Once again, American consumerism reaches a new low during the first few minutes of Black Friday (or now Black Thanksgiving evening) shopping. There’s been gun play and tramplings in recent years. The 2011 holiday shopping season added the threat of chemical weapons to the experience.
Just a few hours after the turkey and pumpkin pie have been cleared from the table and the football games are winding down, Americans line up outside stores to claim their cheap electronics and other bargains.
In Los Angeles last night, shoppers were already inside a Walmart when the ugly incident occurred. Waiting for the clock to strike 10 p.m. – the official time Walmart would begin its holiday sale – the people gathered around the products they wanted to purchase. Soon after store employees began allowing the bargains into the hands of the consumers, a woman let loose a blast of pepper spray in an attempt to scare away other shoppers. A total of 20 people were treated. One person was taken to the hospital due to breathing difficulty.
Los Angeles Police Lt. Abel Parga called it, “customer-versus-customer ‘shopping rage.”
The store remained open throughout the incident with only the area affected closed off for a while. As far as I know, no one was arrested for eating raw meat in the Walmart.
I’ve never lined up or participated in the early morning shopping and incidents like this mean I will likely never find myself outside a big box store at midnight leading into Black Friday.