Stampeding cattle leaves one dead

[Skybird]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/bu...walmart&st=cse

[Rockstar]

How many people do think died of Heart Disease and Cancer in the United States today?

That tens of millions of people stampeded across the retail outlets United States (many more than Europe's biggest soccer matches) and only one person was trampled to death actually puts the Americans ahead of the rest of the world in crowd control safety. In all too many years that the World Cup (a game) has been held, one or more games has ended in a riot, accidents, injuries, and even deaths. According to historians, soccer games have even been the causative factors in the start of armed conflicts. Examples include a 1989 soccer stampede in Sheffield, England that killed 94 fans and injured another 170, a tragic fire in 1985 that took 56 lives at a stadium in Bradford, England, and a 1985 stampede in Heysel Stadium in Brussels that crushed the life out of 39 fans. Numerous other games have resulted in a lesser number of deaths, but have been violent just the same.

More people were killed in barfights this week in most countries. More people are just left to die of drug overdoses in any large world city. One death in all that commerce? It's a testament to the situation's safety that it was only one, considering the statistics.

[joegrundman]

I was in a crowd surge once that left a couple of people dead and a larger number hospitalised, and it's terrifying. I was only 15, and pretty small at that.

When a large and compact crowd starts to move, for whatever reason, you are powerless to stop it. The people at the front, who can see the impending problem, don't want to continue in that direction, but there is nothing they can do. The weight of people behind is just huge. You might as well try and resist an oncoming truck

[MothBalls]

ok.

[joegrundman]

ditto

[Onkel Neal]

It's funny, last night my gf tried to talk me into going to Wal-Mart at 4am to take advantage of Black Friday sales. I told her I'm not a big shopper, but these type of events are even worse. I wouldn''t go even if they had 50" plasma TVs for free. I went to an after Christmas sale once, about 15 years ago. People are frenzied, more than a little rude, and crazy. Everyone is snatching stuff right and left. They have a wild look in their eyes and yes, most of them are low income, low achievers trying to make out like bandits. And now, with this "Black Friday" thing getting hyped to death in the news, I assume it's even worse. I hate when you're in a line for something and people start edging around the line, trying to look like they don't notice the line, to get in front of everyone. I don't like being around rude and obnoxious people, so these sales are the last place I will e found. (Besides, I love doing my Christmas shopping online, so easy and I have more time to ride my Suzuki).

This afternoon my gf came over and I asked her how the shopping went. She said, and I quote (because I don't hear this type of thing often ), "Neal, you are a smart man." She got there and at first she thought there would be some neighborliness, like most days around here. But there was mass confusion as the sale time drew near. You had to get in a line for a specific product, the clerks got some people in the wrong lines and people were getting upset. At one point she and the folks in her line heard a "roar" from the other side of the store, like at a football game. That worried her, she didn't know what that signified. Was it a riot? Or free donuts? People began getting frantic, there were Mexicans with 10 kids in ten lines, each with baskets filled to teetering heights. After a bit, she decided she had enough and left.

It's a shame someone was killed because of this, I would not be surprised to see this handled differently from now on. I don't really blame the people--there's a crowd psychology that comes into play when you set up the conditions like these sales are arranged. Big savings, supplies limited, only 6 hour shopping window. That's a bad combination and will make any crowd of people nuts.

[Koondawg]

One dead at Wal-Mart this morning....trampled

Another shot at Toys-r-us this morning over an x-box


KD

[Skybird]

It'S amazing what shops and the perspective to buy something can do to people. Having worked in a shopping mall myself for some years - glad it'S over - I can tell you that it turns out the worst in people. They become aggressive, snappy, hickhacking left and right and really turns them all into a herd of detemrined egoists - especially at events like that.

I vaguely remember that a year ago we had something like that at a MediaMarkt as well. If I remember correctly the police needed several "hundertschaften" to safeguard the parking place and regulate the visitors streaming in and out. temporarily they had to close (and these Mediamarkt halls are really noit small). Inside people stood and pressed shoulder to shoulder, and just to raise your arms is a fight.

Not my cup of tea, really. I don't like and avoid crowds in general. the more people, the more irrationality, the less intelligence you see. Not only in this but in almost all contexts, especially politically, obviously.

[Biggles]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Big savings, supplies limited, only 6 hour shopping window. That's a bad combination and will make any crowd of people nuts.

Seriously, only six hours!? No wonder people get killed over there with that kind of pressure. Then ofcourse, it could happen anywhere. I remember some years ago when a number of people got killed when a new IKEA opened somewhere in hte Middle East...

[kurtz]

Originally Posted by Biggles

Seriously, only six hours!? No wonder people get killed over there with that kind of pressure. Then ofcourse, it could happen anywhere. I remember some years ago when a number of people got killed when a new IKEA opened somewhere in hte Middle East...

Hmm IKEA have previous over here, somewhere in London there was a similar event, IIRC there were only minor injuries. The newspapers headlined it as a 'Chavalanche'.

For our foriegn readers 'Chav' is a pejorative term for the lower classes.

[MothBalls]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

with this "Black Friday" thing getting hyped to death in the news, I assume it's even worse.

How did the term 'Black Friday' get applied to a shopping day? I always thought it was a reference to the tragic day when Americans lost a few aircraft while carrying supplies into Germany to save the population from starving after the war, the Berlin Airlift.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_...t#Black_Friday

Cloud cover over Berlin dropped to the height of the buildings, and heavy rain showers made radar visibility poor. A C-54 crashed and burned at the end of the runway, and a second one landing behind it blew its tires trying to stop to avoid hitting it. A third aircraft ground looped on the auxiliary runway, closing the entire airport. General Tunner got on the radio and ordered all aircraft to return home immediately. This became known as "Black Friday".

By the end of July, after only one month, the Airlift was succeeding; daily operations flew more than 1,500 flights a day and delivered more than 4,500 tons of cargo, enough to keep West Berlin supplied.

[Onkel Neal]

I understand the term refers to stores financially "going in the black" during the increased Christmas sales.

[SteamWake]

Mankinds desire of material things has lost all perspective.

BTW did yall miss me :p

[Frame57]

Years ago my Ex conned me into going to one of these and it was sheer madness. Some woman who looke like Jabba the Hut was pilfering through our cart when we were not looking. Seriously, what is wrong with these people...?

[kurtz]

It seems to be a desire for possesions of any sort, because it's a bargain people want it. Rather than actually think what they want then looking for it, they rush into a store with their credit cards and come away with debts and the gods know what sort of clutter. If you'll pardon the rather twee homily,"The best things in life aren't things".