Black Friday Chat (11/28/08)

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[mimi]

I don't shop, ever!  If I need something I go get it and go home.  I can't think of anything worse than shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving and wouldn't go if they were giving the store away.

Messy business, these holidays.

[Kilia]

I don't do "Black Friday"...do most of my shopping online now. lol

[StephInMN]

I wonder if Wal-Mart will provide any type of financial assistance for the family of the temporary worker who was trampled to death? Will the shoppers be prosecuted? This seems negligent on so many levels.

I drove 11 hours today, so I didn't shop. 

[CO Almost Native]

I was horrified to hear the news- hard to believe people were so callous that they got angry when the police tired to close the store-WTH, it's a crime scene, you bozos!

My husband loves to peruse the ads, circle bargains, and then go get the best deal...I gladly send him out, and stay home to make peanut butter balls. Or steak soup. Or anything but shop.

[Enjay1]

I always seem to find myself at one Wally World or another before xmas  -  my sis says that I get that
"deer in the headlights look"   where I start to panic from all the ppl.  

 

My mom & I once went to Mexico City for a week - we went in one of this huge open markets --  
about 30 feet in I  HAD to get out   --- much too crowded - too enclosed   ----  PANIC PANIC PANIC

Much prefer my little puter room with the world at my fingertips

[trish]

No Black Friday craziness for me! 

I simply don't DO morning, LOL....seldom do I get to bed before
4am, and I don't like crowded stores.

I did go to a local WalMart Neighborhood Market today, to pick up milk
and a few cleanining supplies we needed.  They weren't very busy....
guess all the crazies were at the Super WalMarts and the Malls.

[Lani]

I set my alarm for 5am so I could take my son to KMart for a cheap lcd tv he wanted to buy.  But when the alarm went off, I thought WTF?  Why did I set my alarm so early?  Turned it off and went back to sleep.  About 8am, my son tried to guilt trip me, but I reminded him that he has his driver's license and can fix his own breakfast, so why should I get up at 5???.  Went back to sleep again.  Guess I'm just not cut out for Black Friday. 

[ira2]

New blog post from AKM!

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/11/28/ted-stevens-corruption-timeline/

[in exile (SC version)]

I'm still so upset about that man getting killed by the trampling mob at the Long Island WalMart - I looked online at some of the photos of the crowd waiting to get in to the store. Why didn't the management call for police help to manage that crowd?

Let's see - crowds and stampede deaths - what does this show about the true religion of a particular culture?

In Mexico and South America, it's the futbol (soccer) aficionados;
in Saudi Arabia, it's the Islamic faithful making Hajj (on pilgrimage to Mecca);*
and in the United States, it's Black Friday crowds on pilgrimage to...WalMart?    That's a pretty sad indictment of our culture, imo.
I know I'm painting with a broad brush, I know I'm generalizing and being cynical. And please, I'm not slinging mud at any religion or fan culture. It's just interesting, noting the differences in what inspires overwhelming crowds to form.

(*The worst stampede of Hajj participants happened in 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims were trampled to death.)

[K.R.]

Part of the problem is like that of general admission at concerts.
I'm sure you've all heard of people who've been killed at concerts because of the first come, first serve rule. It's dangerous.

As a teenager I remember being almost crushed to death at a concert. If I died right then and there (and it felt as though I would) my body wouldn't have even hit the ground. I couldn't move or breath.

[in exile (SC version)]

Yes, I wrote that before coffee - I forgot to mention the stampede deaths at concerts. Those happen worldwide, I think?
Sounds like I brought a terrible memory back!
Mobs are scary, indeed.

[StephInMN]

I read today that the police are "looking" for the people involved in the trampling death.  Good luck...I doubt anyone is going to turn themselves in.  Maybe the people who stopped to help (and got trampled themselves) will be able to give some sketches.  I still find it somewhat unbelievable that people are so hyped about a cheap TV that they KILL someone.   

[Icy]

I was pretty incredulous when I read that too, Steph.  Who would fess up to something like that?

But IMO, Walmart really needs to pay for this....totally inept preparations and training.

[ira2]

New Night Kitchen thread is at: http://www.themudflats.net/forum/index.php/topic,4622.0.html

Would you like to continue the mob discussion in General Chat? It's a topic that should be continuing, thinks I.