Today I saw a video clip from the news. It seems Walmart is being sued by the family of the young man who was trampled to death at a Walmart in New York. Of course I don't know every little detail so I may make an assumption that isn't correct. I hope I don't.
It seems to me that to hold one company responsible for the idiots who line up so they can save a couple of dollars while fighting with everyone else for the same product is ridiculous. How can Walmart be to blame for the actions of a crowd of people? This practice has been going on for years. Even before it was named Black Friday by the police in Philadelphia in the mid sixties (look up "origin of black friday"), it was considered a great day to go Christmas shopping.
So, #1 - All stores participating in sales on Black Friday shouldn't be held to blame for the actions of individuals. #2 - For years I've heard people talk about their experience with other shoppers on that stupid day. Most act like it's an accomplishment to get up, stand in line, have other customers and the cashiers be rude, crude and downright atrocious to them. They need to wear a t-shirt that says "I survived Black Friday 2008" so they can show off how stupid they are. And yes, I have actually seen t-shirts to that effect. The news plays up Black Friday for days before the actual day and show how awful people can be. Now why would you CHOOSE to go into a mob environment and then say that you were carried through in the crowd and couldn't help it. BULL! If someone chooses to ride an angry bull and gets hurt do you sue the owner of the bull? I hope not. So in MY opinion every one of those people in that crowd were responsible for the young man's death. I know they didn't go there with that intent. It's the way I feel about people who say they were drunk and their judgement was impaired so therefore anything they may have done while drunk wasn't their fault. "I know, let's blame the bar that served them the drinks. It must be their fault." BULL, once again. At some point they were sober and chose to put something in their body that would impair their judgment. Same for the shoppers. They knew what they were getting into - you couldn't miss it in the media. Which brings me to #3. Why not blame the newspapers for running the ads for the sales that "caused" these people to be idiots. The TV commercials were aired so the stations must be responsible too. How about the news stories about folks gearing up for the big day? I blame the MEDIA for helping to present the whole mob mentality for Black Friday.
So here's my take on the death of the young man. It was a horrible ACCIDENT. No one had any intentions of it happening. However, the media "aided and abetted" and made the whole situation possible. Was Walmart or any other store responsible? It would be financial suicide to NOT have sales on a day that brings out droves of people. If Walmart's items on sale were such a great deal over other stores then they win the game, not lose it. (I read an article on Yahoo that was analysing the "10 Best Deals for Black Friday" and Walmart was not on the list.) Is there a way to stop this insanity? Not having any items on sale would stop the flood of people and be a stupid move for any company. Force the idiots to take a number and stand in line with an army standing there with guns to make them comply? Yeah, that'll work. Imagine that chaos. The companies need to make a plan of some sort before next year but that does not make them to blame.
One last thought: there used to be some store that had numerous commercials with the crazy mob outside the locked doors waiting for the sale to start and the store employees getting padded up or making the newest employee be the one to open the door. Supposedly this was funny. It's not funny. The media each year works up the frenzy and stores have to compete with other stores for the dollars that will be spent that day. What's wrong with looking to the real source of fault. US, the shopper who participates with the mob. Stay home, the sales aren't that good, anyway.
Trivia Note: The actual busiest shopping day of the year is either two days before Christmas if Christmas is later in the week or the Saturday before Christmas if it's early in the week. Black Friday normal comes in at 7th or 8th for sales. There may be more people traffic on Black Friday but not as much buying as you would expect.
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