A sale to kill for

Forums: Crowds, Walmart, Shopping, The United States Of America, God Bless Wal Mart
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Just heard on MSNBC (no other source) a female sales clerk was trampled to death by shoppers rushing into a Walmart store.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 14 • Views: 6,645 • Replies: 72

[+3] - tycoon - 11/30/2008Let's blame the retailer then, whose job really is to get as many people into the store as possible for the holiday season. Let's blame the door manufacturer as well, who installed inadequate...
[+3] - Intrepid - 11/30/2008[quote="hawkeye10"] do you have mass promotion of sales of items at far below cost where only a few copies are for sale, or where it is on sale only for a couple of hours before the sun...

@dyslexia,

A woman who now works with mrs edgarblythe told that she once was a Walmart clerk. It was during the days when the store would actually shut down late at night. She said that the store opened for a Black Friday sale, and at the time the doors were unlocked, she happened to be high on a ladder. The crowd stormed in, making a racket such as she imagined a great herd of stampeding animals would make. The ladder shook violently. No harm came to this little lady, but it did frighten her to death.

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The day after Thanksgiving is at the very least the one day of the year that all workers in retail shops be given extra combat and hazard pay.

You have to be insane to venture out in those mobs.

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@Butrflynet,

Butrflynet wrote:

The day after Thanksgiving is at the very least the one day of the year that all workers in retail shops be given extra combat and hazard pay.

I currently work in a retail store in Canada.

In my opinion, retail workers should be granted immunity from cheerfully throttling some customers due to behaviours in store. I could write a book about it.

http://www.ballet.co.uk/images/vardimon/jr_lullaby_strangling_170.jpg

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update; it was a 34 yr old male clerk that died.

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@dyslexia,

Retail madness!

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Associated Press
NEW YORK " Police say a Wal-Mart worker has died after being trampled by a throng of unruly shoppers shortly after the Long Island store opened Friday.

Nassau County police say the 34-year-old worker was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m., an hour after the store opened. The cause of death was not immediately known.

A police statement says a throng of shoppers "physically broke down the doors, knocking him to the ground." Police also say a 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital for observation.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in Bentonville, Ark., would not confirm the reports of a stampede during the day-after-Thanksgiving bargain hunting, but said a "medical emergency" caused them to close the store.

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@edgarblythe,

This is unfortunate for everyone--except for the dozen or so lucky shoppers who got their mitts on the Nintendo Wiis!

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I understand that the woman was pregnant and miscarried. For the life of me, I can't understand why a pregnant woman would attempt to go shopping on Black Friday. I would not go to the mall today, if they paid ME to take the stuff out!

People are absolutely nuts during the Christmas shopping season. Now that the economy is in the crapper, I certainly can understand why people are getting a bit more hysterical.

A number of years ago, I was driving on Long Island during the Christmas season. I actually saw someone in a car run down a person carrying packages.

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What is it? A kind of mass hysteria? Why would anyone wait in line to get into a department store, a Wal-Mart of all places first thing in the morning? And then break down the door? I mean, it is literally beyond my comprehension. Like Phoenix, I doubt that I'd go near a mall today for any reason whatsoever. Apparently all the wild animals have been released from their cages. It's a stunning example of mass psychosis.

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@Phoenix32890,

I went to buy gas this morning, and while I was out and about decided to finally go to Home Depot to get some weather stripping tape and fluorescent light bulbs. No problem, easy -- but that isn't a mall type store.

On holiday shopping, I've always had/participated in "small" family or friends' gift events. But I still remember going over to a boyfriend's family home for christmas eve gift opening and seeing a stack of packages that approached the ceiling. I could barely believe my eyes. Most of that turned out to be toys. That was in the sixties; still a vivid memory.

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@ossobuco,

KNX1070
Shots fired at Toys R Us in Palm Desert; 2 reportedly dead
Los Angeles Times - 30 minutes ago
Shots were fired at a Toys R Us store in Palm Desert, causing shoppers at the busy store to scramble for cover. Details about the shooting were still spotty, but witnesses said the scene at the store and nearby businesses was choatic.

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@edgarblythe,

Quote:

A gunman opened fire at a Toys R Us store in Palm Desert, killing two and causing shoppers at the busy store to scramble for cover.

Palm Desert Councilman Bob Spiegel told The Times that based on early reports, two rival groups shopping at the store had some kind of argument and then shots were fired. Two men were killed in the exchange of gunfire, he said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/11/shots-were-fire.html

What the hell is this country coming to????

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@Phoenix32890,

Palm Desert???????????

Toys R Us???????

Cjhihuahua!

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@Phoenix32890,

Apparently the authorities aren't sure that the shooting was ahopping connected. The venue may have been a coincidence. You know -- "Hey, there's that sonofabitch I said I was gonna kill, buying a teddy bear. Good thing I'm packin'." BAM!!!

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It's just fascinating to see how American shoppers can devote so much time and energy on black Friday to shop with a billion other people - fighting for products, and waiting in long lines to pay for them. Fascinating!

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

Palm Desert???????????

Toys R Us???????

Cjhihuahua!

hah, that cjhihuahua was a typo.

I don't know those towns so well now, but in the Palm Desert I last saw... probably late nineties, that would have been an odd occurrence.

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Let's just call it what it is, this behavior: greed. I know, I know, the term 'greed' is usually reserved in our society for rich fat cats. But I can't be the only one who realizes the behavior of some people who instigate this hysteria is rooted in the wish to save a few of their precious bucks on gew gaws. Unbridled greed, folks. I hope the security tapes will allow authorities to press charges of murder to those responsible. Merry Christmas.

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@tycoon,

All for a few cheap items made in China. WalMart and China become the rich fat cats and some poor fella gets trampled in the process.

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@tycoon,

Quote:

Let's just call it what it is, this behavior: greed. I know, I know, the term 'greed' is usually reserved in our society for rich fat cats. But I can't be the only one who realizes the behavior of some people who instigate this hysteria is rooted in the wish to save a few of their precious bucks on gew gaws. Unbridled greed, folks. I hope the security tapes will allow authorities to press charges of murder to those responsible

Ya, sure....let's ignore the calculation of the retailers who put on these events and then don't make sure that they are safe. Lets ignore that retailers spent a ton of advertising money trying to get people to show up for the opening.Let's ignore all the ads that went something like "and for the first 75 buyers we have a Dyson vacuum, normally priced at $495 on sale at the ridiculously low price of $325"

This was greed fermented by greedy retailers, it was promoted, encouraged, expected. But it is all the public's fault according to you. So if I yell fire in a crowded theater and a person dies after being trampled it is not my fault?? According to the American legal tradition I would be at fault, and so is Wal-mart.

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A sale to kill for

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