Black Friday

One interesting aspect of the regrettable trampling death in Long Island, is the willingness of media to deplore a culture of rank materialism--despite being purveyors of a culture of rank materialism. From my old friend and former boss David Carr:

In a day-before story, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution advised readers to leave the children at home, at least the ones not big enough to carry the loot, because they will just slow you down: "Strollers and crowds just don't mix, though we know a few shoppers willing to use four wheels and a child as a weapon. Younger children may also be seduced by the shopping mania and pitch a tantrum that slows your progress. That said, teens and young adults can be an asset to a divide-and-conquer shopping strategy. And you'll have someone to help carry the bags..."

In the wake of death by shopper, Newsday, the daily paper on Long Island, wrung its hands in the opinion page blog: "Was this deadly rush to lower prices an illustration of the current economic malaise (people mobbing Wal-Mart because they fear they can't afford higher prices elsewhere) or just proof that even a recession can't suppress stuff-lust?" Then it added, rather unfortunately, "This awful death is another Joey Buttafuoco-like stain on the too-often sordid image of our island."

But on the run-up, Newsday offered a "Black Friday blueprint," with store openings listed so shoppers could plot strategy, including noting that at 5 a.m., the Green Acres Wal-Mart would open and customers could expect to buy a 42-inch LCD television for $598. Many continued to pursue that particular bargain even as Mr. Damour lay dying.

[MORE]

And then this:

Given that early shoppers stomped him to death and later arrivals streamed past him as he was being treated, he could not be blamed for failing to understand the ungovernable mix of greed and thriftiness that was under way. Black Friday blows a whistle many of us cannot hear -- I would rather spend some quality time with my dentist than stand in the dark chill waiting for a store to open.

Some people think of Black Friday as an abundance of holiday generosity, but in a survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs, 81 percent of the respondents said that they planned to shop for themselves, an army of self-seeking Santas.

News outlets that advised consumers to sharpen their elbows for the big day were selling something that has, in an online world, lost most of its value. If you want to define your self-worth as buying a $300 laptop, you can use the Web and a down cycle in the gadgets business to come out a winner. (Black Friday is now followed by Cyber Monday, another cynical construct that suggests that you can beat the system by buying things on the right day.)

That's really what I don't get. Why stand in line when you can get many of the same deals on the web. It's interesting because this was the first year I actually had some cash (not much) to buy something on Black Friday. My e-mail was deluged with deals, and I almost nbought 42" flat-screen for like $500. And then I got to thinking. Why? Was I even shopping for a TV? Or was I just enticed by the possibility of getting over.

Comments

I am a merchant, an entrepreneur and a capitalist. I love our country and believe commerce is fundamentally pro-social. I even like getting/giving toys, both for my children and myself. But at no time do I feel more estranged than during the Christmas shopping frenzy.

Posted by Tony Comstock | December 3, 2008 10:15 AM

"Black Friday blows a whistle many of us cannot hear..."

Exactly. I have never in my life understood it. I'm not a rich man by any means, but I don't think I would wait all night in the cold if they were giving that TV away for free. Not because I don't love nice shit, but the type of people willing to wait on Thanksgiving night is not a crowd I want to be a part of.

Really though, I don't think this trampling death says anything about our society. People are always looking for a deeper meaning when there is none there. People are just pretty greedy. Always have been. No different than 50 or 100 years ago.

Posted by Stacy | December 3, 2008 10:24 AM

As much as we think of the personal computer as a necessity, not everyone has one-- still!-- or shops online. But I also think there's a horrible, cynical greediness in us that snatches up Black Friday deals, or tries to get the last Cabbage Patch Doll-- or trades in mortgage securities, for that matter. It's a 'gotta get the best now' impulse. Probably from caveman days, or earlier, when missing that meat, right there, could mean death.

Posted by Persia | December 3, 2008 10:25 AM

I don't see any contradiction in being a capitalist who is saddened and sickened by the Long Island story. Our capitalism has always shown a tendency to occasionally lose its mind. Doesn't mean it's an inherently bad system. Just means we can't trust it with our lives, especially when a mob is gathering at 5:00 A.M.

Posted by mmy | December 3, 2008 10:28 AM

As the poorest twig (by a large amount) in a family tree of moderately wealthy branches, I see no reason to purchase anything for them as gifts - I can't get them anything they can't get for themselves. I still give gifts - they're just things that I have created, rather than things I've bought.

Regarding the stomping at Walmart - have you noticed the media silence? They are, for the most part, complicit; so they assiduously ignore the consequences of their collusion with our consumer culture.

While I find the actual trampling a brutal example of the character of unrestrained capitalism - in fact, an appropriate if tragic materialization of it's most profound flaw - it was the aftermath that sickens me the most: people who, because they are so seriously mentally ill, refused to leave the store because they had waited in line for so long.

We are living in a time of borderline personalities. Hopefully, the future will feature less deeply wounded psyches and more empathy, humanism and individuation.

Posted by John | December 3, 2008 10:32 AM

A couple of thoughts

1. Stacy I don't think the death necessarily says anything about our society (I should also point out that reports have come out saying that the Wal Mart worker who was trampled actually threw himself on top of a pregnant lady to try to save her from being trampled. She survived but lost the baby, at least so I have heard) But the after math DOES say something about our society. If the initial reports are to be believed, as this man lay dying people just walked around him without a moments pause, still intent on getting their big screen TVs. I won't say that our callousness toward our fellow man just started since the economicc down turn started, but that incident does illustrate how low we have sunk.

2. Black Friday is a mind phuck. It always has been and always will be. Even if you only have a little bit of money, the enticement of "getting over" as TC so aptly put it, is just too strong for most consumers. I have female friends who throw a fit whenever they buy something that goes on sale shortly after their purchase. The media and the retailers of course play on this character flaw in an effort to up their bottom line. One figure I would be interested in finding out is how many more newspapers are sold in the week prior to Black Friday because they usually have all of the sales ads in them.

3. I actually expected there to be MORE physical assaults due to Black Friday because this is a year where a lot of people are going to have a hard time providing gifts for their families and in particular their kids. So my reasoning was that more people would be shopping places like Wal Mart this year instead of say Macy's and more people trying to get the same amount of toys/gifts in a situation where its already the early morning and a lot of people are stressed about their job/financial/home situation to me spelled trouble. I am glad that ultimately most people were able to do their shopping without any problems but there is another situation coming up now. The holidays are traditionally the peak time of the year for suicides. Because of the dire situations some people face in their personal lives this year, I hope something is being done to be pro active against the prospect of a spike in sucides like putting more people to work on suicide hotlines and such. This is of course an under reported story of this year but from what I understand suicides are already up big time this year anyway.

Posted by sgwhiteinfla | December 3, 2008 10:39 AM

The Charlie Brown Christmas Special is a pretty good antidote to the piggy greed blues that you all may get from seeing stuff like this. Should be on any week now.

Posted by tom c | December 3, 2008 10:40 AM

According to Jon Stewart, Purveyor of News, there were 3 total deaths from Black Friday stampedes. Any idea about the other 2?

Greed is a human constant, more or less, but Wal-Mart, et al. bear significant responsibility for the peculiar intensity of the Black Friday fervor. bitchphd puts it well:

"The real problem isn’t the people in the crowd. It’s the policy of creating such crowds, especially in situations without infrastructure and trained security people to manage the crowds properly. I mean, shit, set up some freaking ropes and create a damn *line*, or hand out rain checks, or have the damn sale run all day or all weekend long. Why the fuck are temp agency maintenance workers put in front of doors behind which are huge crowds of people who've been waiting all freaking night for the store to open?"

Posted by Zak | December 3, 2008 10:42 AM

Zak,
I wrote much the same thing last Friday when it happened, and got hammered for it by a handful of right-wing blogs, because to them, corporations never deserve any of the blame when something goes bad like this. There were lots of other examples of businesses that ran similar sales, that had similar crowds show up, and who didn't have anyone die--why? Because they prepared for it and had sufficient security in place to handle the crowd. To me, to let Wal-Mart off the hook for this is the equivalent of saying it's okay to scream "fire!" in a crowded theater.

Posted by Incertus (Brian) | December 3, 2008 10:55 AM

Incertus

There was actually a diary up on kos trying to criticize one of the detectives because he said the onus was on Wal Mart to prepare for situationns like Black Friday and ensure their employees don't get hurt to the best of their ability. Thankfully a whole lotta people including me slammed the author, but I just don't get how people can possibly side with Wal Mart in that situation. I mean we know conservatives have no qualms about sending our young men and women into war for reasons of profit but this guy was working a part time employee at a store for crying out loud. I really don't know how some people sleep at night and thats real!

Posted by sgwhiteinfla | December 3, 2008 11:01 AM

A few months back, I was standing in line at the grocery store and saw one of those magazines telling me about how this actress gained weight, how I wouldn't believe whose butt this is (CELLULITE), and, at the very bottom, it plaintively asked "why is (actress) so skinny?"

I think it was the total lack of self-reflection that got me.

All that to say: Yeah.

Posted by Jaybird | December 3, 2008 11:09 AM

I have no love for WalMart, and I think that Walmart had obligations to its employers and customers that it failed to meet and will probably have some real liability here. (Aside: not that the UFCW is the greatest union, but this may not have happened in a union shop).

But the greater share of moral blame has to go to the savages in the crowd that trampled this poor man so they can save a couple of hundred bucks on a fucking television. I mean really, you shouldn't need barricades to handle a crowd of shoppers. These people really need to rethink their lives, even more than the rest of us.

Posted by laborlibert | December 3, 2008 11:13 AM

Actually, Black Friday, has become an EVENT. People talk about the great deals, but I've also heard people talk about the fun and the camraderie they experience. The jostling and hustling for spots is seen as part of the fun of competition and being around like-minded people.
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While I'm horrified by the deaths and casualities, I can understand choosing to be at the store the night before. I've chosen to see midnight premieres of movies (Star Wars, anyone) for exactly this purpose. Sure I could have waited to see the movie the next day. But I wanted to be around other people as excited as I was about the movie as I was. Plus, those are the showings where you are guaranteed to see mock light sabre fights.

Posted by Kjen | December 3, 2008 11:19 AM

This time of year makes everybody lose they damn minds, for real.

Everybody bears some of the blame here.

The shoppers for acting like a bunch of fucking neanderthals.

Walmart for not being well enough prepared to deal with the possibility something like this could happen.

Did they not think a bunch of folks who had been waiting all night in the freezing cold to get over on some HDTVs might bum rush the place?

The media for hyping it all up.

"It's Black Friday, spend your day amongst a large pack of jackals and get deals on a bunch of shit you don't need and can get cheaper in 4 weeks, you fucking morons!!!"

and of course our society for creating what seems to be at least 3 full generations of consumerist fucking sheep.

It's stuff like this that reminds me why I'm the anti-social misanthrope that I am.

Posted by Mikel | December 3, 2008 11:23 AM

As for Walmart's culpability, I know the right wingers and libertarians hate this, but they will get sued, and rightly so. Merchants owe a certain duty of care to the shoppers when it comes to safety, and there's at least a plausible argument to be made that Walmart created a dangerous situation.

As for the media, they will surely continue the madness. It was pretty pathetic to watch the cable nets cover the Walmart death this weekend, and then transition right to their Black Friday reporters in the field at King of Prussia or wherever. They have no shame.

I like to get a sale (and yes, I get annoyed when something goes on sale right after I buy it, but that's what price adjustments are for - no need to "throw a fit," and I'm not sure it's a character flaw to want a good deal). But this Black Friday stuff is something else entirely. I think too many people like the game as much as (or more than) the rewards. You don't sleep outside in winter to spend $500 unless, for some crazy reason, you get off on the sleeping outside part, IMO. It's the whole shopping-as-a-past-time part of our culture, and it's a little sick.

Posted by nina s | December 3, 2008 11:31 AM

nina s

I wasn't trying to offend anybody about what i said about my friend throwing fits when something goes on sale after they bought it, I was just relaying the reality of my particular situation with my circle of friends. And when I say character flaw. what I mean is being motivated to buy something not because of need and in some cases not even because of want, but instead buying something simply because its a "deal" just like TC talked about with the big screen TV. I know that I myself have walked around a mall looking for one thing and then bought something else that was "just too good a deal to pass up" only to get home and realize that either I didn't need or didn't really want it. (Best Buy having all of Master P's CDs back when he was still somewhat hot for like $9.99 when they were 20 bucks else where got me a time or two) And we all know how hard it is to go in a Wal Mart with a list of things you need and walk back out with only the stuff on your list. So its not the wanting a deal thats the problem in my mind. Its the fact that "deals" drive our shopping patterns more than needs do and that to me IS a character flaw.

Posted by sgwhiteinfla | December 3, 2008 11:40 AM

the depths the madness of the murder of mr. damour have yet to be examined, but deserve to be for many reasons.

american society and culture are permeated by the inability to separate needs from wants. it is a product of rapacious capitalism which promotes markets for a panoply of products, and then seamlessly roles out the products. ultimately each and every one of us is responsible, however; to blame corporate capitalism [wal-mart, advertising business] is a false construct.

the last time the majority of americans experienced deprivation was in the 1930's. we have become a soft, fat society, not even able to comprehend why and what we need from these products we covet. information technology is a classic example. from desktop computers, we went to laptops. a reasonable argument can be made for that form of scientific advance.

but then came the avalanche of gadgets: cellphones, blackberrys, hi-def tv, gps's, xboxes, wii's, iPods, iPhones, iMe's and mini camcorders [i think that's what set off the animals who trampled to death mr.damour; what a trade off! a deal on a mini camcorder for a human life]. sitting bull said, "the love of possession is a disease with them," in 1882. it still is a disease. literally a fatal one visited upon mr.damour, and a call for americans to revisit their values.

here is an important opportunity for the media to pursue, rather than the superficial tabloidism that has infected our public discourse.

Posted by adin | December 3, 2008 11:59 AM

sgwhiteinfla

I hear you, I've been guilty of that type of impulse buy myself. You're right, that's how they get us.

I was trying to say there's nothing wrong with always wanting to find the best deal before you buy. But often that kind of smart shopping has nothing to do with what happens on Black Friday, I guess.

Posted by nina s | December 3, 2008 12:07 PM

As far as I can tell, no one has answered the question about, "Jon Stewart said there were 3 deaths..."

The other two were at a Toys R Us in California, where two guys shot each other to death. (LA Times. Last I read, it wasn't known what they were actually fighting about.)

Posted by todd. | December 3, 2008 12:12 PM

Incertus, sgwhiteinfla: I for one am not going to point fingers just yet.

Sad fact of life: shit happens.

Buckets full of water have killed 275 small children since 1984 (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5006.html).

A presidential election causes on average 24 excess auto fatalities (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95232215).

Walmart certainly has some responsibility to take reasonable precautions. Reasonable precautions reduce the probability of an accident. Did walmart do their job right? I have no clue, just wait for the investigation.

If walmart has statistically significantly more accidents than some appropriate benchmark (e.g., Target accidents), that might be evidence of negligence. But the existence of one accident is not evidence of negligence.

Posted by Ninja Zombie | December 3, 2008 12:20 PM

I'm going to lay the blame on Wal-Mart.

They knew, without question, that some extra cheap deal on an LCD TV would create a pushing and shoving mob scene at the door. It always does, so what would be different this time? They also know that pushing and shoving mobs can be dangerous and lethal.

The man who died would be alive and well had it not been for their reckless and greedy marketing ploy of dangling a limited number of cheap items in front of greedy shoppers.

It makes no sense to blame the shoppers for doing what they have been trained to do. That is, find the cheapest and best deal and trample each other to get it. Of course they are reprehensible, but who provides their opportunities? Are they supposed to be self-regulating? That expectation kind of reminds me of Wall Street.

When someone dies like this, I think we need to think long and hard about what that means. I suspect that this man had a family and people who cared about him. What we know for sure is that he had a crappy job and he was trying to make a living. Even so, Wal-Mart certainly didn't put any value on his life, having done absolutely nothing to protect him.

Workers deserve better.

Posted by Liza | December 3, 2008 12:29 PM

my heart goes out to the 3 people that died on black friday and their loved ones. that is definitely a sign of something amiss in our culture of consumption.

that said, i shopped on black friday. at midnite (walked right in, no waiting in the cold). at arundel mills (outlet) mall in suburban maryland. i left with several bags of mostly pants & jeans... which i need given recent, ahem, body changes that left me with 2 pairs of pants that fit as i stare down 4 months of a new york winter.

hey, i don't usually partake of black friday, but i was visiting home and it just fit our schedule to get some shopping tasks done that nite. we could then do other things--like visit with family, on friday proper. plus, i only get to discount shop when i'm home so why not take advantage of the extra sales on black friday... have you read the papers, people, money is scarce.

i had my motivations and i'm sure others had theirs. i am often sickened by our culture that promotes consumption above all else, especially at this time of year. however, i live well within my means which means i have to be smart enuff to make a dollar stretch. this year that meant shopping on black friday, no apologies.

Posted by Glenise | December 3, 2008 12:30 PM

I am pretty libertarian in a lot of my beliefs, but Walmart clearly should have had better crowd control at a minimum. Personally, I find the whole bait and switch of that Friday extremely distasteful, I really despise that much materialism, and as a more practical matter, I can't stand large crowds.

Blaming capitalism is about as useful as blaming rock and roll for the Who trampling in the 1970's, though some could argue that rock stars are the ultimate capitalists, they just try to pretend they aren't (kind of like people who sell Che t-shirts).

Posted by DougEMI | December 3, 2008 12:44 PM

"Are they supposed to be self-regulating?"

Uh...yes, yes they are.

Posted by Patrick | December 3, 2008 12:47 PM

Actually, one of the odd things about Carr's piece was that it didn't mention one of the biggest reasons for media "complicity" in hyping Black Friday: they get lots of advertising revenue from retailers. So, beyond the editorial buildup, the newspapers stand to benefit directly from Black Friday.

Posted by Virtual Memories | December 3, 2008 2:26 PM

Liza,

Millions of customers at thousands of stores around the country on Black Friday managed to resist the temptation to break down the doors and trample people to death. Even if Walmart could have done a better job on security (which is still an open question - the police were there for part of the night but left because they thought the crowd was under control before the incident happened), the primary culpability lies with the assholes who broke down the door and trampled a man to death. They're no less responsible than if they stabbed someone to death to take their wallet. A society where it "makes no sense" to expect people not to kill a man because he's in the way of them getting some shinny gee-gaw isn't worthy of being called a civilization and a person who can't live up to such a basic standard of personal conduct as not trampling people to death to get into a store has no business being anywhere but prison. Those shoppers who knew what was happening and put others at risk anyway should be blamed for this without qualification and every one who could be indentified as knowingly having trampled on the guy should be doing jail time.

Posted by MattXIV | December 3, 2008 3:03 PM

Virtual,

Read the rest of the piece. I'm pretty sure he talked about the revenues.

Posted by Ta-Nehisi Coates | December 3, 2008 4:35 PM