 |
 |
 |
 |
#926771 --- 11/28/08 07:14 PM
You don't have to go to Spain
|
Silver Member
Registered: 12/23/05
Posts: 12945
Loc: Rochester, NY
|
Isn't this great! Youy don't have to go to Spain to see the running of the bulls - just your neighborhood Walmart Super Store.
Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death by Customers By JACK HEALY Published: November 28, 2008 A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after being trampled by a crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the store early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving bargain hunting into a frenzy.
The 34-year-old employee, who was not identified, was knocked down by a crowd that broke down the doors of the Wal-Mart at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y., and surged into the store. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 6 a.m.
The police said that three other shoppers were injured and a 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to the hospital for observation.
One shopper, Kimberly Cribbs, said she was standing near the back of the crowd at around 5 a.m. on Friday when people started pulling the doors from their hinges and rushing into the store. She said several people were knocked to the ground, and parents had to grab their children by the hands to keep them from being caught in the crush.“
They were falling all over each other,” she said. “It was terrible.”
The Nassau County Police said the man’s exact cause of death had not been determined.
On Friday, Wal-Mart released a statement saying that the man who was killed had been working for Wal-Mart through a temp agency. The company called the death “a tragic situation,” and said it was working with police.
“The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority,” Wal-Mart said in a statement.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
#927298 --- 11/29/08 05:09 PM
Re: You don't have to go to Spain
[Re: Strawberry Jam]
|
Silver Member
Registered: 12/23/05
Posts: 12945
Loc: Rochester, NY
|
Here's an alternative: DERRICK Z. JACKSON This year, why not try something different? By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist | November 29, 2008
ONE THING I am thankful for on Thanksgiving weekend is having absolutely no desire to go to the mall. I cannot remember the last time I did so, which by extension leaves me utterly out of touch with the national impulse to waddle out of bed at 4 a.m., especially the morning after the biggest collective burp on the American calendar.
It seems that it is not enough for Americans to watch football on turkey day. Obviously inspired by our beloved black-and-blue brutality, otherwise sane Americans treat Black Friday as their day in the NFL, blasting through the hole of the store opening to the 20-, the 30-, the 40-, the 50-percent-off sweater department! Then you chop-block the shopper ahead of you to advance from 53d to 52d in the checkout line.
All this sweat, tears, and occasional blood for the argyle for dear old Dad that becomes moth bait.
This year is, of course, different. Black Friday really turned tragic as a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in New York. This and the economy stinks. President-elect Obama has said for two years the planet is in peril. That originally only referred to global warming. But Americans keep thinking we can pilfer the planet at no peril. SUV sales are already picking up again now that gasoline is back under $2 a gallon, at the very same time we whine like the Wicked Witch of the West, shrinking to our knees screaming that our wallets are "melting! melting!"
This would seem like a great time to reassess the difference between what we want and what we need, both for the wallet and the planet. The National Retail Federation estimates that 49 million Americans were sure to go shopping this weekend. That is one-sixth of America. Depending how deep the discounts go, up to 128 million Americans could clog the aisles, over a third of the nation. One shopping center in Wisconsin, which opened at midnight after Thanksgiving, offered free pajamas to shoppers who came in pajamas. Mattel is throwing $50 Visa cards at $100 Barbie shoppers. Department stores were offering toys at half off and bringing back layaway plans.
The federation said this week, "For the first time since March 2005, the average price of self-serve, unleaded gasoline is $1.91, leaving shoppers with a little extra padding in their wallets . . . Shoppers who held off buying a DVD player or winter coat over the last few months will find that prices may literally be too good to pass up."
Like crack cocaine, I suppose. The Associated Press, in getting the reaction of motorists to the price of gasoline falling to an average of $1.79 in Columbus, Ohio, quoted one woman as saying, "It's awesome. With this gas guzzler, there was no way I could afford to keep paying, the way we're going."
It would be far more awesome to stop the addiction. A growing number of families have gone cold turkey on turkey day, banning the blizzard of boxes under the Christmas tree in lieu of charitable gifts to people really in need. Now, more than ever, with a planet disproportionately fouled by our pollution and waste (Americans waste 27 percent of food, according to the government), we need to ask: Does my kid really need that toy? Do I really need to upgrade my cellphone? Is happiness really wrapped up in the 50-percent-off sweater?
I have a suggestion for these holidays. The average American, according to the government, consumes six times more energy than the world average. Take whatever you spent on gifts last year, slash 5/6ths of it, and see what you can do with the rest - unless of course you make a charitable donation. You're broke anyway, right, so what's the harm? Chances are, your loved ones won't love you any less, someone in need will love you more, and your children might understand a bit more how the rest of the planet lives.
And the planet itself can give thanks for being a few pieces of plastic less in peril.
Derrick Z. Jackson can be reached at jackson@globe.com.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
#927331 --- 11/29/08 06:12 PM
Re: You don't have to go to Spain
[Re: Retired Soldier]
|
Silver Member
Registered: 12/23/05
Posts: 12945
Loc: Rochester, NY
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
#929833 --- 12/03/08 06:05 PM
Re: You don't have to go to Spain
[Re: Retired Soldier]
|
Silver Member
Registered: 12/23/05
Posts: 12945
Loc: Rochester, NY
|
Since Walmart won't do anything the solution is for the family of the dead employee to sue the hell out of Walmart. Then Walmart and the industry as a whole will consider it a "problem". Wal-Mart worker's death may not justify crowd law BY CHRIS BURRITT • BLOOMBERG NEWS • December 3, 2008 The trampling death of a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. worker the day after Thanksgiving was an isolated incident that may not justify a new law requiring New York chains to improve crowd control, a trade-group official said.[/b]
The Friday death of Jdimytai Damour, a temporary employee at a Wal-Mart store in Valley Stream, Long Island, "certainly is not representative of what is happening in other parts of the country," Joseph LaRocca, the National Retail Federation's vice president of loss prevention, said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "We need to work closely with mall security and law enforcement and discuss and understand the situation before calling for anything additional in terms of legislation."
[b]New York City Councilman James Gennaro, a Democrat, said Tuesday he wants legislation drafted in 30 days requiring shopping centers and stores to hire security officers with training in crowd control. Black Friday "door-buster" sales draw so many people that they require regulation in the same fashion as street parades, concerts in the park and other events that require a city permit, he said."These middle-of-the-night gatherings can get out of hand," Gennaro said in a telephone interview. " ... If there is no one there to police it, then you have mob rule." David Tovar, a spokesman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, said Tuesday that "we stand ready to work with the New York City Council as they consider this proposal." Tovar said Wal-Mart doesn't have any stores under the City Council's jurisdiction. Wal-Mart said Monday it's working with Nassau County Police in the investigation of Damour's death. At least four shoppers were hurt in the melee at the Wal-Mart in the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, about 13 miles east of New York City, Nassau County Police said.Damour was knocked down by the crowd shortly after 5 a.m. and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m., the police said. The probable cause of death was asphyxiation, Jean DeLuca, a spokeswoman said.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
#930773 --- 12/04/08 04:40 PM
Re: You don't have to go to Spain
[Re: Retired Soldier]
|
Silver Member
Registered: 12/23/05
Posts: 12945
Loc: Rochester, NY
|
Family of man trampled at Wal-Mart sues retailer NEW YORK (Reuters) - The family of a man killed in a stampede of frenzied holiday shoppers filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Wednesday, seeking unspecified damages.
Shoppers on New York's Long Island broke down doors and surged into the Valley Stream Wal-Mart at 5 a.m. last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, known as "Black Friday," traditionally the busiest retail shopping day of the year.
Jdimytai Damour, 34, was knocked to the ground and trampled to death. He had been assigned to cover security as an independent contractor.
Damour's death was caused by "the carelessness, reckless negligence, wanton disregard for public safety and gross negligence" in the "staging, conducting and advertising for sales events," said the lawsuit, filed in Bronx Supreme Court.
The lawsuit also named the shopping mall where the incident occurred and the security company employed by Wal-Mart.
In a statement, Wal-Mart said the company planned to reach out to Damour's family "to do what we can to help them through this difficult time."
"Tomorrow morning we will release our sales numbers for the month of November," the statement said. "This event is overshadowed by the tragic death of Jdimytai Damour at our Valley Stream, New York store on November 28."
New York's largest grocery workers union has urged authorities to investigate what it called "Wal-Mart's failure to provide a safe workplace."
Wal-Mart said it provided additional internal security and employees and third-party security and worked closely with police to prepare for "Black Friday," which once marked the day retailers would turn a profit -- or get into the black -- for the year.
(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Peter Cooney)
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|