ON FRIDAY November 29th, 2008 an innocent hard working employee was trampled to death as desperate customers disgustingly over eager to snatch up holiday bargains broke through the doors earlier than the original time the store was slated to open. Several other employees were injured as they attempted to rescue and save their fellow employee. In addition to the murder of the employee at least four other people were injured in the melee including a woman who was eight months pregnant at the time. Happy Holidays to all!
Black Friday saw similar chaos as shoppers at a Retail Store in West Virginia on Black Friday in 2011 a scant three years removed from the despicable behaviors displayed by shoppers back in 2008 repeatedly stepped on a man who had collapsed after suffering an apparent heart attack. In a sign of “good will to all men” the shoppers continued to shop showing no concern for the dying man. Only a couple of nurses tried to come to his rescue while shoppers acted with depraved indifference. Happy Holidays to all!
In 2012 two people were shot and wounded during a dispute over a parking space in a Tallahassee, Florida Retail Department Store during marring yet another Black Friday initiation to the holiday shopping season. Fights over parking spaces at shopping malls or so-called strip-malls are not overly uncommon. The fact that this argument led to a shooting by more over-zealous/bargain starved shoppers adds to the aura of tragically sick people to whom a human life is of no value if their path to the mighty golden TV is blocked. The victims in this incident were generous enough not to do anything to disrupt the gala event as they were discovered at the store’s outdoor garden center which is not frequented by shoppers this time of the year. Happy Holidays to all!
Moving on with this tragic but true tale we move onto the year 2013 where a shopper in Las Vegas who was carrying a big screen TV was shot by a thief in the leg as he and the shopper engaged in a wrestling match to see who would win the already purchased “prize.” While the victim recovered without any permanent damage to his leg the fate of the TV was never determined. Happy Holidays to all!
The 2014 version of the Black Friday survivor series saw incidents such as a woman in the UK (nice to see we here in America are setting such a good example of shopping etiquette for the rest of the world to witness) sustaining a broken wrist along with a head injury from a fallen TV during a scuffle for the TV. In Tustin, California three shoppers were arrested during a brawl that had broken out for unknown reasons between five shoppers. In Wyomissing, PA a woman was hit by an SUV that had broken through a barrier. The woman suffered internal injuries and broken bones but thankfully there were no lingering effects from this “accident.” Happy Holidays to all!
Highlights of the 2015 Black Friday trample fest include several incident of fisticuffs at mall s in Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas along with other areas of the country as shoppers punched, slapped and tore at each other’s clothing as policy struggled to maintain some semblance of order while valiantly trying to protect themselves from these deranged individuals. Adding to the rising number of injuries was a shooting incident in Chicago. Happy Holidays to all!
The common denominator that binds all of these Neanderthals together is the usual large retails stores plus the sudden over powering need to stock up on Xbox One, Xbox games, the ever necessary Xbox 360 along with big screen TVS that are dangled like bait on a hook in an effort to lure fish on to the fishing hook to be reeled in by the fisherman. The more the large retail outlets “bait” shoppers with their holiday discounts that are in reality previously marked up items are reduced in price just prior to the onset of Black Friday the worse these incidents will become to the point it will be news when somebody is NOT killed. Happy Holidays to all!
Exactly when will enough of this be enough? What will it take for these people to come to the realization that it time to stop the madness? How many more people must be injured (many seriously)due to fires of greed are ignited by giant retailers who need these sales to exceed to the prior year in order to set-up their profit margins for further gains during the year. Happy Holidays to all!
Retail Stores have a right to turn a profit from the sales of their goods. Nobody can dispute this fact. They retain the right to outdo their competitors for dollars as just about every business does. The million dollar question is can they somehow find a way to have a more controlled less survival of the fittest atmosphere. If these corporate giants really put though into creating a better (safer and saner) holiday shopping experience I am sure they could do it. Do they really care enough to do this? Happy Holidays to all!
As for the shoppers themselves perhaps it’s time to wake-up to the fact that gift giving is an act of kindness the manner in which they are going about not to mention their lust for the “big ticket” items undermines the whole spirit of this season which is really about love of family and faith. A TV does not necessarily show somebody that you love them. It does however show that person that you will stop at nothing to “buy” their love. Happy Holidays to all!
Hearing about these incidents year after year has made me literally sick to my stomach. Hearing about these incidents that come in the wake of the hateful terrorist attacks that have been on the rise this year that have been unseen since 09/11 is even more sickening. We react with horror at what happened in France, the daily violence in Israel, the bombing of Russian Passenger Jet yet we engage in our own acts of terrorism over materialistic items whose value will plummet emotionally in less than one year after purchase. Happy Holidays to all!
When is enough domestic Black Friday retail shopping terrorism going to be enough? Who will step forward to stamp out these “terrorists” once and for all? Happy Holidays to all!