# Wal-Mart Greeter Killed in Black Friday Stampede **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 28, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811 "2008-11-28T16:39:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/1 "2008-11-28T16:39:33Z")
[Link here.](http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-limart1129,0,5952099.story) > [@](#): > > A 34-year-old Wal-Mart worker died Friday morning after “a throng of shoppers . . . physically broke down the doors” and knocked him to the ground as the crowd pushed its way into the store at a Valley Stream [Long Island] mall, Nassau police said. 4 other people were taken to the hospital. I don’t even know what to say about this whole thing. I’m just so upset and angry. But I don’t know who to be angry _at_! Jesus. What a way to go. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/2 "2008-11-28T16:49:58Z")
I’d blame the store’s management and the local police for not having a plan for crowd control. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/3 "2008-11-28T16:49:58Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > I don’t even know what to say about this whole thing. I’m just so upset and angry. But I don’t know who to be angry _at_! I’d say the morons who lack the self-control to _not_ mindlessly destroy things would be a safe target. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/4 "2008-11-28T16:50:50Z")
How does a 34 year old end up as a greeter? I thought those jobs were reserved for the elderly. Anyway, if I saw that happening I’d get the hell out of the way of those doors and those people. If the stores closed who are you greeting anyway? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/5 "2008-11-28T16:54:31Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > How does a 34 year old end up as a greeter? I thought those jobs were reserved for the elderly. Could be MR/DD. Where I used to live, Wal-Mart greeters were more often “special” than elderly. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/6 "2008-11-28T16:54:34Z")
I’ve seen enough movies to know that when the zombie horde comes at you, you should move the other way. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/7 "2008-11-28T16:59:28Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > How does a 34 year old end up as a greeter? I thought those jobs were reserved for the elderly. He wasn’t the greeter ([cite](http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html)). > [@](#): > > The 34-year-old worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/8 "2008-11-28T17:00:02Z")
This is the epitome of rampant consumeristic greed run literally amok. How people can act this way over buying material things is appalling. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/9 "2008-11-28T17:00:56Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This is the epitome of rampant consumeristic greed run literally amok. How people can act this way over buying material things is appalling. Hey, if you know a better way to get really cheap sweat pants, I’d like to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/10 "2008-11-28T17:03:30Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Hey, if you know a better way to get really cheap sweat pants, I’d like to hear it. Or a $130 Blu-Ray player, which I was considering picking up at Walmart myself today (before realizing I wouldn’t have the stomach for it). It is pretty sickening, no matter how you slice it. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/11 "2008-11-28T17:10:42Z")
I’ve workd at Wal\*Mart for most of 12 years now. This was, at my store at least, one of the worst-managed blitz days I’ve ever seen. My store is open 24-7, which means huge lines in-store, customers staking out their spots the night before. Most other years, for high demand stuff, a ticket system was used, so folks were rewarded for being orderly. More importantly, the store had funds available top hire off-duty police for security and crowd control. Around 4:30am, two lines leading towards the photo lab and electronics department collapsed together under the pressure of folks lining up for shit. Shouting, shoving, screaming, punches thrown, the fucking works. At that point, we finally got our damn police. I ended up out on the salesfloor (I normally do inventory control) as part of some sort of ad-hoc human wall to keep the bozos from stampeding while the cops tried to assert themselves. I’m not at all shocked that a similar scene involving no crowd control and big sheets of glass ended up with death. My guess is it wasn’t a greeter, just some poor dude trying to help not knowing how scary things were getting… For what it’s worth, the GM of my store was furious with the sloppy unskilled rentacops he was allowed to get. This may be a corporate-level fuckup. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/12 "2008-11-28T17:12:27Z")
I hope these fucking jerks are happy and I hope it gives them a fucking second’s pause. Honestly if it had been another customer, I wouldn’t have cared, but this shit is just ridiculous. What the fuck is wrong with people? ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/13 "2008-11-28T17:12:35Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This is the epitome of rampant consumeristic greed run literally amok. How people can act this way over buying material things is appalling. Okay, first of all: “epitome” signifies the quality of being generally representative, not an extreme case. Second, the phrase “run literally amok” is either redundant or meaningless in this context, depending on whether one takes the definition of-- AAIIUGH! _trampled to death by the English language_ ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/14 "2008-11-28T17:17:25Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Okay, first of all: “epitome” signifies the quality of being generally representative, not an extreme case. Regardless of the literal meaning of the word, it has come to mean “a perfect example,” a usage which is entirely consistent with post you’re “correcting.” ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/15 "2008-11-28T17:19:57Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > Regardless of the literal meaning of the word, it has come to mean “a perfect example,” a usage which is entirely consistent with post you’re “correcting.” How dare you gainsay the dead. No Cabbage Patch doll for you, the Necromancer decrees. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/16 "2008-11-28T17:20:21Z")
Fucking savages literally [broke the door down](http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html): > [@](#): > > “He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. “They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too…I literally had to fight people off my back.” The people to blame are the penny-grubbing animals who murdered the guy. That’s a no-brainer. I don’t understand why there aren’t any criminal charges being pursued against these scum. This kind of thing represents both everything that’s wrong with Christmas and everything that’s wrong with Americans. Fucking greedy, brainless fat-asses literally killing people to get a few bucks off a nerf ball for their worthless fucking kids. Mindless, bestial consumerism, oblivious, sociopathic self-absorbtion, absolute lack of accountability. All for a few piddling, trivial discounts on CD players and cookware. It doesn’t sound like any of these people gave the slightest shit that they’d just killed somebody. If something like this happens, they should immediately lock everybody in, call the cops and load every last one of these swine onto paddy wagons. They can then review the security cameras and pinpoint exactly who did what. I don’t understand how people can literally run over – actually, physically _step on_ – another human being on the floor, and not give it a second thought, even when they see EMT’s loading the dead body onto a stretcher. Who ARE these people? The irony of the fact that they’re allegedly doing this in the name of celebrating “Peace on earth, good will towards man” is so stark it burns the skin. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/17 "2008-11-28T17:22:18Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Okay, first of all: “epitome” signifies the quality of being generally representative, not an extreme case. Second, the phrase “run literally amok” is either redundant or meaningless in this context, depending on whether one takes the definition of-- AAIIUGH! _trampled to death by the English language_ Nope. 😉 Though I recognize the humour here, the use of “epitome” isn’t incorrect -it may be used to mean “a perfect example”, which could easily mean an extreme case. > [@](#): > > e·pit·o·me (ĭ-pĭt’ə-mē) Pronunciation Key > n. > A representative or perfect example of a class or type: “He is seen . . . as the epitome of the hawkish, right-of-center intellectual” (Paul Kennedy). > A brief summary, as of a book or article; an abstract. > > [Latin epitomē, a summary, from Greek, an abridgment, from epitemnein, to cut short : epi-, epi- + temnein, to cut; see tem- in Indo-European roots.] > > The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Edit: beaten to the punch. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/18 "2008-11-28T17:32:15Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Nope. 😉 Though I recognize the humour here, the use of “epitome” isn’t incorrect -it may be used to mean “a perfect example”, which could easily mean an extreme case. > > Edit: beaten to the punch. Oh never fear, for your insolence you have nonetheless earned a Furbyless eternity in the afterlife. This may not seem like a big deal to you now, but Furbies are like prison cigarettes in the Netherworld. There’s a reason why these fad toys exert such an irresistible compulsion within the Chthonic id. You don’t seriously believe that innocent people are stampeded to death during the holiday shopping rush for no good reason, do you? ---
**Author:** ![DubsyUin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb9ed0/32.png) [@DubsyUin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DubsyUin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/19 "2008-11-28T17:34:06Z")
This is a demonstration of mob mentality at its peak. The mob has no morals, it has no ethics, it abides by no laws, and it has no common sense. Really shatters my belief in humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/20 "2008-11-28T17:35:56Z")
Looks like it was store #5293. The one thing that really sticks in my mind is that folks this year looked so, I dunno. Determined? Serious? Hungry? It really was a bad vibe. I remember the night the wii launched-- we had multiple Mario Kart DS tournaments going on around us, just set up by the people waiting in line. There was no similar feel of “we’re in this together.” this morning. It was all “Fuck you, I’m getting MINE!” Upon refelection, don’t blame Wal\*Mart for this. Could have happened everywhere, the way the teeming millions are behaving right now. [Aw christ, he was a temp.](http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2841778420081128) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811.md?page=2)