Happy Holidays

[Parts]

NEW YORK – A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday when "out-of-control" shoppers desperate for bargains broke down the doors at a 5 a.m. sale. Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers shouted angrily and kept shopping when store officials said they were closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries, and the store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store. When told to leave, they complained that they had been in line since Thursday morning.

Nassau police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the store doors at the mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the man, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour of Queens, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.

"This crowd was out of control," said Nassau police spokesman Lt. Michael Fleming. He described the scene as "utter chaos."

Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said.

Items on sale at the store 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.

Damour, 34, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, where she and the baby were reported to be OK, said police Sgt. Anthony Repalone.

Police said criminal charges were possible in the case, but Fleming said it would be difficult to identify individual shoppers. Authorities were reviewing surveillance video.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., called the incident a "tragic situation" and said the employee came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store.

"The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority," said Dan Fogleman, a company spokesman. "At this point, facts are still being assembled and we are working closely with the Nassau County Police as they investigate what occurred."

Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages."

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling 'I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

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.

It makes me hate people and holidays even more

[Natalia Evans]

Shame this wasn't "Jingle All the Way" or else that worker would have lived and no one would have been hurt.

[WolFish]

this is why i stayed in bed this morning. black friday hugely discriminates against the handicapped. lol, i could start a class action lawsuit and get circuit city to give me some bargains.

[richard]

people are stupid, this is all the medias fault. if they wouldnt hype certain shit, like shopping the day after thanksgiving nobody would have died because nobody would get elephant behaviour

[duncvis]

consumerism brings out the worst in people. for fuck's sake, it isn't like it was a food riot somewhere like Zimbabwe - a guy died because people couldn't wait to get their greedy mitts on... disposable crap. 

[Parts]

More reasons

Two Shot at California Toys R Us

PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP)  -- Two men pulled guns and shot each other to death in a crowded toy store Friday after the women with them erupted into a bloody brawl, witnesses said. Scared shoppers fled but no one else was hurt.

The violence erupted on Black Friday, the traditional post-Thanksgiving start of the holiday shopping surge, but authorities indicated the shooting wasn't related to a shopping frenzy.

[TheoK]

But that was very American and brave. Shooting in a toy store never happens in boring Europe! 

[Lucifer]

consumerism brings out the worst in people. for fuck's sake, it isn't like it was a food riot somewhere like Zimbabwe - a guy died because people couldn't wait to get their greedy mitts on... disposable crap. 

QFT.

mind you, look on the bright side: one less person to make money for wal mart.

[TheoK]

But you miss the big picture. Whole "society" must be destroyed for the sake of real freedom.

[TheoK]

Industrial Society and Its Future

Read it thoroughly and think.

[duncvis]

consumerism brings out the worst in people. for fuck's sake, it isn't like it was a food riot somewhere like Zimbabwe - a guy died because people couldn't wait to get their greedy mitts on... disposable crap. 

QFT.

mind you, look on the bright side: one less person to make money for wal mart.

He was a temp. Disposable.

[Silk]

This is why I like being a lazy nerd. I can stroll out of the house at 10, go to a nearly empty Office Max, and buy some 8gb flash drives for 17 dollars each. No fuss, no lines, just pure calm.

people are stupid, this is all the medias fault. if they wouldnt hype certain shit, like shopping the day after thanksgiving nobody would have died because nobody would get elephant behaviour

No, it's the fault of the people who trampled the man to death and Walmart. No one should ever get that worked up over toys/tvs, and walmart encourages this behavior year after year. They deserve the lawsuit coming to them.

[richard]

could you imagine if the earth ran out of water? people would infacy go crazy. it would be like an awful sci-fi movie

[Natalia Evans]

This is why I like being a lazy nerd. I can stroll out of the house at 10, go to a nearly empty Office Max, and buy some 8gb flash drives for 17 dollars each. No fuss, no lines, just pure calm.

people are stupid, this is all the medias fault. if they wouldnt hype certain shit, like shopping the day after thanksgiving nobody would have died because nobody would get elephant behaviour

No, it's the fault of the people who trampled the man to death and Walmart. No one should ever get that worked up over toys/tvs, and walmart encourages this behavior year after year. They deserve the lawsuit coming to them.

They need to be more patient but no they have Asperger's this time of year.

(I have read about being impatient is an aspie thing which I never agree with because lot of people are impatient so why make it an aspie trait? Maybe because we have it more often? Who knows.)

[Icequeen]

People are fucking insane.

Black Friday is nuts, tried it one time, saw the line, laughed and went back home.