By Pam
Each year Black Friday seems to get just a little bit more insane. Reports just kept coming in on all of the insanity. This year stores opened even earlier with some opening as early as 10 p.m. the night before. Many people are speculating that opening the stores earlier just fueled the insanity which caused injury to a number of people.
Here are a few of the incidents that were reported in the news:
- A shopper in San Leandro, California was critically wounded early Friday in a robbery attempt outside of a Walmart store. The victim is in critical but stable condition and an arrest has been made.
- A woman in Myrtle Beach, SC was shot in the foot as she was robbed by gunpoint outside of a Walmart store.
- In Connecticut, police were called when a man cut in front of about 20 other customers in a checkout line and was refusing to move to the back of the line. The shopper refused the request to move out of the line by the police officers and when they proceeded to arrest him, he resisted. He was then tased by the police and arrested and charged with breach of peace and interfering with an officer. He was later released on $2,500 bond.
- Less than five minutes after a Walmart opened in Rome, New York, a fight broke out in the electronics department. Two women were transported to the local hospital for non life-threatening injuries.
- A bomb threat closed the Walmart in Woodland Park, Colorado at 9 am on Friday morning. There was an announcement made of the loudspeaker and customers and employees left in a mass exodus. No bomb was found. There were reports that bomb threats were made also at Walmart stores in Arkansas and Missouri.
- An off duty police officer hired by a Walmart store in North Carolina for security sprayed pepper spray on a crowd lined up to purchase discounted cell phones. The police reported that the officer did so to help the crowd “regain composure.” One arrest was made.
- A woman at a Walmart in Porter Ranch, California sprayed pepper spray on a crowd of fellow shoppers to ward off others from an Xbox display. The incident left nearly 20 shoppers with minor injuries. The woman, who left the store after the incident unidentified, turned herself in on Friday.
I have talked to a few friends and family that participated in Black Friday this year and they reported having no real issues and actually enjoying the earlier hours that were available to get a jump start on holiday shopping. However, I am not so sure. Next year if I venture out on “Black & Blue” Friday, I will make sure I have a pair of goggles and a bulletproof vest.
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All to celebrate the Word made flesh? I don’t think so.
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We are going so simple this year.
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No black & blue shopping for me. We have major tuition bills ahead, and the silver lining will be a simpler Xmas.
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Everybody, be nice to the retail workers this year. Practice patience. It’s not an easy job this time of year.
I really wish that the stores would stop the extreme door busters with ridiculous limits. Instead have a somewhat more reasonable, but still enticing sale on items that they can carry in more reasonable quantities and if you are there by when the store opens, you can get a raincheck or something. If I have need of something I like to go out in fun, within a budget for soemthing we were planning on getting anyway. Last year we spent too much and were still paying the consequences in May and June so we learned. This year, we drove by the Best Buy, saw the rediculous line and went home. It just wasn’t meant to be. It really tells you something about a person’s values if they feel that an item is worth causing injury to people.
You can shop on-line and get the same deals. I think people like the rush of it all. Call it crazy in my book, PJ’s and coffee are so much nicer. Who really needs another TV, the market is overloaded with this kind of stuff. If you wait till Jan for a big ticket item, you can really save the bucks.
There really is nothing I need so badly that I would fight the Black Friday crowds for it. It’s a shame people behave so badly. I’m with Snickers, pjs and coffee is a much better way to go.
I could never be in a mass group of crowded people like that. It used to be so different. You’d get up early to go and we’d all just stand outside and wait. I haven’t gone for years and years.
Now, it seems like madness. I am shocked by the bomb threats. I would love for the people that did that to be caught.
There is nothing I need or want badly enough to participate in the crazy. Spent my Friday sleeping in, eating leftovers, hanging around the house in my jammies and enjoying some family time.
Today’s news indicates it was a record Black Friday and a serious boost for retail sales this year…well over last year. Good for the economy. But as the reports indicate above, it’s also now a well advertised opportunity for criminals. No thanks. I’ll make my contribution to the economy today, Cyber Monday. 😉
Ann says…Everybody, be nice to the retail workers this year. Practice patience. It’s not an easy job this time of year.
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Amen.
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Lily, I agree about the crowds. We did head out later Friday evening (our main intent was to see a tree lighting) and the crowds were just too much for me. There was nothing fun about it and at times it was almost dangerous. According to the calendar, there are 25+ shopping days left until Christmas and I am confident there will be plenty of time and plenty of deals to be had.
IF you watch carefully some of the deals aren’t really deals. One retailer listed their Ipod Touch and the price in their Black Friday ad, but the truth is that has been the price of that Ipod for quite a while now.
I agree, Marci. Nothing I want enough to go out in those type of situations. I am very happy for the merchants. I think I can take care of my shopping on the internet this year but I need to get going.
I was out from 9pm to 10am. The earlier hours drove me nuts because some places opened at 9, at 10, at midnight, at 2, at 4…. it meant being out all night when I’m normally done in 6 hours. But every one I encountered was very nice and we stood in some pretty long lines. Honestly this behavior is horrid but sadly when you think about the volume of people out shopping on Black Friday- it could have been worse!
With just a few clicks, my shopping was done. We take the little guy one day, always one week before Thanksgiving. He likes to stroll the toys and really looks things over. We do lunch, see some lights and he is happy. I never went out on Black Fri. just the mess of it all seemed worthless for me. I now can wait for UPS to deliver, ah, the feeling of being done is great. It’s time to enjoy making goodies, friends for coffee, church programs, and helping where needed.
Hope all of you had good results with shopping!!
I’ve done BF shopping the last couple of years… but skipped this year. I slept in, hit the gym, watched a movie with the kiddos and did laundry. I tried to hit the sales online but was too late for what I was looking for. The older my kids get, the more expensive their taste is!