Misery Index

Every year it seems that  people seem to forget that they are humans and turn into something else.  And it seems that just about every year, someone gets killed at a store during opening.

This year was no different.  I think I read that 21 people died on Black Friday due to shopping frenzy.  And one store always stands out in the crowd for injury and/or death on Black Fridays.  That would be WalMart.   (And yes, I am fully expecting a letter from their lawyers on this post.)

In Long Island, a Walmart worker was trampled to death upon opening the store’s doors.  Currently, police were reviewing video from  surveillance cameras to identify who trampled to death the Walmart worker.  Detective Fleming, a Nassau Co police spokesman said criminal charges were possible.

“Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was 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 and minor injuries. […]

Police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart doors before its 5 a.m. opening at a mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. […]

“This crowd was out of control,” Fleming said.  He described the scene as “utter chaos,” and said the store didn’t have enough security.

Is it just me, or should not Walmart also be held accountable for injury and/or death on Black Friday due to the way they handle their sales?

It would seem to me that Walmart, as large of a store as they are, would be able to come up with a way to manage this madness.  Target doesn’t seem to have this problem.  KMart doesn’t seem to have this problem.  Best Buy doesn’t seem to have this problem.  So why does Walmart?  With scenes as depicted below in various Walmarts around the nation, if I were injured on a Black Friday at Walmart, I would sue.  It is the retailers responsibility to not create an environment that creates a mob and environment that is hazardous to its shoppers well being and health.  Would not one think that Walmart not only has a legal responsibility to its customers and employees to create a safe shopping and working environment, but that they would also have a ethical responsibility to the same.  Obviously they don’t, since the below scenes unfold every year at Walmarts around the nation.

And due to this fact, it seems that Walmart encourages and incites a riot mob type environment every year on Black Friday, by not adopting store opening procedures that ensure the safety of customers and employees. 

But just to show that the Long Island death was no localized incident of stupidity on behalf of not only consumers, but also Walmart, with the admission of Nassau Co police saying “the store didn’t have enough security”,  I took a quick cruise around YouTube for Black Friday stupidity at Walmart just to show that it is not a localized and unique incident.

Have a look at just this year alone in 11 Walmart videos from Black Friday, 2008.