# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/121 "2008-11-29T01:19:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Oh, my God, that’s just [snerk] . . that’s horrible, that’s really [choke:o] awful, it’s tragic, it’s, it’s HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW- **HAW!!!** :p:p:p > > That was your reaction too. Admit it. No, it wasn’t. Next? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/122 "2008-11-29T01:22:00Z")
I will never understand this kind of behaviour. I would never stand in a line overnight for anything. Even if it were dope and I was still using. Are these items that will not be available after today? Did they make only a limited supply? Do these people place no value on their _time_? ---
**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 29, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/123 "2008-11-29T01:31:07Z")
If it was a Wal-Mart executive, I might laugh. Some low level employee who has to do the dirty work on the front line against the thundering herd – not so much. Nobody hates Black Friday more than those employees. They take nothing but abuse (sometimes life-threatening abuse) and get basically shit in return. By all rights, it’s the execs who should have to stand in front of those doors and deal with greedy, insulting morons all day long. ---
**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 29, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/124 "2008-11-29T01:45:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > If it was a Wal-Mart executive, I might laugh. Some low level employee who has to do the dirty work on the front line against the thundering herd – not so much. Nobody hates Black Friday more than those employees. They take nothing but abuse (sometimes life-threatening abuse) and get basically shit in return. **By all rights, it’s the execs who should have to stand in front of those doors and deal with greedy, insulting morons all day long**. Yeah, but unhappily, of course they don’t. They get to sit in comfortable leather chairs in the boardroom and wonder at why they aren’t squeezing more life out of their employees. Over coffee and doughnuts. ---
**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/125 "2008-11-29T01:48:24Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > If it was a Wal-Mart executive, I might laugh. Some low level employee who has to do the dirty work on the front line against the thundering herd – not so much. Nobody hates Black Friday more than those employees. They take nothing but abuse (sometimes life-threatening abuse) and get basically shit in return. By all rights, it’s the execs who should have to stand in front of those doors and deal with greedy, insulting morons all day long. Not to mention in my (fortunately) limited retail experience, a lot of the low-paid employees literally have no choice but to work that day. Many of the retail stores I’ve been in had policies that if you didn’t show up to work Black Friday, you better not bother showing up again after that. I’m not even sure if that’s legal or not, but what low-income worker has the power to fight that if it happens? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/126 "2008-11-29T01:59:01Z")
Crowds like this are something I try to avoid, so I don’t shop on such days or popular hours. Besides, who needs stores when you’ve got the Internet? Are the bargains that good that you want to risk being trampled to death? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/127 "2008-11-29T02:09:47Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I don’t really celebrate Christmas–we don’t do gifts–and so I have no real experience, and I would never expect the crowds to be bad enough to be actually dangerous: annoying, certainly, uncomfotable, perhaps, but enough to be actually dangerous? I wouldn’t expect that in a million years. And if she got there early when the crowd was forming, she may not have had the option to leave as it got larger and people were trapped. I agree with you-I was just explaining how bad Black Friday can be. I never would have expected it to be THIS bad, but it can be VERY nasty. So one should be prepared. > [@](#): > > Wal-Mart carries some of the blame for this. The tradition of having some very good loss leaders in a very limited quantity really encourages this sort of hysteria–they give the best bargains to the most aggressive people. If that has been leading to escalating violence every year (as every year more people learn that the “secret” is sheer aggression), then they should have taken steps to change the way the game is played long before it got to the “breaking the door down” stage. Absolutely. This is typical Wal-Mart behavior, though. > [@faithfool](#): > > This is one of the reasons why I think that Wal\*Mart should be held the most responsible… according to this [article](http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/28/black.friday.violence/index.html?eref=rss_topstories), that store allowed people to start lining at 9:00 PM last night. Holy hell! No wonder there was an unbelievable push forward as soon as the damn doors opened. That’s nothing-I saw on the news a Best Buy in southern CA that had people lining up A WEEK AGO already. I shit you not. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Oh, my God, that’s just [snerk] . . that’s horrible, that’s really [choke:o] awful, it’s tragic, it’s, it’s HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW- **HAW!!!** :p:p:p > > That was your reaction too. Admit it. No, no it wasn’t, you fucking insensitive piece of shit. ---
**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 29, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/128 "2008-11-29T02:12:56Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I agree with you-I was just explaining how bad Black Friday can be. I never would have expected it to be THIS bad, but it can be VERY nasty. So one should be prepared. > > Absolutely. This is typical Wal-Mart behavior, though. > > That’s nothing-I saw on the news a Best Buy in southern CA that had people lining up A WEEK AGO already. I shit you not. > > No, no it wasn’t, you fucking insensitive piece of shit. I couldn’t help but notice that you glossed over my response to your claim that “my fingers still worked even though my jaw was wired shut”…(paraphrasing) Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/129 "2008-11-29T02:23:43Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I couldn’t help but notice that you glossed over my response to your claim that “my fingers still worked even though my jaw was wired shut”…(paraphrasing) > > Nice. Because what else was there to say? “Oh, I’m not a racist, I was just asking why it always seems said race does such and such…” Maybe it was just an area that was predominantly black-what does that mean? What DIFFERENCE does it make in this case, anyways? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/130 "2008-11-29T02:29:42Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > That’s nothing-I saw on the news a Best Buy in southern CA that had people lining up A WEEK AGO already. I shit you not. Holy fucking Og! See, that bullshit should not fucking be allowed. Shame on these stores for encouraging this nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/131 "2008-11-29T02:41:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Oh, my God, that’s just [snerk] . . that’s horrible, that’s really [choke:o] awful, it’s tragic, it’s, it’s HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW- **HAW!!!** :p:p:p > > That was your reaction too. Admit it. No. It wasn’t. Why would you think such an awful death would be hilarious? ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/132 "2008-11-29T02:52:44Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Holy fucking Og! See, that bullshit should not fucking be allowed. Shame on these stores for encouraging this nonsense. Um, don’t the people lining up for a week need to eat? Don’t any of them have families or kids? How are they going to live for a full week without doing those things? It doesn’t make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/133 "2008-11-29T03:00:22Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Yeah, it was Riverfront Stadium, which no longer exists, and was a pretty different scenario. Just to be clear, the [Riverfront Coliseum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Bank_Arena) in Cincinnati was the site of the 1979 The Who concert. It was an indoor arena seating approximately 17,000 for basketball games. Riverfront Stadium was a nearby football/baseball stadium. ---
**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 29, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/134 "2008-11-29T03:03:03Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Because what else was there to say? “Oh, I’m not a racist, I was just asking why it always seems said race does such and such…” Maybe it was just an area that was predominantly black-what does that mean? What DIFFERENCE does it make in this case, anyways? That’s not exactly what I was asking. I never said any such thing, you’re jumping to conclusions. I was in no way trying to be disengenuous. I was merely expressing curiosity after viewing photographs of this \*particular incident \*if any racial conclusions could be drawn based on statistics, nothing more, nothing less. Of course you read that to mean “why do only black people act this way…why can’t they be more like us civilised white people?” C’mon. Now it’s you being dishonest, or at the very least, casting dispersions where they aren’t warranted. ---
**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 29, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/135 "2008-11-29T03:04:18Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Just to be clear, the [Riverfront Coliseum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Bank_Arena) in Cincinnati was the site of the 1979 The Who concert. It was an indoor arena seating approximately 17,000 for basketball games. Riverfront Stadium was a nearby football/baseball stadium. DOH! I am ashamed to call myself a Cincinnati (or thereabouts) resident! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/136 "2008-11-29T03:10:17Z")
> [@torie](#): > > Um, don’t the people lining up for a week need to eat? Don’t any of them have families or kids? How are they going to live for a full week without doing those things? It doesn’t make any sense. I agree, don’t they have jobs? ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/137 "2008-11-29T03:22:52Z")
So, how many of the people involved in this stampede will line up again at 5am next year and do the same fucking thing again? ---
**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 29, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/138 "2008-11-29T03:27:56Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > So, how many of the people involved in this stampede will line up again at 5am next year and do the same fucking thing again? One less than this year, I would guess. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/139 "2008-11-29T03:32:04Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > They’ll also have to defend themselves from a lot of people who were traumatized by being in the crowd. They have two definite law suits - the pregnant woman in the hospital and the dead stock worker. They’ll have several hundred opportunistic lawsuits from people who were there - or will claim they were there - and suffered (or will claim to suffer) emotional distress or minor injuries. I know nothing about law, but I’d like to see Wal-Mart and every other store running these limited item sales as defendants for creating a threatening environment. Perhaps it is just me, but I think telling 200,000 people that they can get a chance at 200 items at a deep discount only at 5:00am is designed to cause a problem, not an “event”. Hell, even the door sign called it a “blitz”. It has been many moons (dating back to before WalMart opened) since I’ve been to Green Acres mall, but my last recollection was that the place was a hellhole of a mall. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811/140 "2008-11-29T04:06:04Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > The SoCal high desert has very serious problems with gangs, drugs and racial tensions. This isn’t a Black Friday thing as much as it is probably another violent dispute that just happened to erupt in a toy store on a Friday. Just a guess, of course. > > ETA- I am referring to the Toys R Us shooting this morning in Palm Desert… IMO, the motive for it doesn’t matter. Whether they were in the store to get bargains or to gun one another down–you don’t bring a gun into a public place like that. The fact that this a huge shopping day just adds ire. I haven’t followed the story closely (or at all) since it broke, but I hope they ended up just killing each other. **BrainGlutton** –your attempt at humor has failed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-greeter-killed-in-black-friday-stampede/474811.md?page=8)