Is that why my shoes are all greasy?

The first fifty shoppers get a Wii and 25 years in prison.

Some say love ... it is a flower ...

I honestly hope that Wal-Mart gets the bejeesus sued out of them by this man's family, and that the settlement is an amount so vast that stores will begin to rethink these types of idiotic "blitzkreig" sales. Or, at least, take steps to control them in a way that suggests the people planning them aren't being willfully stupid, ignorant, naive, and negligent.

But he ran right out in front of them!


/More casualties to be expected from the litigation of lawyers pounding their way to sue Wal Mart for this.

Like they're going to find any of them.

I wonder if Walmart does focus-groups to see what gets people most ginned-up. If lawyers are able to go after that, it might prove liability.

Reviewing of the security videos at the door and registers should be enough to identify those responsible. Assuming that these people weren't carrying cash for their purchases, credit/debit/personal checks at the registers should help in identifying them.

Chances are, those people rushing in made a purchase and weren't just looking, match the unknowns at the door, with the 'knowns' at the registers.

calbert: Chances are, those people rushing in made a purchase and weren't just looking, match the unknowns at the door, with the 'knowns' at the registers.

Pretty sure they closed the place shortly after the death. I don't think they're going to have many sales from that day.

Pocket Ninja: Long time Listener, First time caller ... but in light of this little revelation:

FTA Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store.

It would seem like walmart, for once, is not to blame this time.

/or do i need to recalibrate my sarcasmometer??

FootInMouthDisease: It would seem like walmart, for once, is not to blame this time.

No, they're absolutely to blame. They allowed a massive crowd to assemble that was clearly beyond the capacity of the doors to handle, and they created the circumstances that led to a riot-like environment (I predict the "blitz line starts here" sign hanging on the store wall will be used as evidence against them). They deliberately fueled a mob scene with predictable results, and they deserve to be punished for it. As do all stores that foster this type of environment. If you want to create a seething frenzy built around huge discounts on a very limited number of goods, you need to be prepared to handle the crowds that come out in response to it. If you're not prepared, you're responsible.

FootInMouthDisease: It would seem like walmart, for once, is not to blame this time.

Wal-Mart shares some culpability.

Other stores take adequate security measures and implement effective crowd control procedures. They ensure that people are cordoned off such that they can't stampede.

However, criminal charges need to be brought against every single farking animal who stepped on this guy in their orgy. It's farking disgusting to watch the savage animals behave like this, and they'd be better off out of our society.

FootInMouthDisease: It would seem like walmart, for once, is not to blame this time.

/or do i need to recalibrate my sarcasmometer??

No, you're fine. Wal-mart isn't to blame for this situation. What's disturbing is the wider implication - that this country is so desperate for cheap plastic crap that they're trampling people to death to get to it first. I remember reading an article about a farm owner who opened his fields to the public after harvest so they could take whatever leftovers they could find...and 40,000 people showed up. that's disturbing on many levels.

FTFA: "Shoppers around the country line up early outside stores on the day after Thanksgiving in the annual bargain-hunting ritual known as Black Friday. It got that name because it has historically been the day when stores broke into profitability for the full year."

I always thought it was because it was an evil day.

SchlingFocker: However, criminal charges need to be brought against every single farking animal who stepped on this guy in their orgy. It's farking disgusting to watch the savage animals behave like this, and they'd be better off out of our society.

Absolutely.

FootInMouthDisease:
/or do i need to recalibrate my sarcasmometer??

No, you just need to turn on your Pocket Ninja-o-meter

SchlingFocker: However, criminal charges need to be brought against every single farking animal who stepped on this guy in their orgy. It's farking disgusting to watch the savage animals behave like this, and they'd be better off out of our society.

That's pre-9/11 mentality.

Weaver95 FootInMouthDisease: It would seem like walmart, for once, is not to blame this time.

/or do i need to recalibrate my sarcasmometer??

No, you're fine. Wal-mart isn't to blame for this situation. What's disturbing is the wider implication - that this country is so desperate for cheap plastic crap that they're trampling people to death to get to it first. I remember reading an article about a farm owner who opened his fields to the public after harvest so they could take whatever leftovers they could find...and 40,000 people showed up. that's disturbing on many levels.

Agreed. while i think Pocket Ninja and SchlingFocker raised valid points (i.e. they should have had security staff or a queue cordoned off) really people, there wasnt a fire or any real emergency.. this was just a reminder of why we should never underestimate stupid people in large numbers.

ne2d FootInMouthDisease:
/or do i need to recalibrate my sarcasmometer??

No, you just need to turn on your Pocket Ninja-o-meter

rather it needs to be reset apparently...

he just does it so well, fortunately he uses his power for good.

I hope Wal-Mart is held accountable for their criminal actions.

At my local Walmart it was all crickets and frogs ... hardly anyone there ... but it's end of month and the SS checks hadn't arrived or the unemployment/welfare ... it does get crazy though at the first of the month ....

just make limited quantity, no raincheck sales illegal. Problem solved.

that said, fry the bastards. Even a FREE big screen LCD isn't worth another person's life.

/well, some people are pretty worthless
//but the point is, you can't assume

I blame Obama.

FootInMouthDisease: Weaver95 FootInMouthDisease: It would seem like walmart, for once, is not to blame this time.

/or do i need to recalibrate my sarcasmometer??

No, you're fine. Wal-mart isn't to blame for this situation. What's disturbing is the wider implication - that this country is so desperate for cheap plastic crap that they're trampling people to death to get to it first. I remember reading an article about a farm owner who opened his fields to the public after harvest so they could take whatever leftovers they could find...and 40,000 people showed up. that's disturbing on many levels.

Agreed. while i think Pocket Ninja and SchlingFocker raised valid points (i.e. they should have had security staff or a queue cordoned off) really people, there wasnt a fire or any real emergency.. this was just a reminder of why we should never underestimate stupid people in large numbers.

ne2d FootInMouthDisease:
/or do i need to recalibrate my sarcasmometer??

No, you just need to turn on your Pocket Ninja-o-meter

rather it needs to be reset apparently...

he just does it so well, fortunately he uses his power for good.

Completely disagree. Walmart and any other store that panders to this Black Friday Blitzkreig needs to have their colective asses sued and maybe they will rethink this stupidity.

It happened with the concerts. No longer doing festival seating after so many were killed in another bit of mass stupidity.

Mongo cut wood: I blame Obama.

That got a much louder snicker out of me than it deserved.

Redistribution of wealth?

why does the media feel compelled at the end of the article to say what the sales were? Its like it was vindicating the crowd's reaction.

Way too close to home. Poor guy.

/Live about 20 minutes east
//WalMart hasn't really taken hold here until recently

Fine... sue Walmart... but there HAS to be a suit against all the tramplers.

I'm more for the "Personal Responsibility model"... where we get after the damn tramplers and get them doing some serious community service. (I don't think putting them in jail will help much. Maybe the community service should come in the form of opening the doors at Walmart next Black Friday.)

BalugaJoe: I hope Wal-Mart is held accountable for their criminal actions.

I do like how the spokesman for Wal-Mart strategically said "despite all of our precautions"

Someone is trying to defend against any claims of negligence. Its smart though, let em know, "hey we did our jorbs, we can't be held accountable for all those crazy bargain hunters"

/ I don't think wal-mart is to blame

While I think it's appalling what happened, how many people do you think stepped on this guy/didn't stop to help because of fear of being trampled themselves?

Seriously, imagine being like the 500th person in line, you're just trying to make your way in the store, it's wall to wall people, you can't see anything except the back of the person in front of you, and you have 1500 idiots behind you pushing and shoving to get in the store to save a couple of bucks.

This is why I never have and never will shop on Black Friday.

There's a special place in hell for people who think a 9$ copy of
The Hulk is worth killing for.

Ude Garami: FTA: It got that name because it has historically been the day when stores broke into profitability for the full year.

I'm pretty sure that this particular ex-post-facto explanation is ridiculous. If you're running a business that is losing money up to the end of November, then you're not going to be in business for very long.

Anyway, "Black Friday" has only referred to the day after Thanksgiving for the last ten years, if even that long.

Anyone who blames the shoppers has never been trapped in a throng. There is NO WAY that any individual can stop when a crowd of hundreds is driving forward behind you. At that point, it's purely a matter of uncontrollable forces, not morality. That is why people get trampled at concerts, soccer games, and other mass events. As horrified as you may be, as much as you wish you could stop, you MUST keep moving.

Fortunately, it happens so rarely in this country that most people are completely ignorant of this.

/But your ignorance does not make you right.

I love the fact that this happened in New York. I thought Walmart was a just a place for those yokels in flyover to swarm to.

I think you can more accurately blame this on the filth that lives in NY than Walmart.

FTFC: "Cheap plastic shiat flows though the doors of a Wal-Mart."

GaryPDX: Like they're going to find any of them.

They have cameras all over the place. If these people were stealing from the store I suspect they would catch some of them in short order. I think it's just a question about motivation.

Home on a saturday reading Fark. Mocking some strangers death that came before mine could.

Someone call the family and tell them to lighten up for gods sake bwahaha!!


/am I doing it right?

just_dis_guy: Even a FREE big screen LCD isn't worth another person's life.

Depends. On the brand. On the person.

Some combinations are win-win.

Pocket Ninja: I honestly hope that Wal-Mart gets the bejeesus sued out of them by this man's family, and that the settlement is an amount so vast that stores will begin to rethink these types of idiotic "blitzkreig" sales. Or, at least, take steps to control them in a way that suggests the people planning them aren't being willfully stupid, ignorant, naive, and negligent.

Good idea! Blame Wal-Mart and not the people that trampled a man to death. It's all Wal-Mart's fault for having a sale!!!!

Let me guess, voted for Obama? Personal accountability....We mourn thee!

I was at Walmart this morning. I waited in line to trample a man to death for my daughter.

You know what ticks me off about you people? You are all criticizing the shoppers who have a herd mentality and trample people, and yet not one of you lazy bums got your butts out of bed at 4:30 this morning to drive to the store to make sure somebody else died before a Christmas shopping spree.

If you don't get what you want for Christmas this year, who are you going to blame? Not your mom, I hope. Not the one who did the cooking and the cleaning and the decorating and the shopping and the wrapping and trampling of temporary employees so Christmas would be nice for YOU.

Do you think I WANTED to get out of bed at 4:30 this morning after spending all day yesterday orchestrating Thanksgiving and then trample a man to death? How about a little less disrespect and an occasional "Thanks, mom, for trampling a man to death".

If you've ever waited outside for a store to open on Black Friday, you deserve to be liquidated regardless if you trampled anyone or not.

Rainbowtyedye: While I think it's appalling what happened, how many people do you think stepped on this guy/didn't stop to help because of fear of being trampled themselves?

Anyone who's ever been in even a tame mosh pit realizes that in a struggling mob, sometimes you don't go where you wanted to or expected to.

When I tried to get a Wii for my son about 3 months after it came out, I went to a local Toys R Us at 7 a.m. on a Sunday. They had limited quantities, about a dozen per store. About an hour before opening, there were probably 100 people there. The manager showed up, went down the line asking what we were there for, we dutifully answered a Wii, and he gave a coupon to the first 12 people in line. He calmly explained to the rest of the masses that they only had 12 and that they were already accounted for. Most folks went home, a few at the head of the line sold the coupons for a healthy profit (I would have, but my son's birthday was the next Saturday).

No mad rush, a few grumbles from the late arrivers, but that was that. All in all a civil way to avoid a race through the store and fistfights.

/I avoid black Friday like the plague
//and Who concerts!

Two paragraphs, two sentences. This writer is awesome!

FTA: Items on sale at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart included a Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV for $798, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28, a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69 and DVDs such as "The Incredible Hulk" for $9.

Hmm... $9 DVDs... definitely worth trampling over, and killing, someone!

/sarcasm
//disgusting animals
//there need to be criminal charges filed

Haven't seen the video, so would I be correct in assuming that the folks in front were being pushed by the crush of people behind them?

Or would a simple "Pardon me, but would you stop a moment? This gentleman seems to have fallen," have stopped the whole crowd?

Holy hell, when you need a set of plastic cups for 50 cents, you REALLY DO need a set of plastic cups for 50 cents.

MilesTeg: I love the fact that this happened in New York. I thought Walmart was a just a place for those yokels in flyover to swarm to.

I think you can more accurately blame this on the filth that lives in NY than Walmart.

Thank you for enlightening me. All this time I've thought that a person's individual qualities determine whether or not they're "filth." But now, thanks to you, not only do I know that it's based on where one lives, but that my geographical location immediately qualifies me as "filth." You've been a life-changer.