Attempts to blame WalMart are misplaced and blaming the victim instead of the actor. And WalMart is a victim in this case as well.

And for anyone who thinks that WalMart is a bad place to work, DON’T WORK THERE!. WalMart will either find people who like working there, improve conditions to make it a better place to work, or utimately fail. That is how markets work.

How is it that the people at the other 4,099 Walmart stores seemed to be able to handle themselves as civilized human beings?

webproze on December 1, 2008 at 3:51 PM

We could charge Wal-Mart with inciting a riot, and sue Santa Claus and Jesus for their complicity.

All the Wally World execs should be charged with inciting a riot and involuntary manslaughter.
They created the hazardous situation which resulted in death and injuries.

riverrat10k on December 1, 2008 at 8:33 AM

This is sarcasm, of course?

Nonsense!

Let’s put the blame on the tramplers, where it belongs. Wal-Mart should be held to the usual legal standard of care with respect to business invitees. No more, no less.

Every effort should be made to throw the tramplers in jail. Even if it’s nearly impossible to identify them, that’s no justification for attaching extra blame or liability to Wal-Mart.

Perhaps we should assign some personal responsibility to the animals who stampeded this poor man. The folks who led the charge, who didn’t have any sort of honor, who were only looking out for themselves.

300,000,000 people in the country. 4,100 Walmart facilities. A large number of them participated in “Black Friday” sales, and only one person was trampled by a mob of unruly animals, at one Walmart.

How is it that the people at the other 4,099 Walmart stores seemed to be able to handle themselves as civilized human beings?

Hold people to a standard and they’ll surprise you. Hold them to the lowest common denominator and they’ll disappoint you.

Those can’t be Wal-Mart employees – they’re actually enthused about working there.

(yes, I know it’s a commercial, but…)

sethstorm on December 1, 2008 at 4:15 AM

My daughter worked at one in SW ND. She was paid $10.10/hr as a cashier. She was the best one they had at the time. So they abused her by working her to death. Even when she was hired & said she could only work certain hours bcs of college, they still scheduled her for hours she wasn’t available & she had to constantly tell them no.
They promised to move her to electronics where she really wanted to be-she never got there bcs she was the fastest & best cashier. The slackers got the choice work, the hard workers got screwed.
They hired lazy, stupid people bcs that was all they could get. In ND, they are desperate for workers bcs of the oilfields, but they don’t pay them squat.
The shoppers in Walmart can also be nasty. Walmart lets shoppers get away with crap bcs they don’t want to offend anyone-they let shoppers treat their associates like crap.
That said- my Black Friday experience in Bismarck was just fine. Everyone was polite & nice & there was no impatience or rudeness.
I went with my 3 teenage daughters & 1 tween daughter. The deals really weren’t that great, but we had fun together in the big city (we are really far from the big city).

Not a joke. Now-showing: Walmart TV ad.

Those can’t be Wal-Mart employees – they’re actually enthused about working there.

(yes, I know it’s a commercial, but…)

You have a couple of thousand people trying to get in the same doorway, and the surge that is created by the people in the line basically push the people in front – the people that trampled on the poor guy more than likely didn’t have a choice. They were pushed by the huge crowd forward. Even if they wanted to help, I highly doubt they could’ve done anything about it.

The responsibility in this case lies totally on Wal-Marts hands. Once they saw a crowd of that size outside their doors, they should’ve contacted the authorities.

I’m sure they’ll learn their lesson this time, but is unfortunate that somebody had to die in order for that to happen.

How many people do you think will be killed during the inauguration?
I say, 3 stabbed, 1 shot.

Geronimo on November 30, 2008 at 9:31 PM

Oh! far more than that. Yes we can!

Seriously any huge gathering is a nightmare for security. Throw in the fact that the inagural crowds have never been forced to be screened in any meaningful way. Bastard has a PR nightmare on his hands and I couldn’t be happier. If the bastard decides to make it all about screening and metal detectors, he affirms the belief that he will create a police state and it will be seconds after taking office that private gun ownership in America will be over. Bastard doesn’t do anything and any incidents from terrorists or the thugs that put bastard in office will be the story as the Obama thugs rob, rape, or even kill (compare to Marion Barry’s second time as Mayor of DC). It’s a lose/lose situation and the larger the crowd the more likely the Obama administration will start out with bastard having to explain away bloodshed or even death at a time we were lead to believe the world would suddenly be unicorns and lollipops.

All of the Wal Mart stores by me had private security and/or local PD on hand to manage the crowds.

Mine’s got cops. Apparently a couple years ago, people got into a fistfight over a $35.00 DVD player. Yeah. I haven’t gone shopping on Black friday for a couple of years because I’m scared of the people who do shop crazy on that day. I don’t think I’ll do it again for a while.

A horrible tragedy. But it’s over.

Next.

Dave Rywall on November 29, 2008 at 6:38 PM

Wow, just wow. What’s your reaction to the terror attacks in India? “Oh, well, where’s the chicken?”

That’s just disturbing.

Somebody from my Sunday School class related his Black Friday Wal-mart experience. The staffers rolled a pallet of 2G IPODS (which is essentially crappy low-tech technology in 2008) Not completely obsolete but only a bargain if they were priced to get them off the shelves and their intended user is less then ten-years old. Anyway, the “shoppers” descended on the pallet to the point that the security that accompanied the workers were keeping people away long enough that the swarm didn’t do bodily harm to the staff.

There is just something wrong with this mentality. It’s going to be much worse under the Obama regime when it’s food or fuel that Americans are lining up at 3AM to ensure they get something before it is all gone. They are expecting millions for the bastard’s inauguration- wonder how on earth they are going to keep crowd control without it appearing that electing Obama means a totalitarian police state?

A horrible tragedy. But it’s over.

Next.

Dave Rywall on November 29, 2008 at 6:38 PM

Ah. The heartfelt compassion of the Left in all it’s splendid glory.

In response to the current financial “crisis”, what is the response from the government? Is it hey let’s get our fiscal house in order? No it is let’s make it easier for people to spend by providing a never ending supply of cheap money for cars and TVs. God forbid someone should have to go a week without access to yet another $5000 credit card offer in the mail!

So why the hell is anyone surprised that a mob of people would kill someone while shopping? The mases are only doing what their leaders have been telling them to do for years.