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Friday, November 28, 2008
Black Friday really is: Wal-Mart trampling and Toys R Us shootings
Today is "black Friday" in the U.S., a day when retailers try to sell enough items to get "in the black" (as opposed to be "in the red") when final sales numbers get added. It's supposed to mark the first day when retailers go from losing money, to making it. And that's a good thing.
But when I hear the moniker "black Friday," I can't help but think that it refers to some sort of calamity or disaster. And today's black Friday is really turning out to be something of a disaster after all.
Earlier today, news reports came out about an unruly and chaotic crowd at the Valley Stream, Long Island Wal-Mart. When an employee started to open the doors, the crowd surged and trampled the employee to death. The AP reports:
A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday after an "out of control" throng of shoppers eager for post-Thanksgiving bargains broke down the doors at a suburban store and knocked him to the ground, police said.
At least four other people, including a woman 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.
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 to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.
And now we hear about a shooting at a Toys R Us in Palm Desert, California that left two men dead. The authorities are not releasing much information at the moment, although it doesn't look like the incident is shopping-related. Here's the AP:
Two people were shot to death in a crowded toy store on Black Friday in a confrontation apparently involving rival groups, city officials said.
Palm Desert Councilman Jim Ferguson said police told him two men with handguns shot and killed each other. Ferguson said he asked police whether the incident was a dispute over a toy or whether it was gang-related. He said police told him they were not going to release further details until the victims' relatives were notified.
"I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper."
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on November 28, 2008 in Crime | Permalink
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Comments
One man's mayhem is another man's much needed consumer speeding. This might be a sign of a return to consumer spending, or just the death throws of American culture. :-)
Posted by: Matthew Johnston | 2008-11-28 5:58:24 PM
It's either a freak occurance, or the signs of CIA/Mossad involvement with the corporations to launder Colombian drug money to fund the Kennedys.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2008-11-28 6:18:27 PM
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