Ahhh, Black Friday… That traditional “day-after-Thanksgiving” early morning offering of deeply discounted sales, has long been seen as the official start of the Christmas shopping season. And in the spirit of the season, this past Friday kicked off with the usual holiday cheer: bright and festive Christmas decorations dotting streets and stores, Santa Claus delighting young children at center court of the mall, pepper spray fights… PEPPER SPRAY FIGHTS? HUH???
Yes, Black Friday took a surprisingly ugly turn at a Los Angeles Wal-Mart, when an aggressive and desperate female shopper was so hell bent to get her hands on a discounted XBox video game console, that she pepper sprayed an entire crowd so as to keep them away from the merchandise she wanted.
The unusual melee began shortly after 10:20 p.m. Thanksgiving night, as shoppers prowling for Black Friday deals were let inside the store earlier than in previous years. Shoppers-gone-wild tore down video game displays, trampled merchandise and shoved each other aside just for first pick at the deeply-discounted goods. Once store employees began removing the plastic wrap to make the XBox available, that’s when the suspect began shooting pepper spray into the crowd.
“People started screaming, pulling and pushing each other, and then the whole area filled up with pepper spray,” 24-year-old shopper Alejandra Seminario told the Los Angeles Times. “Somehow she was trying to use [the pepper spray] to gain an upper hand,” police Lt. Abel Parga said.
At least 20 shoppers suffered minor injuries, as the woman grabbed the merchandise she wanted and disappeared into the frenzied crowd. The bizarre story went national, prompting a hunt for clues to identify her and have her arrested. But the crazed woman turned herself into police late Friday night. Her identity was not revealed, but police plan to release further details about her and the case in the coming days. The woman faces a battery of charges and potential law suits, as does Wal-Mart, which will also almost certainly be named in any possible suits.
The odd Black Friday tradition has seen its share of dangerous disasters over the years. As stores have opened their doors in the wee hours of the morning, eager Christmas shoppers have raced into the doors by the hundreds, trampling over each other for the chance at a discount, frequently causing multiple injuries and even death. Some stores experimented this year with letting 10-20 customers through its doors at a time, in 30 second intervals, so as to eliminate the mad cattle stampede. But is that truly enough, especially when shoppers are willing to adopt a “by any means necessary” mentality and wield pepper spray as a weapon to get what they want?
In short, is it time to finally put an end to the capitalistic tradition of Black Friday?
"The odd Black Friday tradition has seen its share of dangerous disasters over the years." It most certainly has and it seems to be happening more and more with every passing year. Honestly, I worry moreso about the young children who are dragged out into that madness by parents who apparently can't afford a baby-sitter but are willing to risk life and limbs (theirs and their children) in hopes of getting cheap luxury goods!?! Pure insanity. "In short, is it time to finally put an end to the capitalistic tradition of Black Friday?"I'm all for stores making a profit. But the madness has got to stop.First: Retailers themselves are to blame for creating an environment that literally encourages conflict and chaos among shoppers. Stores opening earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving evening FOR WHAT??? To sell what amounts to a handful of *HOT*-ticket items to hundreds_if not thousands_of shoppers all pursuing those handful of choice items. Folks end up fighting like savages. Not to mention the fact that obviously retailers (like Wal-Mart) FAIL to have adequate security. WHY?… Read more »