called "Black Friday."

[eShirl]

130. it's not the first time, and it won't be the last

this is why I refuse to go out to buy *anything* the day after Thanksgiving

[Chorophyll]

135. How tragic and unnecessary.

Fuck Walmart and corporate bastards everywhere. Why are people taken in by this shit, year after year?

[bklyncowgirl]

140. Wow, Mery Christmas to you, Morons.

Trampling someone for what? Five buck off on a damn blender?

[2Design]

141. This article says the shoppers were escorted from the store with their

purchases - I wish they had taken them away from all of them since those with purchases were likely the ones who murdered the temporary worker - they don't deserve the purchases

[durablend]

144. But think about the ECONOMY!!!!!!!

Heathen!!!!

[mntleo2]

143. Another death to make The Waltons richer

...I just had an argument with a stooopid idiot who thinks that the Waltons are not at fault, oh no the tramplers are. Yes the tramplers are greedy too ~ but the Walton's practice of paying desperate people nothing worldwide, running communities into the ground and killing commerce, forcing other companies to pay pennies for work to go on Walmarts' shelves, and offering "sales" while drawing people to pay the other inflated prices they have in their stores, is *only* to make themselves rich. They care nothing about America or We The People, they care even less about how they make people poorer in other countries, they do it only for their bank accounts. This idiot thinks the Waltons are "smart". Nooooo, they are greedy. and worse they fancy themselves such wonderful "Christians" when they are not ~ they are responsible for much of the world poverty and misery that THEY cause by paying low wages and cheating people out of a decent living. They blatantly ignore that, it is a sin to have more than you need. They "overlook" the first thing their prophet Jesus taught that, "It is harder for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle ..." (Matt 19:16-24). They ignore these teachings and they are selfish SOBS. Period! I hope that they are sued within an inch of their bank accounts over this, though I doubt it will happen. People like that will *never* see their hypocrsy or their greed for what it is and what it does. I can say I have *never* stepped foot in a Walmart and I am poor, but I have found my local merchants are just as reasonable and far more caring of their community. I support them instead of a bunch of greedy people who only care about themselves and hoarding WAY more than they need.

Cat In Seattle

[McCamy Taylor]

146. Muslims get trampled in Mecca by religious fervor. We get trampled by consumer greed.

Whatever you desire...

[slackmaster]

262. Even Hindus get trampled in riots of religious fervor

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/children-trampled-as-145-die-in-hindu-temple-stampede-884248.html

[Libertas1776]

148. Disgusting...

what a horrendous way to go :-(
trampled to death by your "fellow man" or more appropriately mindless drones on their quest to purchase lead based, plastic Chinese crapola frm the corporate overlords. Alas, such is mob mentality. A person is usually level minded, rational being but put them in a large group they become a ravenous rabble with wanton destruction on their collective mind. :mad:

It is truly a disgrace that only a handful of shoppers actually stopped to realize the situation and left out of respect, whilst the majority continued on their bargain quest, the bastards! The truly sad thing is that Slave-Mart will get away with this! In any other country in the civilized world their asses would have gone to jail, from the tramplers to the corporate execs.
Welcome to the USA!

RIP young man, you wont be forgotten.:grouphug:

[fascisthunter]

150. There's Bush's 23% Support

buy, buy, buy, more, more, more, mine, mine, mine......

I couldn't resist. It's sad to see people so damn crazed about consumerism.

[Sanity Claws]

151. Will this break the hold consumerism has on people?

I wonder how people involved in the stampede feel. Will they step back and say, I was part of this, just to get a cheap flat screen tv?
Walmart is culpable but they're not going to change. It's just a soulless, lifeless thing. People can change. Unwitting participation in this senseless death may wake up some people from their consumerism-induced stupor.

[AllyCat]

153. It's all forgiven as long as they keep the Christ in Christmas

WTF is the matter with people?

[Iwillnevergiveup]

154. Black Fridays at ALL stores

need to be permanently cancelled. I'm sure the employees would appreciate not having to get up in the middle of the night, too. Kinda busts up Thanksgiving family time.

[citizen snips]

155. that store should be shut down

permanently. And management should be prosecuted for the unsafe business environment.

[El Fuego]

160. I despise Wal-Mart, but this time they are not to blame.

This morning, the same Black Friday events went on all over the country at Walmarts, Best Buys, etc. without major incidents. But at this Walmart, the crowd behaved like animals and an innocent man is dead. THEY are responsible for their own behavior. I don't see why this particular Walmart should be held responsible for not anticipating tbat an angry violent mob would take the doors off the hinges and trample a man to death. Why should a store be found negligent for simply expecting people to behave like civilized human beings?

[gristy]

176. What Walmart did was incite a riot. That is against the law.

[El Fuego]

195. By having a SALE???

It's the goal of any retail store to have people descend en masse and make purchases at the retail store. If someone incites a riot they are guilty of directing others to commit violent acts. Walmart did not urge or even encourage the crowd to commit acts of violence.

Is our society so morally impoverished that it is now a given that sale-priced electronics are going to lead to mob violence and death?

[Bette Noir]

202. Heck, didn't they call it a "Door Buster"?

The crowd busted the doors. They did as they were directed, and someone's dead as a result. Sounds like inciting to me.

[El Fuego]

207. Well, there ya go! Can't blame them for following directions well.

[PatrynXX]

166. accomplice to murder

need to charge the lot of them. especially the ones ignoring the rescue crews.

Like brainless ants. Gets worse every year.

[FloridaJudy]

169. A wild-eyed man from the Middle East

Was spotted a short time later entering the Wal-Mart and casting out all them that sold and bought in housewares, and overthrowing the tables of the patio furniture, and the seats of them that sold HDTVs.

Homeland Security has been alerted.



Never mind. It was just a fantasy. But I'll bet He wept when he read this article.

[frylock]

171. god bless us, everyone

[Roon]

191. Just yeserday I saw a bumper sticker that said,

God Bless Everyone, No Exceptions

[liberal N proud]

173. Two people killed in Toys R Us in California

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=mk_us&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:342c0f0c-22c4-453d-bbb2-e540838c193e&showPlaylist=true&from=mymsn&fg=gtlv2

[no_hypocrisy]

174. At Least One Person Shot at Toys-R-Us in Palm Desert

What a shame I have to report the spread of mindless greed, stupidity, and malice.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3621913

Is it worth the cost for STUFF???!!!!

[MetaTrope]

175. Wonder if any of them noticed the blood on their shoes later?

[Kajsa]

177. This is a horrible tragedy, he should NOT

have been ALONE trying to hold back the crowd.

That poor man,pregnant lady and baby!

At least three or four clerks should have been inside
of the doors and several security officers doing crowd control
outside.

This didn't have to happen, but it did, at Wal-Mart the low
price,human life is a low priority leader.

:(

[LisaL]

179. There was at least one other worker with him.

[Kajsa]

187. I'm glad he wasn't alone,

but two weren't enough to manage that crowd.

[Bette Noir]

183. Dear God.

Never go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.

I try to finish my shopping by early October, but that's me.

[BrklynLiberal]

188. This was a tragedy..a real tragedy...but if it had to happen, it could not have happened to a more

deserving money-sucking, Chinese-importing, smalltown-store-destroying, corporate sack of crap.

[clear eye]

197. It didn't happen to Wal-mart.

It happened to its underpaid temp worker. There is no upside here.

[gristy]

218. I absolutely disagree. This did happen to Walmart, and they will pay a price in many ways

and for some time to come.

[clear eye]

260. Riiiiiiight. ;-(

[Optimistic]

201. IT would have been alright If

If the ones who died was one of the Waltons then it would have been a great day in America

[no_hypocrisy]

206. Welcome to DU. Point well taken.

[BrklynLiberal]

216. The tragedy was the death of the employee. What WalMart deserves is the horrific PR that they will

get because of this man's death.

[gatorboy]

193. Geez.. Don't these people realize Wal-Mart will have the same sale in a few weeks?

[earth mom]

194. This is horrific-just think how people will behave if this country sinks into the Great Depression 2

Picture people killing each other for a loaf a bread or a warm blanket.... :yoiks:

[cushla_machree]

200. There is no feeling of togetherness anymore

We are all in it for ourselves...when i picture another depressionm I just think of post hurricane Katrina...people aren't going to work together, they are going to rob and loot and roam the streets with guns keeping 'outsiders' out.

[earth mom]

209. Yep-it will be just like the Wild West.

:scared:

[Optimistic]

196. Time has come to ban Black Friday,Unless

THe Stores must be made to hire Hundreds of Security guards to control crowds and have an orderly line set up for Crowd Control, and then be made to allow only 10 shoppers in at a time every 10 minutes.

[AZ Criminal JD]

203. How idiotic

Why don't we just close all stores every day.

[Moosepoop]

199. I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner

I worked for a small-town Wal-Mart for years, including eight Black Fridays. Each time, the store manager that year would unlock the 2 sets of side doors at each end of the vestibule (this was before the store became a SuperCenter), and then have to literally jump back from each as quickly as possible in order to avoid being flattened by the onrushing crowd. The shoppers would flat-out run in a herd, pushing and shoving each other the whole time, to the areas such as electronics where the big deals were. One year an elderly lady was knocked to the ground, and fights at the shelves for the few in-stock sale items were common. Displays were knocked over, etc. It was insane.

After the first year, I told anyone who planned on shopping the early deals on Black Friday, "Don't go in there without a gun." (I said it in jest.) Having seen the riot mentality that goes with Black Friday sales, I decided to never be anywhere near any store during the onslaught in the early morning, unless I had to be there as an employee. I am so grateful to be working somewhere else now.

The good news: It appears that the article in the OP has been updated, and the pregnant lady did not miscarry after all. She was hospitalized for observation.

[Acadia Blue]

210. I hope the family sues Wal Mart and wins. I hate those bloate parasites

who underpay and overwork and mistreat their workers.

[happygoluckytoyou]

214. SAFETY IS OUR 2ND PRIORITY----- PROFIT IS OUR FIRST PRIORITY.... GET OVER IT ! ! !

[Career Prole]

217. Imagine how the food lines will be when the time comes.

As it surely will.

[Waiting For Everyman]

223. But LI is wealthy, isn't it? And what's worse, the man was a temp to boot.

Not even a "regular" Walmart employee. How sad that is, just to try and make so little, and only 34 years old. :cry:

But are there seriously poor areas of Long Island, to explain such insane behavior by these droves of "shoppers"? What bothers me is this wasn't a food store or a great job fair. This doesn't seem to be desperation about necessities.

Were these people just that aggressive about getting a better "deal" on for instance a bigscreen tv, that they could've afforded at another place and time anyway?

*edit: I see now what happened - this was about thugs who were there to buy in quantity and resell this stuff. Years ago, a store had to provide a "raincheck" if there wasn't enough stock for a special offer to the public. Walmart could also make it "one to a customer" on deep discount offers. Really what it amounts to this way is a "bait and switch" because obviously most legitimate shoppers drawn to the store by these special discounts won't get them. Bait and switch USED TO BE an illegal practice in itself.

[nedbal]

231. This store is on the NYC border, 90%+++ of the customers are from Queens

Very few of the Nassau County (long island ) locals go to that shopping centre anymore. Next to this wal-mart is the first movie theater to get metal detectors in the state. I grew up in Valley Stream where this happened. Locals gave it up to the Queens crowd in the 80's. Crime is constant there. This was NOT about reselling on ebay, it's the savages that now frequent this shopping area.

[Waiting For Everyman]

249. Wow, that's more depressing. And thanks though.

This story needed the local perspective in it, that you just gave, to even make sense. It must be awful too, to have this happen to the place where you grew up.

I can relate to what you're saying though. I watched Columbia, MD be taken over by crime the same way in the early 80's. It changed so much, so fast.

[clear eye]

271. There are fairly sizeable poor areas in L.I.,

but "seriously" poor people can't even afford sale prices. People there were planning on spending $600 for a huge TV that usually sells for over a thousand. It is quite possible that many of them couldn't even wrangle enough credit to buy a $1200 TV in the foreseeable future, but they could have made do with a smaller, $600 TV. I can't even begin to understand the mentality, as I watch TV on a 14" CRT that I bought in '92 because unlike my previous one it has color and stereo sound. Weirdly, some of the people who are the most gung-ho about the giant TVs are the same people who carry around tiny DVD players, and watch on 3" TVs when they aren't home. :shrug:

Sorry but you are wrong about buying in quantity. Everyone knows a "quantities strictly limited sale" only allows you to buy one or two of the sale item. Most people have learned that stores with these sales only put out a handful of the items in total. That's why some of the people behind the first 20 were going to make sure they got in with the first bunch no matter what store employees tried to do. Maybe a few people were planning on selling an HD-TV or two on eBay, but most just wanted one for themselves.

Yes, the type of sales Wal-Mart was running on Friday is a variation of "bait and switch". They are regulated by state law, and the states need to close the loopholes that allow this practice. Please see my previous posts: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4551482&mesg_id=4555319 and http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4551482&mesg_id=4555372 and http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4551482&mesg_id=4555460

[BrklynLiberal]

224. A post from someone who used to work at Wal-Marts and opened the doors

2 years ago on Black Friday.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4551482

[valerief]

225. Wal-Mart gave me a great price on pajamas for my three boys--

and I only had to kill two people to get them.

Sorry for the dark humor but I just saw an Evil Empire Wal-Mart commercial, and all I could think about was the Black Friday tragedy, a preventable tragedy.
:grr:

[npk]

229. Here's what's going to happen

The families of the victim and the lady that miscarried will sue wal mart. Wal Mart will settle and pay up some doe. In the end Wal Mart will continue to do business without even so much as a hiccup, and sales and profits will once again be through the roof. The average person with a family, and tight budget want give a damn about Wal Marts practices or their level of culpability in this matter. It's sad, very sad what happened, but Wal Mart will go on continuing dishonorable business practices while their retail workers and customers continue to get screwed. The only way this will change is when the retail workers demand things change.

[Jamastiene]

264. That is EXACTLY what will happen.

Wal-Mart will NOT be held responsible or change their practices in any way.

[Hawaii Hiker]

230. Talk about the dark side of humanity - Absolutely no reason in the f-ing world

for something like this to happen.....They need to study the camera footage & file some SERIOUS criminal charges here...

[Downtown Hound]

234. Dies for a minimum wage job

working for a corporation that gets it's products from slave labor and destroys American small businesses, all for a bunch of greedy asswipes that can't get enough cheap crap.

God bless America. I know this kind of shit happens in other places, but still....

[kenfrequed]

238. Terrible.

A sad and pathetic metaphor for how the American interest exerts itself abroad. We want it all and we want it now and you damned sure better not get in the way.

[Butch350]

239. Now that we've vented, remember one thing...

SHIT HAPPENS SOMETIMES AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!

[clear eye]

272. DU was created to facilitate changing things for the better. n/t

[muntrv]

241. Have these tragedies happened at other stores? Or is this unique to Wal Mart?

Just curious.

[silverojo]

242. The more I read of this, the less I think Wal-Mart could've handled it

From the article:

Before police shut down the store, eager shoppers streamed past emergency crews as they worked furiously to save the store clerk's life.

"They were working on him, but you could see he was dead, said Halcyon Alexander, 29. "People were still coming through."

Only a few stopped.

"They're savages," said shopper Kimberly Cribbs, 27. "It's sad. It's terrible."

The crowds are to blame...period.

The only thing Wal-Mart could've done differently would have been to call 911 and get riot police out there. No way could and store's security handle thugs like that, who literally broke the doors off their hinges.

This isn't a Wal-Mart problem. It's a "Black Friday" problem. As long as stores have Black Friday sales which attract hordes of shoppers, incidents like this will occur.

Sane people skip Black Friday altogether. It's a day when animalistic people gleefully come out of their cages to do battle with the masses, in order to get sale merchandise before the stores are sold out.

Stopping Black Friday sales and stocking adequate amounts of merchandise would be the answer. Maybe Black Friday doesn't result in frequent deaths, but there ARE numerous injuries that don't make the news.

The whole concept of Black Friday sales fuels this already sick mentality of people who will LITERALLY stomp someone to death, to snag an electronic thingamajig before they're all gone.

If you want to blame Wal-Mart for having sales like this, I'm with you. But only on the condition that you blame ALL the stores who participate in this "tradition" year after year.

[Jennicut]

243. Black Friday really sickens me as well. Consumerism at its worst.

Stomping over someone to get a cheap toy or cell phone or whatever is disgusting. Wal-Mart probably didn't handle it all that well but the people themselves should be ashamed of themselves. I totally avoid stores during this time of year. In fact, I really don't buy Christmas presents for anyone but a few for our two daughters (what kid doesn't love presents under the tree?). My girls and I make homemade ornaments for everyone (we get stuff from a craft store and they have tons of fun) and I also take a picture of them in front of our Christmas tree every year. If anyone is disappointed in that, they have not said anything to us. When people give us gifts we say thank you but I never expect to get anything, my husband and I don't even get stuff for each other. We don't have the money anyways, as I am staying home with our 3 and 4 year olds. I am so over standing in line for hours to buy, buy, buy stuff that no adult needs anyways.

[clear eye]

275. Wrong. It could have been handled outside before the store opened.

As a poster above noted, near-riots happened in previous years around such sales, so Wal-Mart knew exactly what to expect. If the store insisted on running such a sale, they needed to created security-controlled lines and barriers as is done outside popular clubs on Saturday nights. Anyone not obeying security should have been reported to police for the safety of others. If Wal-Mart was not willing to go to such lengths, previous experience would dictate that they not have that kind of sale.

[jennied]

246. so FUCKING SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of the customers that ran through the doors should be sent to jail for the rest of their lives.

I don't think that would be harsh at all.

[RamboLiberal]

251. Jdimytai Damour - American-Born Son of Haitian immigrants

Damour, the American-born son of Haitian immigrants, grew up in Freeport and graduated from Freeport High School in 1993. His friends and family call him "Jimmy" or "Demitri" and describe him as "a big guy," who "was always laughing."

He attended Nassau County Community College for a time but apparently didn't graduate, according to relatives.

His cousin, Nicole Jean, was on the phone to Damour's mother in Haiti Friday evening trying to help her arrange a flight to New York. His father, Orgera Charles, seemed shell-shocked at his apartment in Flushing, saying "He didn't get married. He didn't have the baby yet."

Nicole Jean said Damour's supervisor at the temp service where he worked complained that Wal-Mart wasn't using him for the intended job.

"He wasn't supposed to be working security on the door," she quoted him as saying. She seemed to be blaming the store for creating the situation that lead to the man's death.

http://wcbstv.com/local/walmart.worker.trampled.2.875747.html

Video report at the link.

Shoppers Fight At Wal-Mart

In the early morning rush at a Wal-Mart on Black Friday, customers fight over the last X-Box 360 console.

Video: http://www.wavw.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=244038&article=4651903

Sad. My bet is Wal-Mart will end up paying little to the family and since he wasn't yet married I bet his child(unborn at this time) won't get any compensation for losing a dad.

And I'm surprised there is no mention of the f'in local and national media who delight in promoting this frenzy. Local news in Pittsburgh I was watching Thanksgiving were showing some local idiots who lined up Thanksgiving morning at a Best Buy for a store opening 22 hours later! Out there in chairs, tents, sleeping bags, etc. The media stirs up the frenzy!

[RamboLiberal]

252. Photos of the Scene

Hundreds of shoppers smashed through windows at a Long Island Wal-Mart early Friday morning, killing one store employee in the stampede. Click here to read more details. News' reader Nakea Augustine caught the chaotic scene on her cell phone, check out the photos.


The unruly crowds stormed the store at 5 a.m., when the Valley Stream store opened. Above, shoppers wait for the doors to open.


Hundreds gathered before the store's opening.


A Police officer stands near a sign reading "Blitz Line Starts Here" on a wall outside of the Walmart.

[RamboLiberal]

254. More from NYT - the warnings of mob mentality and danger were there

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.

Tension grew as the 5 a.m. opening neared. Someone taped up a crude poster: “Blitz Line Starts Here.”

By 4:55, with no police officers in sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had become a rabble, and could be held back no longer. Fists banged and shoulders pressed on the sliding-glass double doors, which bowed in with the weight of the assault. Six to 10 workers inside tried to push back, but it was hopeless.

Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him. Others who had stood alongside Mr. Damour trying to hold the doors were also hurled back and run over, witnesses said.

Some workers who saw what was happening fought their way through the surge to get to Mr. Damour, but he had been fatally injured, the police said. Emergency workers tried to revive Mr. Damour, a temporary worker hired for the holiday season, at the scene, but he was pronounced dead an hour later at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html?ref=nyregion

[no_hypocrisy]

261. The NYT published this story in THE BUSINESS SECTION. Not NY Region, not

a breaking story, not national, not human interest.

The crux of this story is business, not people.

[ForeignSpectator]

255. And human beings are different from animals in which way again??

What a totally pointless death. What did they sell anyway, universal health-care?

[Jamastiene]

265. Human beings are the most dangerous animals on the face of the planet.

We know better, but do bad stuff anyway. That's the difference.

[RamboLiberal]

257. More info on the story from Newsday FWIW

The stampede began when people who had gathered well before 5 a.m. in the rear of the line began pushing, cascading the people in the front into the sliding supermarket-type doors, which were knocked off their hinges, Fleming said.

Augustine, 26, said the melee began just after a Wal-Mart employee told the crowd the store would open earlier than the scheduled 5 a.m. opening. The employee then said it was a joke. This angered the crowd, leading to people trying to rush the store, Augustine said.

Frightened employees initially used the doors as makeshift shields to defend against the onslaught of shoppers, she said.

At that point, lots of people were on the ground, she said, not just Damour.

-----

Wal-Mart defended its security, a store executive said in a statement on Friday. The chain says it hired additional security personnel, staffed the store with more employees, and erected barricades, said Hank Mullany, president of the company's Northeast division.

-----

Jim Carver, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, said the police department should have planned better and specifically assigned more officers to patrol high-traffic shopping areas, like the Green Acres Mall area.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-listam295945786nov29,0,6659497.story

[clear eye]

277. The "additional security" was probably posted inside to stop shoplifting,

instead of outside maintaining order. I guess Nassau County police was too cowed by Wal-Mart (and maybe the crowd as well) to come in en masse to disperse the crowd, with teargas if necessary, when it was clear by 4:30am that they were out of control. And the store manager was rightly afraid of being fired if he (they never have a woman manage a Wal-Mart, though Wal-Mart's been sued multiple times for gender discrimination) asked the police to do so.

Insanity and poor judgement all around, the public included.

(Edited for typo.)

[RamboLiberal]

258. Victim's Life a Struggle

Stampede victim Jdimytai Damour was just one of millions of Americans who lost his job recently in this tough economy.

The 34-year-old Queens man was working at the Wal-Mart at the Green Acres Mall yesterday trying to make ends meet when he was crushed to death by a restless crowd eager to take advantage of post-Thanksgiving sales.

-----

In his high-school years, Damour lived with his father, Ogera Charles, 66.

After attending both Freeport HS and St. Pius Catholic HS on Long Island, he attended Nassau Community College.

He never graduated, and eventually took a position as a customer-service representative, a job he recently lost.

Charles said Damour was often struggling for money and would occasionally come to him for help.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11292008/news/regionalnews/victims_life_a_struggle_141388.htm

Just a man trying to earn an honest wage. F'ck Wal-Mart and F'ck those who became a mob to get cheap electronics!

[nichomachus]

263. As long as the workers remembered to say "Merry Christmas" not "Happy Holidays"

as they were being trampled.

Baby Jesus will be so happy at how they're celebrating his birthday.



:sarcasm:

[hvn_nbr_2]

267. Yes. Hey, O'Lielly, here's your REAL war on Christmas. nt

[alfredo]

270. How long will it be before someone sells a Tee Shirt that

states, "I trampled you mother at Wal Mart."

[excess_3]

274. everyone knows the risk n/t

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

276. What a waste.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html?page=1

<snip>

The Long Island store reopened at 1 p.m. and was packed within minutes.

"I look at these people's faces and I keep thinking one of them could have stepped on him," said one employee. "How could you take a man's life to save $20 on a TV?"

<snip>

Enough said.

I hope Keith does a special comment on this next week.