wow. Americans are *SO* fucked up. This is exactly why i never patronize Wal-Mart- my impression of exactly how horrible the people are who shop there is apparently true. Of course, Wal-Mart's reaction wasn't much better- they immediately dismissed the dead guy as a temp agency employee and passed the buck (clearly for the impending lawsuit the family will bring). slime balls, the lot of them.
It's not just Wal-Mart. Stores across the country offer the same things at the same ridiculous hours and using the same persuasion tactics on "Black Friday" across the country. The fact that people weren't trampled at killed at other stores was just dumb luck.
my impression of exactly how horrible the people are who shop there is apparently true
Wal-Mart is cheap and many people shop there because it's what they can afford. This doesn't make them bad people. If you are on a limited budget and can buy something cheaper at Wal-Mart than anywhere else, you're gonna do it regardless of your principles. It's simple survival for many.
That being said, buying a $20 DVD player on Black Friday is not about survival, and I think it's f-ing ridiculous and disgusting that something like this could happen over a sale at a store, period. But please don't use it as an excuse to label all poor/working class folks as heartless barbarians, when the problem is ALL of America.
Everyone, including the poor have a choice as to where we shop. We don't need 90% of the crap we have in our houses and if it weren't for companies like Wal-Mart that show up into small towns and cities and put the small, local businesses out of work, pressure their manufacturers to produce cheaper items at a higher volume, forcing them to produce overseas instead of at home, not allowing their workers to unionize to guarantee better pay, higher standards of living, better opportunities for women and minorities, and health care that doesn't cost 25% of their sallaries, we wouldn't be in this mess where "poor people" are forced to shop there
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I'm on both sides of the Wal-Mart argument, so won't really comment on what's happened here so far, aside from to point out that Wal-Mart didn't necessarily 'dismiss' the dead guy as a temp, the writer of the article did. Wal-Mart certainly pointed the fact out (rightly so, as it's one of the facts of the event), but I'm certain Wal-Mart pointed lots of things out, and the author picked and chose what to use. The article was certainly 'edited' to make it seem Wal-Mart dismissed the man as such (and also to appear as though the article had no agenda in doing so) and you, like I am sure 95% of the people who read the article, fell for it, like everyone does every time the media maniupulates you.
seriously. I heard about this this morning on my way to my mom's house and I had a hard time not puking in the car because of how SICK it made me.
I really hope some charges are pressed because people who walked on top of a human being to buy a cheap vacuum cleaner deserve the consequences of their actions, and deserve to be forced to recognize they caused another person to die and to live with that the rest of their lives.
Though... I'm guessing the kind of people who wouldn't stop to help and indeed did the trampling aren't so much the kind of people who are going to lose a lot of sleep over the whole thing.
Also I'd like to just say, that while this is disgusting, it's also most likely just an example of 'groupthink', which has been happening in every culture, forever. However, STILL DISGUSTING.
Wow. I don't have much more of an opinion on this than "YOU TRAMPLED A MAN TO DEATH." Store, wealth, color, mentality, fuck all of it, really. You don't crush someone to death and then still have the desire to shop. Or, if you do, you're so messed up that I'm really fucking glad I don't know you or I'm afraid I simply might explode.
Oh, yeah, I was just referring to the actual trampling event as groupthink. The people still wanting to shop? Horrible, shameless people who will be going to Hell, regardless of if it even exists. FUCK THOSE PEOPLE.
When I read about the trampling, I was appalled also. Have you ever been in a crowd like this, though? At Shippensburg U. when I went there, we would gather around on registration day to pick our classes. I was constantly in fear for my life. It was a huge croud pushing from behind. There was absolutely no way one in the front of the crowd could stop, even if one wanted to stop. I can see this happening there. I blame Walmart for not forming a line, much like I saw Best Buy do on Black Friday. They had a nice orderly line which snaked all the way around the parking lot. Something must be done, like at Ship U, when they finally realized the danger of the mob crowd. By the time you two got to Ship, things had changed considerably, eh?
You're right mom, alot of the stores on black friday don't do anything out front. They don't have anyone out there, no ropes or anything. When people are aware there's going to be such a large crowd, it's hard to believe they do nothing to prepare for it. And yeah, picking classes at Ship--while still a major headache, of course--was never a situation where I feared for my life.
Heres a thought....how about if we just didn't have Black Friday? Mmmmmmm..... This whole trampling incident just leaves me shaking my head. It completely baffles me how people, no matter what store it is, can get so sucked into such a buying frenzy that they basically lose their minds. I agree with Seth, I think that it was the mob mentality that caused it, its a scary thing to be in the midst of I would imagine. But in the end, there is no excuse for it, whether there was enough security or whatever, there is NEVER an excuse for what happened. Materialism is way out of control. Hey, I like to give and get presents as much as the next guy, but seriously, this is way out of hand!!
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Of course, Wal-Mart's reaction wasn't much better- they immediately dismissed the dead guy as a temp agency employee and passed the buck (clearly for the impending lawsuit the family will bring). slime balls, the lot of them.
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my impression of exactly how horrible the people are who shop there is apparently true
Wal-Mart is cheap and many people shop there because it's what they can afford. This doesn't make them bad people. If you are on a limited budget and can buy something cheaper at Wal-Mart than anywhere else, you're gonna do it regardless of your principles. It's simple survival for many.
That being said, buying a $20 DVD player on Black Friday is not about survival, and I think it's f-ing ridiculous and disgusting that something like this could happen over a sale at a store, period. But please don't use it as an excuse to label all poor/working class folks as heartless barbarians, when the problem is ALL of America.
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I really hope some charges are pressed because people who walked on top of a human being to buy a cheap vacuum cleaner deserve the consequences of their actions, and deserve to be forced to recognize they caused another person to die and to live with that the rest of their lives.
Though... I'm guessing the kind of people who wouldn't stop to help and indeed did the trampling aren't so much the kind of people who are going to lose a lot of sleep over the whole thing.
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Christine
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