Group Mentality and a Death at a Major Retail Store

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For those who don't feel like going over there, an executive summary: An employee of a Wal-Mart in Long Island was trampled to death by customers, who unhinged the door to the store to get inside.

What the fuck?

When did it become worth it to subject yourself to such a hostile environment to save 100 bucks on something you don't need? I don't think the employee wanted to be there that day.. no one wants to work the big retail days. Why? Many of the people are rude and impatient, and do not give a damn about the people working there. That's been my experience.

I work at a retail store, and I am very thankful that I live in a place where the rude, obnoxious customers do not become feral, mindless beasts when they decide to camp outside a store waiting for the price cuts on items they really don't need. If these people were waiting for water while their stomach distended and mind wandered from dehydration, maybe I could forgive them, but they weren't; they were a group of people waiting to get in line and pay for such items as digital cameras, HDTVs, laptops, iPods. Words cannot express how disgusted that makes me.

First of all, is your time and health not worth more to you than the money you save camping out in front of a Wal-Mart? If you have that much time and need money so badly, why are you not getting another job?

Secondly, if you're that desperate to save money, why are you buying such things? I can't emphasize it enough that these items are non-essential. Go, pay your bills, feed your children, and rethink spending seven hundred dollars just so you can save one!

The article above has a lot on the fault of Wal-Mart, which is correct to a certain extent, but no matter the situation, people should be able to control themselves; someone should have stopped and picked the fellow up. No one did; no one wanted to give up their precious deal, because they didn't stop and think about the damage being done.

Sure, it's about group mentality, but that is far from an excuse. Mosh pits are sometimes dangerous places to be, but if everyone has the same attitude (ie have fun but no one gets hurt), then people are fine. If you fall down in a mosh pit, people will A) Form a ring around you B) Pick you up and C) Ask you if you are okay. Hell, I've seen people do that when someone loses a shoe. That people can't do that when a person is being trampled to death is pathetic and disgusting.