The Blackest Of Black Fridays

Bob Schieffer On The Tragic Death Of A Store Employee Trampled By Bargain-Hunters

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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This was not the happiest of Thanksgivings.

A nation which was shaken by an economic crisis that no one seems quite certain how to repair was horrified by the awful tragedy that unfolded in India.

No matter how terrible, tragedy always seems more cruel on a holiday.

Against that background came news on Black Friday that an angry mob pushed in the doors at a Wal Mart on Long Island and trampled a sales clerk to death.

Bargain hunting on Black Friday has gotten dangerous in recent years - pushing, shoving, the occasional fistfight and injuries were reported at other stores on Friday - but the Long Island incident marked the first-ever Black Friday shopping fatality.

It made me wonder: What were they shopping for? Christmas gifts? They didn't show much Christmas spirit.

When store officials ordered the mob out of the store because someone had died, many called it unfair, because they said they had been waiting hours to shop.

The terrorist attack in India will cause us to redouble our anti-terrorist efforts, and economic recovery plans are already in the works.

But shouldn't the death of that poor sales clerk give us some pause as well?

If we have become a people so self-centered that we are willing to step over a lifeless body to get a bargain, we have problems that go beyond terrorists, a credit crunch and bad mortgages.

Surely we can do better than that.

[hillarynow]

Are we really, seriously this stupid? Americans must be drinking some tainted water or something these days, first Bush was re-elected and now this! Concerts, sporting events, festivals, any event where there are a large number of people that need to enter a building or venue all have the same exact basic elements in common. There is something inside everyone wants and people are anxious, excited and want to get inside first. How completely stupid have we become? I see people saying, do away with it altogether, get extra security, make new laws, arrest people who do not comply etc etc. All that needs to be done at large stores like this is for them to set up a rope line and instruct everyone to get in it or they don''t get in, period. Open one door, make them file in single file and train the security to speak loudly and clearly to please do not run or you will be asked to get back on the end of the line or leave the property. Then you have a few police officers patrol past the line at opening time to back that up and guess what? NO MORE PROBLEMS, why are people so stupid? This is not rocket science.

[rofo7]

I was wondering about the origin of "Black Friday" too. CBS''s competitor CNBC actually defined it over the weekend. Many businesses don''t start making a profit (or being in the "black") for the year until they receive the proceeds of this shopping day. Hence, "black" Friday.

That said, how awful that being in such a mob scene seems necessary to so many Americans. Why do we need to buy and buy and buy anyway? We shouldn''t force loved ones to think they NEED to buy us gifts. That said, if it is true that people objected to being sent away after this man died, they deserve the biggest lump of coal ever bestowed on the recipient of a gift.

[rofo7]

I was wondering about the origin of "Black Friday" too. CBS''s competitor CNBC actually defined it over the weekend. Many businesses don''t start making a profit (or being in the "black") until they receive the proceeds of this shopping day. Hence, "black" Friday.

That said, how awful that being in such a mob scene seems necessary to so many Americans. Why do we need to buy and buy and buy anyway? We shouldn''t force loved ones to think they NEED to buy us gifts. That said, if it is true that people objected to being sent away after this man died, they deserve the biggest lump of coal ever bestowed on the recipient of a gift.

[noloyalisti]

Yes, I have heard also that Mall Wart takes out life insurance policies on their employee with themselves as the beneficiary. It may have been in the Robert Greenwald movie Wal-Mart, the High Price of Low Cost. I recommend it highly.

[mbourn2]

The most messed up thing about this man''''s death is that WalMart likely had a $250,000 life insurance policy on him with WalMart (not this employee''''s family) as the beneficiary...Now THAT''''s some truly evil isht. They make you agree to it when you''''re hired... Boycott WalMart!!!


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Posted by Zendigity
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Just curious but do you actually have anything to support this? Please give your source.

[rozzzzzzy]

The mob was not made up of the people who live in that neighborhood.

[noloyalisti]

We are worried about one poor sucker who was dumb enough to got to work for these right wing Mall Wart corporatists. How many people has Wal Mart been responsible for killing in China through their race to the bottom sweat shops? How many lives have they ruined here through their ruination of local economies?

[Cas2dy]

If we have become a people so self-centered that we are willing to step over a lifeless body to get a bargain, we have problems that go beyond terrorists, a credit crunch and bad mortgages.

[noloyalisti]

Mall-Wart is run by a bunch of greedy corporate pigs who also happen to be right wing wackos (no surprise there). They have almost singlehandedly driven small business out of many places in America and have shipped manufacturing to China, a communist dictatorship.

Therefore, if you shop there you are complicit and as anti-American as those slimewads.

[concorde5]

Wal-Mart is a horrible corporation for many reasons. This company is single handedly responsible for many of the jobs that have gone overseas. They actually argued in favor of China in a lawsuit filed by an American company against the gov of china. Wal-Mart supported China and the american company went out of business. The employees were offered minimum wage jobs at Wal-Mart to replace the jobs they lost.

I could go on for days railing against wal-mart but I digress.

[jeannettelj]

This is what I have always called the "Wal-Mart Mentality". People like this have no moral standing and are only ouy for themselves.

[clovernyc]

Shame on you people of Long Island, NY!! You trampled that poor man to death for a 50 inch HDTV. You should be identified, located and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It is called negligent homicide.

How you liberal ninnies conclude that Wal-Mart is responsible just makes it clear you will nexus your pitiful political argument to anything.

[zendigity]

The most messed up thing about this man''s death is that WalMart likely had a $250,000 life insurance policy on him with WalMart (not this employee''s family) as the beneficiary...Now THAT''s some truly evil isht. They make you agree to it when you''re hired... Boycott WalMart!!!

[concorde5]

The retail stores that promote this Black Friday nonesense are partly responsible too. You can''t blame it all on the customer. The stores advertise rediculously low prices then only stock maybe ten items each that are on sale. They create this frenzy to be the first one in the store because the stores sell out of the items on sale so quickly.

The stores create this frenzy so they should share in the blame as well.

[noloyalisti]

What on earth are so many morons still doing going to buy cheap junk at Wal-Mart. This corporation is run by right wing wackos who subscribe to end time prophesy. They are propping up China so they and their clients are COMMMUNIST SYMPATHIZERS. There is no excuse for going to Wal-Mart.

[x1947lr]

I consider this as a sad statement on our human society in America. What kind of human being can trample and walk over a dead body to get to a "bargain"? What does this say about us as a country? It makes us as bad as what just happened in India . . . It makes us as bad as what goes on in China . . . It makes us a pitiful state of existence with no redemption! People that would do that deserve to be punished for being part of a mob mentality., There is no excuse for that kind of action.
There is no sale that is worth taking a person''s life no matter how good the prices may be. Prosecute these people to the max for being cruel and inconsiderate human beings!

[txgrouch2007]

I think it''''s way past time to call up a draft and start using some of these ne''''r-do-wells as cannon fodder against Al Qaida.
Posted by clathrate at 09:20 PM : Nov 30, 2008

That used to be the PURPOSE of war - to thin the herd of the stupid. That''s why they exempted college students, those were the ones we wanted to keep.

Ever since our "liberated" no-draft zero-population-growth society, we have been overrun by the poor and the stupid.

I agree, it would be nice to find a way to thin the herd the way wars used to do...

[clathrate]

"If we have become a people so self-centered that we are willing to step over a lifeless body to get a bargain, we have problems that go beyond terrorists, a credit crunch and bad mortgages.

Surely we can do better than that."

Sadly, Bob, we can''t. It''s true, America is a nation filled with self-centered sociopath brats. While we have men and women off fighting ruthless savages abroad, our sick culture is breeding them by the score domestically.

I think it''s way past time to call up a draft and start using some of these ne''r-do-wells as cannon fodder against Al Qaida.

I long for the days when people gave a *** about their nation and their community.

[txgrouch2007]

"When store officials ordered the mob out of the store because someone had died, many called it unfair, because they said they had been waiting hours to shop. "

This is the ULTIMATE round of the blame game.

EVERYBODY was pushing on the door when it broke in. No one individual was responsible.

Once they got in the stor, NOBODY wanted to take the blame for what happened. MANY refused even to be slightly inconvenienced by the fact that a human life was ended.

Why do people act this way? Because THIS IS WHAT THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACH THEM, day in and day out for thirteen years. IT''S ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE''S FAULT. It''s not you baby. Go back to your finger paints (in 11th grade math class). If anything goes wrong, it''s THE TEACHER''S FAULT. It must be a BAD TEACHER.

In public school, the NUMBER ONE MOST POPULAR EXCUSE is "EVERYONE ELSE WAS DOING IT." And the principal ACCEPTS THAT EXCUSE. So that makes it a valid, and legitimate principle. No individual is responsible for the actions of the group.

And WHY do the schools teach this? BECAUSE THE PARENTS DEMAND IT. They refuse to let "their baby" EVER suffer ANY responsibility WHATSOEVER for ANYTHING.

If their baby joins a gang and gets caught selling drugs to elementary school children, the parents will say "It''s only because of the bad influence of the OTHER KIDS who led my baby astray. It''s all because the BAD TEACHER didn''t control those OTHER kids..."

The biggest problem facing humanity is humanity.

[txgrouch2007]

The other news sources say the worker was a temporary worker, and he was at the doors to open them for the store opening.

What does it tell you when the more experienced workers and managers let a TEMPORARY worker do the dangerous job of unlocking the doors at the beginning of the biggest shopping frenzy of the year?

Henceforth, a STORE MANAGER should be responsible for opening the doors on the day after Thanksgiving. Watch and see - there will be ARMED GUARDS clearing an open space outside the door before the manager will even approach the doors...