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This was probably just a matter of time

Frayed Knot Nov 29 2008 01:04 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Nov 29 2008 01:27 PM

[url=http://www.topix.net/content/ap/2008/11/wal-mart-worker-dies-after-shoppers-knock-him-down-5]Store employee trampled to death[/url] Not some gray-haired store "greeter" either but a young male. And while the first thing you think of is tragic accident, the whole thing started with customers starting to break down doors and crack glass partitions because it was already 5:03 AM and the doors weren't opened yet. IMO the media deserves a kick in the ass here (mostly those local goofy news programs) for hyping these early store openings and the crush they entail like it's some sort of competitive sport.

SteveJRogers Nov 29 2008 01:21 PM

Very true actually. It really does seem like a self-fulling prophecy due to all the Black Friday stories and holiday shopping season stories that the news media, and even the financial media runs. You would think that more and more people would heed the warnings and shop online or not bum rush the stores early in the morning, but there are just too many people out there who probably want to get caught up in whatever thing is happening.

Kong76 Nov 29 2008 01:36 PM

SJR: there are just too many people out there who probably want to get caught up in whatever thing is happening <==== Like people who became Yankee fans circa 1996. (sorry, haven't picked on you this month and there's only one day left)

G-Fafif Nov 29 2008 01:46 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Nov 29 2008 01:47 PM

="KC"]SJR: there are just too many people out there who probably want to get caught up in whatever thing is happening <==== Like people who became Yankee fans circa 1996. There are moments, and then there are moments. That there is a moment.

Edgy DC Nov 29 2008 01:47 PM

I may lambast folks for cultural prejudices, but I saw the story and assumed it hap'd deep in the heart of red-state-land. Of course, it went down right in my old stomping ground. I hope the security camera footage leads to several dozen arrests.

themetfairy Nov 29 2008 02:12 PM

That's just tragic. I cannot imagine being so bargain-obsessed that I'd want to be involved in that kind of a riot.

HahnSolo Nov 29 2008 02:26 PM

I don't know what the proper term for this is--sad, ironic, horrifyingly coincidental?--but a newscaster reported yesterday that WalMart was advertising this sale as a "door-buster" sale.

Benjamin Grimm Nov 29 2008 02:39 PM

The stores do encourage people to show up early. Aren't there special bargains for those who get there soonest?

themetfairy Nov 29 2008 02:46 PM

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The stores do encourage people to show up early. Aren't there special bargains for those who get there soonest? There are definitely deep discounts for the early shoppers. I know that my mother-in-law was planning on being out there at 4:00 am yesterday to take advantage of them.

Valadius Nov 29 2008 03:31 PM

I was driving down to my great-aunt's funeral with my family and we heard this story repeated endlessly on the radio. Absolutely tragic. There's simply no need to bum-rush the doors of a freaking Walmart.

Frayed Knot Nov 29 2008 04:37 PM

="Benjamin Grimm"]The stores do encourage people to show up early. Aren't there special bargains for those who get there soonest? Yeah but only as in discounts for people buying on this day (although many of those discounts will likely be available later on as well) not (at least to my knowledge) only by those who are among the first handful of folks in the first minutes of the first day. But that didn't stop some from starting to line up the previous evening and if the store is stating (or even implying) that there are limited quantities of certain items to the point where those not in before sunrise will miss out well then they're at fault as well. And while "Black Friday" was always a big shopping day, retailers managed to survive quite nicely during Xmas season prior to this relatively recent (10 years?) mega-hype idea of pre-dawn hours and manfactured near-riots which has taken on a kind of 'Can-you-top (bottom?)-this?' air about it aided and abetted by a fawning media that gushes over the game/reality show aspect to it all.

themetfairy Nov 29 2008 04:41 PM

="Frayed Knot"] ="Benjamin Grimm"]The stores do encourage people to show up early. Aren't there special bargains for those who get there soonest? Yeah but only as in discounts for people buying on this day (although many of those discounts will likely be available later on as well) Not true. Many of the special deals are good only for the first few hours, and some of the specially priced items are of limited quantities.

Frayed Knot Nov 29 2008 05:32 PM

Key word being hours, not minutes. And many of those discounts (or similar ones) will re-appear the next day or the next week. It's an intetionally created frenzy which is treated as fun and games by folks who then act surprise when an actual frenzy is created.

Kong76 Nov 29 2008 05:33 PM

I'm almost afraid to ask, but what could Wal-mart have deeply discounted at 5am that you can't get at 8am?

themetfairy Nov 29 2008 05:45 PM

KC wrote: I'm almost afraid to ask, but what could Wal-mart have deeply discounted at 5am that you can't get at 8am? Things like computers and electronic items, IIRC. This is from descriptions and accounts of the sales - I've never partaken in the early morning mania (nor do I have any desire to do so in the future).

John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 29 2008 06:03 PM

It's definitely the retailer's fault, to a large degree. They're all set up so that if they don't make their December numbers they practically go out of biz, and they realize the consumer is only going to buy one large-screen TV a year. They're competing not on the price so much (they are) but more so on being the place you go, and it's definitely a race to the bottom. Creating excitement around price and a limited window of opportunity is a way to force the shopper to commit to them. Minus the dead employee, this is exactly what they were asking for.

metirish Nov 29 2008 06:55 PM

I saw this sign posted at the store while watching one of the reports . just a horrible thing to have happen.

Willets Point Nov 29 2008 07:11 PM

I wouldn't blame the media. I blame the stupid, shithead fucktards who banged on the door and broke glass at 5 am. I've worked in public service long enough to know that our country has a surplus of selfish, arrogant, and down right mean people who have no concern for the welfare of their fellow human beings. Assholes! There are no words strong enough to describe this type of vermin.

Edgy DC Nov 29 2008 08:56 PM

Maybe, but mob psychology is what it is, and the history is that folks in mobs have made decisions that they wouldn't believe they would ever consider a day before or a day after. The retailers' decisions are made with cool calculation in the boardroom. If that guy --- or any other employee --- rationally said, "Fuck this, I'm not opening that door," they'd be fired.

Frayed Knot Nov 30 2008 05:12 AM

="Willets Point"]I wouldn't blame the media. I blame the stupid, shithead fucktards who banged on the door and broke glass at 5 am ... There are no words strong enough to describe this type of vermin. Of course the fucktards breaking down the doors and then stampeding are the main villians here, with the retailer-created mania running second. My problem with "the media" (and by that I mean mostly the mindless local news programs) is not that they created this situation but that they're only too willing to blindly latch onto it like they're covering a civic event before dumbly asking 'Why?' when the very predictable outcome happens. And every year it's a new version of the same fucking film: the giggling news bunnies and their matching Ken-doll partners treating this mad rush towards eariler and earlier hours like it's a game show, chirping; 'Oooh, check out this wild scene of shoppers being let loose into the aisles 4 hours before sunrise at the new mega-mall in Jersey! ... and now let's see what Cyndi has for us out on Long Island ...'. So, while they certainly didn't start this whole mess, the free publicity they give it combined with their goofy 'isn't this fun/never question the morality of it all' approach makes them a bit more than just innocent bystanders.

themetfairy Nov 30 2008 06:17 AM

For the most part I don't question the morality of it all. But I do question the stupidity of it all.

Benjamin Grimm Nov 30 2008 07:38 AM

Edgy DC wrote: If that guy --- or any other employee --- rationally said, "Fuck this, I'm not opening that door," they'd be fired. I was trying to think of what I would have done if I was one of the frightened Wal-Mart employees waiting behind that closed door. I think I would have said, "Guys, this crowd looks dangerous. Instead of opening the door we should call the police and tell them we need some crowd control." If my co-workers said that there wasn't enough time and the doors had to open, I would have dashed for cover somewhere. Few people ever want to get fired, but when your life might be in danger and it's just a low-paying Wal-Mart job, it doesn't seem like a stretch to put your safety above your job security.

themetfairy Nov 30 2008 08:03 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Nov 30 2008 08:25 AM

I don't know that the cops could realistically have gotten there in time to stave off this mob. I'm thinking of my own township - at 5:00 am on the day after Thanksgiving, it's not like they'd have a lot of guys on hand. However, from this point forward, I think that the stores that crank up the crazy for these early morning sales are on notice that they need to employ private security personnel to help control the crowds as they amass. Walmart might have plausible deniability that they couldn't anticipate an employee death as a result of their marketing, but if it happens in the future they won't be able to feign the same kind of innocence.

Kong76 Nov 30 2008 08:13 AM

I've been at Costco when it opens some days in Yonkers and sometimes there are 2-300 people waiting to get in. It's uncomfortable and I could see how if one or two things go wrong it could snowball into something worse. Maybe these crowds needs to be corralled and channeled better like cattle instead of letting them just stampede. Maybe install Disneyesque waiting lines.

Edgy DC Nov 30 2008 12:02 PM

Nassau County certainly has enough police. My point was that --- and I'm sure the UFCW will be telling you similarly if they haven't already --- that a militantly anti-union shop like Wal-Mart has their employees in a comply-or-be-fired mindset. And if you are temping at Wal-Mart in this economy you well know what the abyss of unemployment looks like. If it's a dangerous-appearing situation, you should have the right to back off and say so. This guy clearly considered his alternatives --- it's not like there's a lot of precedent for this --- and rolled the dice. Can't let Wal-Mart off the hook, is what I'm saying. I also fear there is an unspeakable racial element to this.

G-Fafif Dec 01 2008 01:12 PM

The media (David Carr of NYT) [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/business/media/01carr.html?_r=1&ref=business&pagewanted=print]blames the media[/url]... ]Media and Retailers Both Built Black Friday By DAVID CARR This weekend, news reports were full of finger-wagging over the death by trampling of a temporary worker, Jdimypai Damour, at a Wal-Mart store in Long Island on Friday. His death, the coverage suggested, was a symbol of a broken culture of consumerism in which people would do anything for a bargain. The willingness of people to walk over another human being to get at the right price tag raises the question of how they got that way in the first place. But in the search for the usual suspects and parceling of blame, the news media should include themselves. Just a few days ago, the same newspaper writers and television anchors who are now wearily shaking their heads at the collective bankruptcy of our mass consumer culture were cheering all of it on. In a day-before story, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution advised readers to leave the children at home, at least the ones not big enough to carry the loot, because they will just slow you down: “Strollers and crowds just don’t mix, though we know a few shoppers willing to use four wheels and a child as a weapon. Younger children may also be seduced by the shopping mania and pitch a tantrum that slows your progress. That said, teens and young adults can be an asset to a divide-and-conquer shopping strategy. And you’ll have someone to help carry the bags.” An article distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News sounded as if the writers were composing a sonnet for fishing or camping until they got to the punch line: “Nothing rivals the thrill of waking up before the sun, or that sprint through the store for the perfect present.” Another article distributed by the news service said that “some hard core shoppers will be up before the sun, banging on store windows as the official start of the holiday shopping season begins. Weak economy, pshaw! There are sales out there.” In the wake of death by shopper, Newsday, the daily paper on Long Island, wrung its hands in the opinion page blog: “Was this deadly rush to lower prices an illustration of the current economic malaise (people mobbing Wal-Mart because they fear they can’t afford higher prices elsewhere) or just proof that even a recession can’t suppress stuff-lust?” Then it added, rather unfortunately, “This awful death is another Joey Buttafuoco-like stain on the too-often sordid image of our island.” But on the run-up, Newsday offered a “Black Friday blueprint,” with store openings listed so shoppers could plot strategy, including noting that at 5 a.m., the Green Acres Wal-Mart would open and customers could expect to buy a 42-inch LCD television for $598. Many continued to pursue that particular bargain even as Mr. Damour lay dying. The New York Times had an article in its Circuits section on how “Black Friday Calls for a Strategy Session,” but the overall coverage was far from frantic, reflecting grim economic realities. It’s convenient to point a crooked finger in the wake of the tragedy at some light coverage of some harmless family fun. Except the coverage is not so much trite as deeply cynical, an attempt to indoctrinate consumers into believing that they are what they buy and that they should be serious enough about it to leave the family at home. Media and retail outfits are economic peas in a pod. Part of the reason that the Thanksgiving newspaper and local morning television show are stuffed with soft features about shopping frenzies is that they are stuffed in return with ads from retailers. Yes, Black Friday is a big day for retailers — stores did as much as 13 percent of their holiday business this last weekend — but it is also a huge day for newspapers and television. In partnership with retail advertising clients, the news media have worked steadily and systematically to turn Black Friday into a broad cultural event. A decade ago, it was barely in the top 10 shopping days of the year. But once retailers hit on the formula of offering one or two very-low-priced items as loss leaders, media groups began to cover the post-Thanksgiving outing as a kind of consumer sporting event. “Media outlets have been stride for stride with the retailers,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst for the NPD Group, a market research firm. Speaking on the phone on Friday evening after nearly 24 hours of working the malls, he suggested, “Something like this was bound to happen at some point. The man who died at Wal-Mart was, from what I understand, a temporary employee and had no idea what he was dealing with.” Given that early shoppers stomped him to death and later arrivals streamed past him as he was being treated, he could not be blamed for failing to understand the ungovernable mix of greed and thriftiness that was under way. Black Friday blows a whistle many of us cannot hear — I would rather spend some quality time with my dentist than stand in the dark chill waiting for a store to open. Some people think of Black Friday as an abundance of holiday generosity, but in a survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs, 81 percent of the respondents said that they planned to shop for themselves, an army of self-seeking Santas. News outlets that advised consumers to sharpen their elbows for the big day were selling something that has, in an online world, lost most of its value. If you want to define your self-worth as buying a $300 laptop, you can use the Web and a down cycle in the gadgets business to come out a winner. (Black Friday is now followed by Cyber Monday, another cynical construct that suggests that you can beat the system by buying things on the right day.) “This is a tired American ritual that has had its day even before this happened,” said Kalle Lasn, editor of AdBusters, a magazine and Web site that promotes the day after Thanksgiving as “Buy Nothing Day.” “It accrues to the benefit of the media to somehow promote all of this craziness. There is something very sick about it.” Buying stuff in the teeth of recession represents a vulgar but far too common impulse. Consumption is a core American value, so much so that President Bush suggested people head to the mall after the attacks of Sept. 11 as an expression of solidarity. The message is persistent. After the current housing collapse turned a lot of the financial system to red mist, we’re told we have a crisis of consumer confidence and need to stimulate spending. Again, there’s something sensible, even vaguely patriotic, about buying stuff, even after people used cheap credit to spend themselves into a ditch. Even consumption may have limits. Mr. Cohen said that in his 32 years interviewing consumers in malls during the holiday season, he had never heard what he did this year. “People really have no idea what they want,” he said.