Consumer Panic/Insanity
And we were worried about a run on the banks.
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.
There is something seriously wrong with our value system. What on earth is worth this kind of frenzy?
Tags: Holidays
We’re a consumer society, human dignity be damned. I suppose it’s simply one of the nasty by-products of at-all-costs capitalism.
“What on earth is worth this kind of frenzy?”
Hannah Montana for main stream America and a blow-up doll of Chistine O’Donnell for Mike Matthews
Waiting for Jason to blame Burris for this. 😉
I was waiting for you to blame Bush.
This is freaking insane. It’s the mentality with opening at 4AM, just to create that image of urgency to buy, buy, buy (with credit card, credit card, credit card). They should just open normal time (nooooo, can’t have that, can they), or roll it back further to midnite or so, just to diffuse this crap.
Oh yeah, it’s Burris’ fault. Him and “his kind.”
Certainly nothing from a freakin’ WalMart.
The problem comes with opening the doors at the same time the specials are available. The 24 hour WalMarts keep the pallets staged, but wrapped in black plastic. People can walk in at any time, but the specials are revealed at a certain time.
Oh yeah… and Bush created the economy that created a crowd of deal seeking madmen, which Burris approved of at the time.
It’s both of their faults.
(really, this blame game bullshit is getting old and damn near rote at this point.)
(really, this blame game bullshit is getting old and damn near rote at this point.)
Did you forget where you are when you wrote that?
Not assigning blame. Merely wondering how this could happen, how saving 4.00 could drive people to act like animals. The report says there were approx. 200 shoppers waiting outside the store. This is hardly The Who in Cincinnati.
What a terrible tragedy! Just insane. Don’t come between a bargain hunter and cheap junk from China.
This story is making me very sad.
This is really awful. How do you just step on somebody? I hope that the local PD shuts down that store for a few weeks since it is crime scene.
I don’t know Cassandra. It’s something about crowd dynamics and rioting. I just can’t imagine being in a situation where someone would be crushed. I just can’t imagine wanting something that much.
200 people is not an extremely large number. What if 5 people had screamed in – oh, I don’t know – horror? Would people have stopped pushing? My guess is “no” since it’s also reported that these animals ripped the doors off their hinges.
This article not only makes me sad it makes me very angry. It’s such a pointless waste of life.
How do you just step on somebody?
Because the morons in back are pushing you forward.
“(really, this blame game bullshit is getting old and damn near rote at this point.)”
Exactly my point, Brian.
“I hope that the local PD shuts down that store for a few weeks since it is crime scene.”
Great suggestion, elitist. Don’t worry about the Great Unwashed who depend on those jobs to provide for their families. And spare me the hackneyed bullshit about how Wal-Mart exploits their employees. I actually know some of them.
I actually know two of them and how’s this for elitism? They are certainly not supporting their families on WalMart jobs. They and their husbands are working multiple jobs to be able to piece together something like a living wage to provide for their families. And I’d bet that Walmart won’t do much help the family of their employee who dies today — since they really are paid so very well, don’t you know.
Shutting down this store would provide some incentive to this retailer to control their crowds and be more proactive about safety for their employees. A thing that Walmart can certainly afford.
“I actually know two of them and how’s this for elitism? ”
I’m not at all surprised you would twist fact into an elitist slur.
Listen carefully, Princess, … I actually know two people who work at Wal-Mart. One in Rehoboth who is retired and supplements his small pension. He knew, up front, that he was working a part-time job without benefits for near minimum wage. The other works Georgetown, is full-time, and has been working there for three years. She is a single mother and is the breadwinner. Should those Wal-Marts shut because some idiot declared them a “crime scene” for two weeks, they both would suffer.
“… A thing that Walmart can certainly afford.”
Absolutely, the evil corporation could afford it. My point is that dozens of employees couldn’t. Think you could wrap your small, biased, elitist mind around that?
You know, if you would learn to read you actually might be dangerous, fool. I really do know two people who work at Walmart — you aren’t the only person on the planet who does, you know.
And I don’t doubt that employees would suffer. But Walmart still needs to deal with their employee’s safety alot better than they do, a fact that you are far too willing to overlook because folks will be inconvenienced. I work in an industry that WOULD shut down a site for awhile to make sure that a fatal incident did not happen again (and that fatal incident wasn’t due to my negligence).
Keep on with the stupid, and justify our expectations of you.
Yes, WalMart failed to protect their employees. They should have provided more security, or gave out vouchers for a place in line or something. Once the employee was trampled, what did WalMart do? It sounds like they stayed open. I think finding out what actions were taken and when they were taken will be very important in this case. Was WalMart asking the employee to keep people from coming in?
Miscreant,
The family of the employee that was killed can’t afford that either.
“But Walmart still needs to deal with their employee’s safety alot better than they do, a fact that you are far too willing to overlook because folks will be inconvenienced.”
I suppose it would be “inconvenient” to lose ones paycheck while Wal-Mart is punished.
“Keep on with the stupid, and justify our expectations of you.”
Are the baseless, petty insults your way of conceding defeat?
Thought so.
What are you suggesting be done, Mis? Should we all just shrug and say shit happens? This stampede situation isn’t limited to Walmart. Other stores pull the same stunt – Kohl’s springs to mind.
There is blame to be placed here. It was only a matter of time before this happened. So rather than take the role of antagonist just for the sake of argument how about you offer a solution?
“There is blame to be placed here.’
How about starting with the animals who ripped the doors off the hinges, and trampled the employee to death. There’s plenty of footage of the incident, along with additional video from security cameras throughout the store and at the cash registers. Correspond the video with any available credit transaction records, and any competent enforcement agency should be able to develop some suspects. Just because it was an incident incited by a mob mentality doesn’t negate individual responsibility.
If your a Christian, please tell me what all this consumer spending is about? The holidays are becoming insanity, plus. Buy nothing, save your money the biggest depression ever is about to hit this country.
And doesn’t negate Walmart’s responsibility to keep their employees reasonably out of harm’s way. And crowd control on a day they were expecting prodigious crowds seems like a reasonable thing to ask.
And UI makes a great point @23, while you are busily defending Walmart here.
And if you don’t want to be insulted, then don’t insult people in your posts. Act like a fool , then be prepared to be treated as one.
Agreed, Cassandra. The “mob” wouldn’t have existed or had been so hyped-up if Walmart hadn’t fed the beast. And I’m not excusing the participants of the stampede. Their behavior was disgusting, but Walmart created the urgency that led to the behavior.
Hi gang–just getting on. Here’s what we woke up to this AM in Charleston S.C.. We are staying in a hotel along one of the main drags of downtown. Lots of shops, boutiques, galleries, all along the block, with a very walk friendly consumer base. Police cars were lined up, and about 30 locksmith vans. During the night someone went along and superglued the locks on the storefronts up and down this charming city’s street! How about that? Nobody was in a hurry; and everyone just kind of stood around and waited. What a way to kick off the season–er pick off the season I guess. No mobs here-haven’t even seen a Walmart.
“… while you are busily defending Walmart here.”
Reading comprehension apparently isn’t your forte either. No defense of Wal-Mart here, only defending the *livelihood of the EMPLOYEES* at the absurd idea to declare the store as a crime scene as a form of punishment. I sense you believe that those who work at menial jobs are somehow disposable. I merely suggested there should be some personal responsibility for the people who actually murdered the employee. It’s very feasible.
I also fully realize that as long as there is a business, governmental agency, or other collective to blame, the concept of personal responsibility is completely foreign to you.
“And if you don’t want to be insulted, then don’t insult people in your posts.”
Petty insults from narrow minded people don’t bother me at all. I only mention it because you frequently use them for lack of a valid argument.
“The family of the employee that was killed can’t afford that either.”
You do seem to have a firm grasp of the obvious.
WalMart could pay the employees while the store is closed. It would certainly be a good citizen thing to do.
No argument there. As long as there is an earnest criminal investigation. I would imagine Wal-Mart will eventually get their due in the civil courts.
I just read in the paper that the people had been in line since Thursday morning, so no wonder they were a bit cranky. Here’s some of the deals:
a 50-in plasma TV for $798
an upright vacuum for $28
a 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69
DVDs for $9
There’s better ways of handling this then making people camp out for 1 day.
Wal Mart has sown the wind be encouraging these stampedes and the publicity that came with them, now they may reap the whirlwind.
Are you kidding me, UI? People stood in line on Thanksgiving?
The truly ironic thing about that list is that if those people waited a week or so… I bet they would have gotten a better “deal” on those sale items.
Just because it was an incident incited by a mob mentality doesn’t negate individual responsibility.
*
Morning reports say that the police are looking for the perps. Because the dead guy’s name is Jdimytai Damour, it has created another avenue of speculation.
JFC, haven’t these people heard of internet shopping?