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.

[gladysde]

Thank you for your Black Friday comment. A man died. that was the story. Others ignored this. Their reports were about our economy. People who were angry because they had to wait longer cannot feel superior to wallstreet. They were thinking only of themselves. We are a caring nation but this "don''t get in my way when I want something" reasoning has been dominating lately.

[v miller]

Thank you for your commentary.

If the poor guy crushed to death was so meaningless to those bargain hunting in lean times, we really are in trouble.

I''d be in favor of posting the photos of those shoppers, but that would only matter if people still had any sense of shame, which needs a sense of community obligation to be effective. These shoppers apparently lack that element of humanity...

[v miller]

Thank you for your commentary.

If the poor guy crushed to death was so meaningless to those bargain hunting in lean times, we really are in trouble.

I''d be in favor of posting the photos of those shoppers, but that would only matter if people still had any sense of shame, which needs a sense of community obligation to be effective. These shoppers apparently lack that element of humanity...

[rek0000]

i think i have one answer to the why; and it is a very old complaint, but no less relavant:

go see Madagasgar 2 and see what we are teaching our children: fighting, grabbing, taking without asking, verbal assaulting, degrading of others;
and this is the normal state of children''s entertainment.

we left after 10 minutes.

[markangeloo]

U are sure to hear that Wall Mart
officials & security say
they never saw it coming !!!

[messiahx4eve]

Give up watching any types of commercials on television for just THREE weeks and see for yourself; a person WILL go through withdrawal just like coming off of a drug addiction. Watch movies instead, see what happens in just THREE weeks. Television is the opiate of the mssses, couple that with organized religion and you will believe ANYTHING you are told, even if you don''t think you will. Digital transmission will only make things worse.

[v miller]

Thank you for your commentary.

If the poor guy crushed to death was so meaningless to those bargain hunting in lean times, we really are in trouble.

I''d be in favor of posting the photos of those shoppers, but that would only matter if people still had any sense of shame, which needs a sense of community obligation to be effective. These shoppers apparently lack that element of humanity...

[rckstrdave]

A handful of greedy and thoughtless Americans make us look like a nation of murderous shoppers. Is that what we are becoming? Do hard financial times, deep seated materialism, and a few dollars in savings on non-essential goods conspire to make us barbarians? Personally, this makes me want to abolish store-bought gift giving in my home. I''m baking cookies and re-gifting this year; retail madness needs to die, not innocent Wal-Mart workers.

[stevador39]

This is the new spirit of Christmas. The U.S. has cultivated an image of isolated individualism, avarice and greed. The fascist right has spent over 60 years attacking social programs in the name of patriotism. It is a country trained to hate their fellow citizens. That poor guy represents the millions of poor Americans who are losing their jobs, their homes and their means of feeding themselves. Americans are trampling other Americans economically.

[mmarym-2009]

Let us all remember that the store clerk who was trampled at Wal-Mart was a person who was just trying to make a living. May the people who were involved in the trampling get their justice in court and on judgement day!

[fism9]

Lost some respect for Bob Schieffer.
It wasn''t an ANGRY mob. Very excited-yes.
It wasn''t a "poor sales clerk". It was
a security guard, trained to put himself in
harms way. Bob, it was bad enough without
giving it an even worst slant. But that is what the MEDIA is trained to do.

[jowara]

To fism9.....
This story is tragic and you have the nerve to suggest blaming the victim for his death and the media for our outrage. Your claim that Jdimytai Damour was a highly trained security officer who chose to put himself in harm%u2019s way is ridiculous and offensive. NYT reports that, %u201CMr. Damour, who lived in Queens, went into the store sometime during the night to stock shelves and perform maintenance work.%u201D He was a seasonal temp worker, not a trained security worker. Had he been, he would have surely refused to open that door. Moreover, your characterization of the crowd is unbelievably naive. Multiple sources report that witnesses described the scene outside with the words %u201Ctension grew%u201D, %u201Cshrieking mob%u201D, %u201Cchaos%u201D, and %u201Cfists banged.%u201D Wal-Mart%u2019s irresponsibility and the crowd%u2019s inhumanity can in no way be blamed on the victim. Our outrage is sincere and justified. Your comments make me wonder if you are Wal-mart corporate or its legal counsel.

[mmarym-2009]

Shame on the person who blamed the victim who was trampled to death in the Wal-Mart!

[horse3farm]

An illegal alien who got in the way of a surging crowd? Sorry but I''''m not crying. Posted by cwbyht
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You are a part of the problem. You are a despicable, human being filled with hate. I feel so sorry for you.

[paris1969]

An illegal alien who got in the way of a surging crowd? Sorry but I''''m not crying. Posted by cwbyht

.... then you have the mind of pond scum! Please move to another country!!

[es48]

I have been to the Valley Stream Mall where this happened several times over the past 5 years and there on Black Friday once. At the main mall building where Pennys, Macys, Sears, etc. are, the crowd is about 90% black. There was no pushing or shoving when the doors opened and there are plenty of "excuse me''s", "sorry''s", and "no problem''s" from accidental bumps or when people want to get buy. The mall, like any mall, has a few characters, but overall, it is a very safe and polite mall to shop in.

Wall Mart, on the other hand, is isolated on the other end of the parking lot attached to Liquidators, which competes price wise. I went into the store once and the inventory was all over the floors along with the food and drinks sold in the store. The place smells bad and the crowd, which is about the same demographics, is very rude. I never went back. Liquidators, right next door, is cleaner, well organized, and security, while being friendly, insure that it is safe. There is a Home Depot less than 100 yards away that is very clean, organized, and safe. The Home Depot in Freeport NY about 5 miles away, however, is filthy, unorganized, and unsafe. The customers are about 50% white.

People will do what you expect them to. This is a store management issue that has nothing to do with demographics.

http://ewebsmith.com/family/thanksgiving.html

[mmickay]

I work in retail, and while I have never worked for wal-mart I have been on the other end of events such as this one in the past and have been pretty disappointed and even shocked at how people are willing to behave to save a few bucks. Somehow I''ve always feared this day would come so I have always refused to go to such sales as a customer.

Frankly, I think Mr Scheiffer should be applauded for saying what he did. The story I saw on the national news that mentioned what happened spent more time on how the "black friday" sales numbers were going than what happened to this man. The truth is, when my friends and I are in our breakroom we comment constantly about how rude and self-centered the customers are. Editorials are meant to make us think and I really appreciate that Mr Scheiffer, with everything that has happened recently, still took note of this incident and saw it for what it was.

[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...

[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.

[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]

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...

[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!

[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.

[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.

[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!!!

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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]

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?

[rozzzzzzy]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.