Stating the Obvious: Don't Be Caught Dead At Wal-Mart

MANHATTAN - Landing at La Guardia last night after Thanksgiving at home in the Rockies, was as tense a scene I've witnessed in the 3 years studying in the city. The taxi line was out of control as the supervisor nearly came to blows with a father who refused to get into the cab of a screaming driver. More people in line started to shout and I managed to jump into a nearby taxicab, whose driver was clearly agitated as he sped off, screeching around the corner, pinning me and my backpack against the opposite door of the back seat. He let off the pedal after I managed to climb upright asking him to PLEASE CALM DOWN.

It's getting tense and going to be a long winter, I thought. Yes, the headlines are dominated by a failing economy, the tragic attacks on Mumbai -- another wave of violence by a nebulous enemy and uncertainty as to where the next attack will be.

But I must admit, the news that has haunted me most was the mob violence at a Wal-Mart store a few miles from Manhattan. I'm not a sociologist or a psychologist, so can anyone explain how you can continue to shop after a man has just been trampled to death? When your children unwrap that Nintendo on Christmas morning (or Eve if you're Catholic) do you say "Yes dear, we got a great deal on that! We ran like hell to get to it before anyone else. Sorry that poor man got in our way."

And Wal-Mart? I'm no fan, having boycotted it for a decade, and applauded Ted Kennedy's prescient Ten Commandments here on Huffington Post exactly 3 years ago.

Peter Goodman made an addition to Kennedy's Commandments in the New York Times today, this time addressing the American consumer, who lives with a subtler, more insidious problem, myself included; the proclivity for new gadgets and clothing.

"Live within our means and save: This new commandment has entered the conversation, colliding with the deeply embedded imperative to spend."

My 12th commandment would be, at the risk of belaboring the obvious... don't stomp a person to death while shopping, including those who manufacture your cheap merchandise overseas... In other words, PLEASE don't be caught dead at Wal-Mart.

Comments

[skinedad]

First time here. First time at this site.
I say Peter Goodmans' 11th commandment is going to get him drawn and quartered in Times Square by the bankers who run this mess we call the United States. Great advice, but the trouble is the bankers own the media too and continue to pump young minds full of the value of credit, and credit, and most importantly, credit. They start out with the college loan and it just snowballs from there. If all of those shoppers had been carrying cash instead of plastic there would probably have been more bodies laying about just for the weight factor.

[MoeB]

As disturbing as trampling someone to death is, I think the worst part of this story is the fact that the customers actually COMPLAINED when store managers/owners closed the store! You know, because SOMEONE DIED!! Some said they were upset because they had waited for hours...as if the guy they trampled hadn't waited just as long to die a horrible death. Those folks ought to be ashamed...sadly, I'm not sure they are.

[OtayPanky]

I believe the guy that got trampled was an employee of Walmart.

But that doesn't diminish the horror of the experience at all.

[sophieozz]

This whole incident was chilling. How is it that New Yorkers can pull together during a terrorist attack and a blackout, but some miles to the east, they go criminally berserk over a some elusive sale? And how do you overlook the presence of a man who was reportedly 270 pounds?

[OtayPanky]

It's all about the primal experiences of fear and greed.

Great fear often brings out the best in people. Great greed often brings out the worst.

It has nothing to do with geography.

[SouthTexan72]

I agree. How is it that we can live in a country that at the moment it's so difficult to make the next mortgage payment, pay for gas, let alone save for retirement and still get excited to pay over 600 dollars for a plasma television just because it's 42" and 25% off?
In my neck of the woods there were people camped out in front of a Best Buy on Wednesday afternoon to wait for the doors to open at 4 a.m. on Friday morning so they could get there hands on a new laptop, a game system, AND/or an iPod. When asked about missing Thanksgiving they replied, "Oh, it doesn't matter, this is much more important."

[OtayPanky]

The only real solution to this problem is to pass federal legislation prohibiting this kind of "one day only limited quantity" Black Friday sales event.

Otherwise, hordes of shopping fanatics will continue to line up outside these stores starting at 3 am (or whenever) to get the limited number of items on sale as loss leaders. And yes, more doors will be broken down, and more people will be injured and/or killed.

Happy Holidays!

[Anita Thompson - Huffpost Blogger]

You're right. And adequate security staff might be another place to start.

[OtayPanky]

When there's a mob of several hundred people, just what constitutes an adequate security staff? Will they need horses and hoses - for riot control?

Nope....we're just gonna have to regulate retail sales, just like we regulate other kinds of sales, so that the public doesn't suffer because of greed of both buyers and sellers.

[DMcMillan]

Just what we need: More legislation because people can't be trusted to behave appropriately and practice self control and concern for the people around them. Because one person dies we need to make a law? Laws such as this erode liberty. Shouldn't it be left to the stores to manage the crowds responsibly just like at a concert? More people die in car accidents, choking on food, swimming in rivers, and in farm accidents than while shopping. Does it mean we need ban these activities as well?

It's impossible to legislate ourselves and our society to perfection. Even if it were possible, wouldn't you rather be trusted to be personally responsible than have your every move legislated? I would.

[OtayPanky]

One person didn't die. People are killed and injured every year and the problem is getting worse year over year.

As for the question of personal freedom versus legislation, we all make a tradeoff. We enact laws to constrain the lawless. If they're decent laws they don't bother the rest of us much at all.

Libertarianism has it's place, but unthinking adherence to libertarianism is - in a word - idiotic. That's why we have this current economic meltdown. Greenspan and all the other Friedmanites couldn't imagine banks not acting fair and square for the sake of the integrity of the system. When questioned by Henry Waxman the other week he sounded like a doddering old fool. He thought de-regulation would fix everything.

No - when there's a chronic problem caused by abuse of some facet of our social structure - whether it be the Walmarts or the Walmart shoppers and their ilk - and appeals to good sense fall upon ears deafened by greed - it's time to legislate.

[spartanmom]

The solution is already in the works. The family of the victim have hired a lawyer.
I am looking forward to counting the zeros.

This is why "tort reform" is NOT a good idea

[OtayPanky]

This solution won't mitigate the problem.

Suing Wal-Mart shoppers won't get anybody anything significant in terms of money - and it certainly won't bring a dead person back to life. And suing Wal-Mart won't help either. They didn't knock down the doors in their own stores.

[fredkev]

I would just like to say that, the whole reason this has become such a story is the amount of advertisement in todays society. people feel the need to bargain and to get the best deal in order to satisfy their need to exaggerate there wealth.

[OtayPanky]

No, the only reason it has become a story is because someone was trampled to death by holiday shoppers.

[in10se]

I have been a loyal Wal-Mart customer for over twenty five years. I currently purchase most of my groceries, gasoline, clothing and all of my prescriptions from my local store. I regularly check the advertised prices of the competing stores and estimate that if I were to shop at Wal-mart's competition in my area my standard of living would decline by a minimum of five percent. I buy many items of Wal-Marts store brands and find them to be an excellent value. The employees of the Wal-mart stores that I have patronized over many years seem to be more enthusiastic with their employment than the employees of other retailers. I'm sure than many of them work part time (as I do) not from a shortage of full time jobs but want the flexibility to integrate their work with family responsibilities and other interests. In my area there is a steady stream of applicants for positions when they open.

[NoSillyName]

I'm sure Walmart appreciates your loyalty.

Maybe you don't know that most Walmart employees are part-time through no choice of their own; it is to keep them from insuring their families. They cannot get a full-time position.

Maybe you don't know that most Walmart employees qualify for Food Stamps because of their low wages.

Or maybe you're kidding.

[in10se]

No ... I am not Kidding
WalMarts policy of promoting workers from within makes a very important contribution to my community,
I think you need to check your facts about "most employees not covered by insurance of eligible for food stamps"
If not for WalMart's low prices many retirees like myself would not be able to maintain our standard of living. In fact I might not have even been able to save enough for my retirement had I not had access to discount puchases from companies like WalMart over the past thirty years.

[strifeknot]

The savings you get on your shoddily made Chinese wares doesn't offset the damage Wal-mart does to the economy.

[in10se]

I buy very little of anything produced in China...(I don't know the country of origin of the generic drugs I purchase)

Most of my purchases are fresh produce, bread, milk, cereal, butter, eggs, and canned or frozen foods. The prices of the above are ten to twenty five percent below the chain grocery stores in the area.

The Walmart store in my community is one of the area's largest employer and contributes a huge portion of the sales tax revenue.

[waitforme]

Economy? Wal-mart does anything it can to prevent employees from organizing a union. They even have closed stores. Wal-mart owners are very very very rich. Wal-mart employees are at the bottom of the barrel in pay. They also endure poor working conditions, such as (in the past at least) being locked in at night so they don't steal the goods; they can't get out and this is extremely dangerous in case of fire, or in the case of an employee, as happened, getting sick and needing medical care fast. (She had to wait until a manager could be roused from sleep and drive to the store.) Medical care? Health insurance? Ask Wal-mart employees.

[dexxjones]

easy for you to say. just moved to florida from nyc and found myself inside a walmart. the biggest reason to come back? people were friendly and actually helpful. i was able to buy what i needed without hassle and without attitude. conversely, my last trip to a store in nyc was to a circuit city.

i will go back to walmart.

[anonimost]

I agree Anita. Someone said that a certain "element" shops at Walmart and that is how they can trample someone and go on shopping, but I don't believe that. That frantic mentality can be found in every socioeconomic class.

We all know that people turn on each other when desperate. I just can't figure out what could possibly be at Walmart that would make anyone that desperate. A product over a human life? Unbelieveable.

[LMPE]

I've never been inside a Wal-Mart store in my entire life. I've been inside an Aquapark near Riga, Latvia, and I've talked silly to icons in a monastery in Verkhoturye, Russia, but never have I set foot in a Wal-Mart. And I hope that it stays such.