NationStates Jolt Archive

Greed, selfishness, lack of discipline. Ignorance, stupidity, lack of empathy. There's a reason I stay home the Friday after Thanksgiving. The problem is, I have no trouble envisioning a thundering horde of human animals, so intent on getting a cheap toy for less that they cannot see another human being directly in front of them.

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/wal-mart-worker-trampled-to-death/262342?icid=200100397x1213689134x1200929272

That is the suckiest death anyone can ever have.

Super glad that I don't work retail anymore.

I'm not any of those mean things. I go Black Friday shopping every year. (well, every year for the last 12)

I only got hit by 3 carts this year.......and only pushed 4 times. I bring hubby as a body guard, it's only when we split up to conquer that anything bad happens.

If you can't handle the crowd you shouldn't go.........same as mosh pits.

That is the suckiest death anyone can ever have.

Unless its suffocation by a really fat person after they fall asleep on top of you. Worse if they sweat alot....

I think I'd be willing to pay higher prices if it meant I didn't have to risk death/injury to get something cheap.

When Black Friday comes
I'll stand down by the door

Steely Dan - more accurate than Nostradamus

Last year, I waited for 2 hours outside Best Buy freezing my butt off and remarking at all the Dunkin' Donuts debris all over the place. I came up with a plan for the next year.

This year, I made $600 selling coffee and muffins outside Best Buy this morning. Christmas is paid for. :D

Last year, I waited for 2 hours outside Best Buy freezing my butt off and remarking at all the Dunkin' Donuts debris all over the place. I came up with a plan for the next year.

This year, I made $600 selling coffee and muffins outside Best Buy this morning. Christmas is paid for. :D

The churches here come around and give everyone in line free coffee and donuts.

Last year, I waited for 2 hours outside Best Buy freezing my butt off and remarking at all the Dunkin' Donuts debris all over the place. I came up with a plan for the next year.

This year, I made $600 selling coffee and muffins outside Best Buy this morning. Christmas is paid for. :D

genius! if only the UK had an equivalent day i could cater for

I think I'd be willing to pay higher prices if it meant I didn't have to risk death/injury to get something cheap.

My anger at the rampant idiocy present in such crowds has kept me from even thinking of participating in black friday sales

Last year, I waited for 2 hours outside Best Buy freezing my butt off and remarking at all the Dunkin' Donuts debris all over the place. I came up with a plan for the next year.

This year, I made $600 selling coffee and muffins outside Best Buy this morning. Christmas is paid for. :D

LG wins at entrepreneurship.

The churches here come around and give everyone in line free coffee and donuts.

Have they no respect for the entrepreneurial spirit? :(

Just kidding, that's awfully nice of them.

For me, Black Friday means the Boston Bruins playing a home matinee. This year, in new black uniforms :)

I stay home... I really don't care how cheap it is, I've seen those crowds... *shudder*

pfft...Communists...If you don't love Capitalism enough to trample someone to death, you should move to Cuba.

Consumerism at its best.

I hate shopping during the holidays, and Early Bird bargains only encourage this animalistic stampede shit. Internet shopping ftw.

Greed, selfishness, lack of discipline. Ignorance, stupidity, lack of empathy. There's a reason I stay home the Friday after Thanksgiving. The problem is, I have no trouble envisioning a thundering horde of human animals, so intent on getting a cheap toy for less that they cannot see another human being directly in front of them.

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/wal-mart-worker-trampled-to-death/262342?icid=200100397x1213689134x1200929272

If I was the manager, I would've sealed the doors and had the police arrest every one of them. Maybe not for murder, but probably for involuntary manslaughter.

Having said that, what exactly did happen? Did everyone just walk away leaving a dead guy behind?

Unless its suffocation by a really fat person after they fall asleep on top of you. Worse if they sweat alot....
Trolling again?

If I was the manager, I would've sealed the doors and had the police arrest every one of them. Maybe not for murder, but probably for involuntary manslaughter.

Having said that, what exactly did happen? Did everyone just walk away leaving a dead guy behind?
No doors left to close. They ripped them off the hinges.

Sadly I had to go out on black friday, I volunteered two hours to help Toys for Tots collect money through the radio station. And now I find out I have to buy soap and shaving stuff but I am waiting until later tonight to do that.

I didn't see the article before... THAT IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS! I've seen lemmings with more concern for the lives of other.

This is the most telling and unnerving quote from the article. I wish I could have difficulty believing that people could be so callous, but I don't.

"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."

If you can't handle the crowd you shouldn't go.........same as mosh pits.

Umm I mosh all the time, no body gets trampled. You know why Cause we respect each other as fellow human beings, and we would expect others to treat us with the courtesy to pick us up. If a bunch of metal heads can do that then I hope others can do the same.

This is the most telling and unnerving quote from the article. I wish I could have difficulty believing that people could be so callous, but I don't.

"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."

Next year, meet the customers at the door with a squad of armed mercenaries and tell them that they are ordered to shoot to kill if people don't enter and exit in a nice, orderly fashion. Or prepare tear gas canisters to toss into the crowed when they get unruly.

Next year, meet the customers at the door with a squad of armed mercenaries and tell them that they are ordered to shoot to kill if people don't enter and exit in a nice, orderly fashion. Or prepare tear gas canisters to toss into the crowed when they get unruly.

Or you could go the other way and hand out crowbars while they wait and inform them they will only be allowed to enter the store one at a time. ;)

This is the most telling and unnerving quote from the article. I wish I could have difficulty believing that people could be so callous, but I don't.

"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."

Ow.

My soul.

genius! if only the UK had an equivalent day i could cater for

take a cue from American business and create the day.

nice to know that a life of a human being is now

Items on sale at the Wal-Mart store included a $798 Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV, 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.

as little as $9....

Umm I mosh all the time, no body gets trampled. You know why Cause we respect each other as fellow human beings, and we would expect others to treat us with the courtesy to pick us up. If a bunch of metal heads can do that then I hope others can do the same.
I've also noticed a dearth of shopping carts and heavy objects being hauled around in most mosh pits.
Every year, somebody gets trampled the day after Thanksgiving, and the next year the lines to get in to stores are longer and earlier than the year before. If I weren't already such a misanthrope, it would probably depress me.

Disgusting.

I don't understand why people think that shopping is the only thing you can do with your life. I enjoy shopping as much as the next guy and when I have a bit of money and the clothing stores are having a sale I can go all out and buy a lot, but why people need to start shopping the moment they can is beyond me.

The same sort of shit happens in Australia, the stores will open 27th of December at midnight for the post Christmas sales and tens of thousands of people are there buying crap. Why? Can't you wait till the morning? It infuriates me those people who bitch and moan about the shops being closed Christmas day and how they think they should be open so they can go shopping. WTF? Surely there is better stuff to do with yourself on Christmas day and with your family then going to the bloody shops.

I was just going over the article properly and I noticed that it said that some people had been their since Thursday morning WTF? Do these people have lives? Surely you do not have the time to waste Thanksgiving day sitting outside of some Wal-Mart? Smunkeeville it is all very well don't go if you don't like it, but that doesn't mean we should not fell disgusted that people continued to walk over this person without any regard for human life or suffering so they could buy some cheap shit from China.

Greed, selfishness, lack of discipline. Ignorance, stupidity, lack of empathy. There's a reason I stay home the Friday after Thanksgiving. The problem is, I have no trouble envisioning a thundering horde of human animals, so intent on getting a cheap toy for less that they cannot see another human being directly in front of them.

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/wal-mart-worker-trampled-to-death/262342?icid=200100397x1213689134x1200929272

Those people should be ashamed. They should all pay to support the workers family for the rest of their lives.

How fucking low can people behave?

This is fucking deplorable, and infuriating.

More and more a little shack in the middle of nowhere looks appealing.

If you can't handle the crowd you shouldn't go.........same as mosh pits.

Doubleplusyes. I can't stand people who complain about pits.

For me, Black Friday means the Boston Bruins playing a home matinee. This year, in new black uniforms :)

A particularly black day for Isles fans! My my.

Umm I mosh all the time, no body gets trampled. You know why Cause we respect each other as fellow human beings, and we would expect others to treat us with the courtesy to pick us up. If a bunch of metal heads can do that then I hope others can do the same.

Yes, you help people up, but they do sometimes get trampled anyway. Or kicked in the head, or lose hair, or get dropped, or many other things. It's what happens when 10 bodies try to occupy the space of one.

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/wal-mart-worker-trampled-to-death/262342?icid=200100397x1213689134x1200929272

This is some sick shit... I one part of me wants to giggle, and the other part of me wants to vomit.

Dude, it happened at Walmart. Go fucking figure.

No doors left to close. They ripped them off the hinges.

Emergency fire shutters. And maybe halogen gas...

Just got a whole lot worse.

http://www.yahoo.com/s/994504

I am a conservative capitalist, I think Black Friday is a good thing. Consumerism benefits a society.

But this...this is insanity. This is not just greed, this is evil. America! WAKE UP! What happened to helping your neighbors out? Picking someone up when they are on the ground?

Tonight, I cry for America.

Just got a whole lot worse.

http://www.yahoo.com/s/994504

I am a conservative capitalist, I think Black Friday is a good thing. Consumerism benefits a society.

But this...this is insanity. This is not just greed, this is evil. America! WAKE UP! What happened to helping your neighbors out? Picking someone up when they are on the ground?

Tonight, I cry for America.

It's not evil. It's simply greed, greed, and more greed. Greed overriding being friendly, greed overriding civility, greed overriding humanity.

Greed leads to evil.

Selfishness is the act of thinking of one's self as most important.

All acts of evil are done without concern for others.

Greed is simply a by-product of pride. Why is there greed? Because we pride ourselves on having the newest and best. We want what our neighbor has, and more, to show that we are better. Pride, through the means of greed, tells us that the man we are trampling on is not worth as much as a new PS3 or Fur coat.

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to those who are humble"

Greed is simply a by-product of pride. Why is there greed? Because we pride ourselves on having the newest and best. We want what our neighbor has, and more, to show that we are better. Pride, through the means of greed, tells us that the man we are trampling on is not worth as much as a new PS3 or Fur coat.

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to those who are humble"

I rather think that greed is a product of self-loathing rather than pride. If you have real pride then a mere possession isn't going mean that much to you. When possessions mean that much to you, whether something you own yourself or something your purchase to give away, it's all a matter, not of feeling good about yourself, but of trying to make yourself feel good through things. You're saying "I have, therefore I am."

I rather think that greed is a product of self-loathing rather than pride. If you have real pride then a mere possession isn't going mean that much to you. When possessions mean that much to you, whether something you own yourself or something your purchase to give away, it's all a matter, not of feeling good about yourself, but of trying to make yourself feel good through things. You're saying "I have, therefore I am."

Well, perhaps pride stemming from material possessions goes along the lines of "Look how good I am. I can afford much better things, because I work harder, or I have more worth than you"

But then again, maybe pride is all about masking the self-loathing depravity that exists in every one?

So... people are bad...

Wow. Revelation.

So... people are bad...

Wow. Revelation.

It's beyond people are bad. Some bad people in this world are bad because they kill for an ideology. Then you have idiots like these, who kill a man for toys. They don't even show respect or courtesy for the guy.

It's beyond people are bad. Some bad people in this world are bad because they kill for an ideology. Then you have idiots like these, who kill a man for toys. They don't even show respect or courtesy for the guy.

I would have to venture a guess that a part of the reason for this incident was 'mob mentality'...

I would have to venture a guess that a part of the reason for this incident was 'mob mentality'...

Mob Mentality: Proof against human intelligence.

Well, perhaps pride stemming from material possessions goes along the lines of "Look how good I am. I can afford much better things, because I work harder, or I have more worth than you"

But then again, maybe pride is all about masking the self-loathing depravity that exists in every one?

You have to differentiate. There is pride, which means you have an appropriate evaluation of your worth and won't participate in actions that diminish that worth. You are confident and don't need externals to bolster that confidence. Then there's the person who has no pride and no self-confidence - they need constant external bolstering of self, through things and the opinions of others. These people without pride are the ones who could, conceivably, in concert with others like them, cause the death of another. What they're saying is "I'm worthless and so are you."

Shit. How consumer minded can people get? Storming over someone and then carrying on while people are trying to help? It's sick.

Shit. How consumer minded can people get? Storming over someone and then carrying on while people are trying to help? It's sick.
The ones who went on to shop were sick...but I'd imagine you can't really help being pushed on top of these people if the crowd is still trying to get in from behind, not knowing what happened.

Or, maybe, these people were just really desperate because of the recession, who knows (http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/UPDATE-1-US-stores-court-careful-shoppers-on-Black-LTH2G?OpenDocument)?

Or, maybe, these people were just really desperate because of the recession, who knows (http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/UPDATE-1-US-stores-court-careful-shoppers-on-Black-LTH2G?OpenDocument)?
Considering this happens every year to different degrees, I don't think so.

This is a poor person's holiday in which they spend their hard earned welfare checks and charge the rest to their credit cards to take full advantage of those lovely "No payment for a year!" deals.

Dignity is not part of their vocabulary.

hard earned welfare checks


wat


http://jj.am/gallery/d/32461-1/fryglare.jpg

Clearly this was caused by deregulation!!!

The churches here come around and give everyone in line free coffee and donuts.

Have they no respect for the entrepreneurial spirit? :(

Just kidding, that's awfully nice of them.

I think it'd absolutely idiotic. Charity for morons who line up for hours to to sate their addiction to consumerism? Fuck them.

I think it'd absolutely idiotic. Charity for morons who line up for hours to to sate their addiction to consumerism? Fuck them.

Its fucking Walmart.


Anywhere else, this might have suprised me. But have you seen the type of people who show up at Walmart this early for "teh bargin!"?

Its fucking Walmart.


Anywhere else, this might have suprised me. But have you seen the type of people who show up at Walmart this early for "teh bargin!"?

Oh, okay I need to provide more context for my quote I guess, hold on.

Oh, okay I need to provide more context for my quote I guess, hold on.

I await with baited breath my dear.:p

Also I don't think this is a 'WalMart' thing. This could have happened just as easily at some 'high end' store.

Also I don't think this is a 'WalMart' thing. This could have happened just as easily at some 'high end' store.

Could have, but most likely wouldnt have, and didnt.


This isnt about "high end" to me. This is about the type of people who shop at Walmart, and who Walmart encourages this behavior from, especially on "Black Friday". No, Im not trolling like Ruffy and saying their "poor people". Im refering to the fact that they tend to (as in usually are, not always) be people who care about saving money, getting a good bargin, and consumerism above anything else.


Its fucking pathetic, but predictable.

Could have, but most likely wouldnt have, and didnt.


This isnt about "high end" to me. This is about the type of people who shop at Walmart, and who Walmart encourages this behavior from, especially on "Black Friday". No, Im not trolling like Ruffy and saying their "poor people". Im refering to the fact that they tend to (as in usually are, not always) be people who care about saving money, getting a good bargin, and consumerism above anything else.


Its fucking pathetic, but predictable.
Yeeeaaahhhh no. Can't agree.

WalMart targets a certain segment of society. Not just the tight-fisted by nature, but the tight-fisted by necessity. More the latter than the former. I've shopped at WalMart when I had no choice because of my financial situation. I was able to afford babyfood, diapers and other essentials, whereas I wouldn't have been able to purchase everything I needed at other supermarkets.

WalMart engages in highly predatory business practices, and as such is one of the most successful corporations in the world...a model of capitalism. I oppose it for many reasons, and when I'm not absolutely desperate, avoid it like the plague.

The 'kind of people' who shop at WalMart are not really any different than any other segment of society other than the uber rich, in my mind. We live in a society that grooms you literally from birth to become a die-hard consumer, someone who is never satisfied with what you have, always needing upgrades, always needing more. You'll find that same mentality driving the purchasers anywhere, all looking for the best deal they can get. I don't care what big box store we're discussing...that underlying consumerist philosophy drives them all.

It has nothing to do with shopping at all. Its all to do with fires burning through victoria. The only thing shopping has to do with it is that shops were burnt down

http://www.abc.net.au/blackfriday/home/default.htm

I don't understand this compulsion a lot of people seem to have to go shopping for christmas presents the day after thanksgiving.

Nor do I understand why it needs to be all frenzied like it often seems. I don't think I've ever bought anything the day after thanksgiving. Except maybe a sandwich. Maybe. Usually I just sleep in and then watch football.

Hell, I don't do most of my christmas shopping until fairly late in December. Often as late as the 23rd. And no, it's not stressful. I have a list of people to buy gifts for, and each of their christmas lists. I check them off in orderly fashion. Most can be taken care of in one trip to The City. Easy.

If you absolutely need crap to be on sale, chances are that you're buying gifts that are a bit too expensive. Seriously. The only reason I end up spending any substantial money at all on christmas shopping is because I have an enormous family.

Everyone should calm the fuck down about it. Shopping isn't anything to get worked up about.

Edit: And no, it's not a "wal mart" thing. It's a consumerist thing. And that's a problem with the modern economy and culture of the USA (maybe other countries as well, but I live in the USA, so I can't speak for anyone else), not any specific store. Though, I do hate Wal-Mart with a passion and refuse to set foot in one.

Clearly this was caused by deregulation!!!

:D Gold

This isnt about "high end" to me. This is about the type of people who shop at Walmart, and who Walmart encourages this behavior from, especially on "Black Friday". No, Im not trolling like Ruffy and saying their "poor people". Im refering to the fact that they tend to (as in usually are, not always) be people who care about saving money, getting a good bargin, and consumerism above anything else.

KoL is there something wrong with trying to save some money or getting a good bargain? While I personally wouldn't shop at Wal-Mart ever and I agree that going the day before and waiting outside and demanding the shops are open on public holidays and when they open at 12:01am you have to go charging through it is pathetic and sad. But what would be wrong with it even if they do go to Wal-Mart?

KoL is there something wrong with trying to save some money or getting a good bargain? While I personally wouldn't shop at Wal-Mart ever and I agree that going the day before and waiting outside and demanding the shops are open on public holidays and when they open at 12:01am you have to go charging through it is pathetic and sad. But what would be wrong with it even if they do go to Wal-Mart?

Nothing is wrong with wanting a good bargain or saving money. It's fairly commendable. It's when you take it to the extremes, where you're willing to trample people to death, just to save a few dollars, that's when there's something seriously wrong.

Nothing is wrong with wanting a good bargain or saving money. It's fairly commendable. It's when you take it to the extremes, where you're willing to trample people to death, just to save a few dollars, that's when there's something seriously wrong.

Well quite and something which I addressed in my first post in this thread and how it is terrible.

Greed leads to evil.

No, really? Capitalism is in many respects based upon greed, so I guess you support evil. Don't feel bad about it, though. It's the way of the world.