It’s about the consumerism that we, as a society, have allowed to permeate our lives.

About how we, as a society, judge our fellow man by his material possessions.

About how we, as a society, have allowed the day after Thanksgiving, a day where we should just be doing nothing – or at least something we truly enjoy – turn into “Black Friday”, a day that really does nothing but benefit our corporate slave masters.

We, as a society, could easily put a stop to it by just refusing to shop when they tell us to shop.

But no, we allow it, we follow it, we abide by it.

I can go on, Rick, but maybe you’ll get the picture.

Okay, just did and I guess the Stones are way too deep for me because I have no idea how these lyrics relate to a Wal-Mart worker getting trampled in Valley Stream, New York.

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You know who killed Jdimytai Damou?

You killed him.
I killed him.
We all killed him.

Just think about that for a second.

Remember Blue Light specials at K-Mart, Carlos? Amazing how no one was trampled when those lights went off, wasn’t it?

It’s people, Carlos, not the company.

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The reason I posted what the conservative said is because he confirmed there were limited supplies. That whole thing about the benefits is a subject for a different debate on a different day.

And being the loyal Walmart worker, he refused to blame Walmart for the low supply but rather the distributor.

But regardless of whose fault it is for the low supply, it really doesn’t make business sense because all these companies are out to sell as much as possible, especially on Black Friday.

So I have a hard time believing that these companies would not stock up on these products knowing they are going to be sell throughout the day.

I have a hard time believing that these companies only supply enough products to last the first hour.

The shooting I heard about was gang-related, so from what I read, it really didn’t have to do with fighting over a product but to gang colors.

I know Fry’s Electronics well because I used to live out west.

Regardless if their methods for advertising are legal or not, it is clearly a bait and switch tactic, which is not legal. Nor ethical.

And I never said the people were innocent in this matter. But these people in NY are from a low-income area. To them, saving 50 bucks on whatever product it is that Walmart is selling is a big deal.

So Walmart exploited that into creating the hype that ultimately killed this guy.

Thanks! And of course the people who let themselves get manipulated by the corporations are also to blame. But we all know most people are like puppets waiting for someone to pull their strings.

Rick,

It is a given that those people who did the trampling are clearly at fault. They did the trampling after all. I never once said that they are innocent in this matter.

What I said, Rick, is that Walmart has a responsibility to ensure safety in their store. And knowing that there was the potential for customers to act like a herd of animals during feeding time, they could have taken some preventive measures.

You ask what Walmart could have done differently?

Perhaps instead of selling a handful of products at 50 percent off for only the first hour (or whatever it is they do), they could sell their whole supply of that particular product at 15 percent off throughout the entire day.

In the end, their profit on that particular product should be the same.

But of course that will just make the Black Friday sale like any other sale throughout the year, so they needed to do it this way in order to ensure that the people would sleep off their turkey hangovers and be at the store at 4 fucking a.m.

So they created the hype. And they added to the hype by posting that sign that said “blitz line starts here”. And they did nothing to control the hype by maybe hiring security guards for crowd control.

In the end, Walmart did everything at no or low cost. That’s their business model. And that’s what got that worker killed.

For the record, i’ve worked retail at two different places on black friday, including circuit city which is renowned for its huge sales… and there have been long lines and stuff. They can’t stock many at “those prices” because they’re under cost. Being from the east coast (and south) – i wouldn’t expect you to know what a Fry’s Electronics is… but they do this every week… yes, every WEEK with their print ads. they have like 4 items that they sneak into the ad that are really amazing deals, and when you get to your local fry’s they’re always sold out. because each store only had 3 at that price.

As far as i know, truth in advertising as far as “how many are in stock” only applies to car dealerships, as they’re the only ones i ever hear mentioning the inventory count on any medium.

i’ll step down from the soapbox, now.

When there’s a shooting (as there were at least two newsworthy shootings on black friday, one in hollywood, the other at a toys ‘r’ us – oh, toys ‘r’ us isn’t a corporate overlord, so that tale doesn’t warrant a mention?) so when there’s a shooting, do you write about the corporate gun manufacturers that do NOTHING to make their guns … i mean do you understand how this sounds?

yes, walmart is a cesspool that destroys communities, then after it swindles people into being disloyal to their local retailers, jacks up prices so high that people can barely afford them… but where else can they shop now that mom and pop had to close the store? – but they’re hardly to blame for plain ass human greed… Especially in new york.

most of the coverage on KNX 1070 los angeles mentioned that the paramedics and police on scene were getting knocked to the ground and bounced around by crowds, as well. Is walmart to blame for not making their vestibules large enough to hold emergency teams trying to save someone’s life, and greedy pigpigs that are there too?

Furthermore, the two posts you inline quoted couldn’t be further apart in ideology… One is saying “this is a tragedy, everyone should share blame, the people, and walmart”
The other is saying, quite freaking explicitly – “walmart isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out. heck they even have health insurance lol! (oh and a 10% discount. some benefits!)” – like health insurance is some “rare” freaking occurrence at large corporations or something.

One made me feel for the walmart employees. the other made me want to punch the nearest person with a mccain sticker on their car.

How does one even get the gumption to reply to this happening with “well, walmart is good to me, so therefore “? that statement is BS, because it’s not SONY, Microsoft, or nintendo’s fault that they can’t meet demand… it’s mostly IBM’s fault. and last time i checked, IBM is a huge american corporation, that has more employees and money than god. See, they make the CPUs for these consoles, and if they’re not producing according to demand, then how is that some japanese company’s fault? or walmart’s, for that matter? should walmart cease stocking these particular items, or what?

come on… this is the HUMANS’ FAULT.

It might also help to mention, Carlos, how these same people bitched and complained when told they would have to leave the store because it was now a crime scene. That was part of the media reports, too.

Perhaps Wal-Mart could have done more, but to ignore the psyche of these morons who somehow believe that this kind of crap is somehow part of Christmas does your analysis injustice.

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Great read.
SCG