Posted on 11/25/2005 2:01:37 PM PST by paulat
Woman, 73, says she was knocked down, stepped on during 'Black Friday' at Sawgrass Mills
By Joseph Mann Sun-Sentinel Posted November 25 2005, 9:26 AM EST
"Black Friday," the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, began in South Florida early today with a 73-year-old woman being knocked down as a crowd at an electronics store rushed a metal security gate to get inside.
The crowd of shoppers outside BrandsMart USA in Sawgrass Mills, angry at being forced to wait by security personnel, pushed their way under the security gate and down a hallway into the store, forcing dozens of people against the walls and trampling the woman.
"I was trying to get out of the way, but they knocked me down," said Josephine Hoffman of Coconut Creek, who was standing immediately outside the gate as a human wave rushed inside, carrying her along.
"I hit my head on the floor, and people stepped on me," said the woman, who was resting on a box of merchandise inside the store following the 7:30 a.m. incident. "I don't understand why people do these things."
A store manager asked whether she needed medical attention and called for assistance, while Hoffman's two daughters phoned the police.
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(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
If ya can't run with the big dogs, stay home on Black Friday.
It's still not as bad as the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Love your tag...
...and then I have two for my tonsils...had 'em out an' I miss 'em....
I couldn't believe some of the video i saw from a Walmart today. People getting smashed to the floor by stampeding idiots. One guy fell on an old lady and used her head to push himself up to his feet... and then ran off in the direction of the shopper stampede. People can become such animals. Either that or these people were animals the whole time. I'll guess the latter.
By 6 a.m., when the store opened, hundreds of people waited in long lines snaking around the building
Astonishing.
73 and still not astute enough to avoid going shopping when every person with a piece of plastic still not maxxed out is massing at the gates of the shopping malls.
You can get it all for a LOT less at the garage sales and pawn shops in February!
Simple, these people have low iqs and are animals. I have 3 pups that are a lot smarter than them and I might add, more polite.
'Tis the season.
And....by shopping throughout the year when you can get some REAL bargains. This rush for sales the day after Thanksgiving is GREED.
Exactly. Irrational greed.
Never understood the mad rush to shop on the day after Thanksgiving. Sure, there are some good deals, but saving a few bucks isn't enough to get me to put up with the crowds... Heck shoppers are rude and obnoxious enough around here on a regular day.
I need to go to the car parts store today; That will be my only retail adventure . Hopefully that won't be too crowded, because they also sell a lot of scooters and other gift cr*p.
You couldn't pay me enough to go to WalMart for the next three days.
Though I swore I would not do so, I went to my local Walmart for a digital camera. Saw people in the parking lot pushing 2 and 3 carts brimming with cheap imort goods. What a zoo.
Reminds me of my rock concert days. Poor security and planning, in my estimation. When you entice people with something they want at a certain time and then don't deliver, they're going to be pissed, and if you don't have the security personnel to handle all the people you pissed off, then...
vast prosperity ping
"If ya can't run with the big dogs, stay home on Black Friday."
Dogs is right! The last time (and it was the last time) I went to one of those sales - I saw people shoving and snatching things from out of other people's hands - I said - I'm out of here.
It's why I choose to shop online.
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