photo credit: Stryker W@SPMy wife and I were up early shopping with all the other crazy people on Black Friday late last week. It has become a tradition for us to partake in these activities every year on the day after Thanksgiving. In the past, we have always stayed away from Walmart because of hearing awful stories of how people act when shopping there on this day. This year however, we decided to start our shopping at Walmart, as they had several good deals on items we were looking to shop for. We got to the store around 4:30 AM and there were already hundreds of people lined up huddled around pallets of toys and other gifts just waiting to snatch up everything they could get their hands on. Before the 5:00 AM deals began, I strolled around the store to check things out and to see how many people were actually in the store. I was astonished to see that down every major aisle, they had pallets and pallets of items with people salivating over them. It was really a sad and troubling picture and my wife and I should have taken this as a sign to get out of the store.

We decided to stay and split up to see if we could get any of the deals we came for. As soon as 5:00 AM hit, it was total chaos and mayhem in the store. People were pushing and shoving to get their hands on anything they could. Toys were flying over shelves because people near the pallets were throwing them back to others waiting with shopping carts. As soon as this started happening, I actually began to fear for my safety, so I tried to make my way back over to my wife. You couldn’t even walk down an aisle because there were shopping carts blocking everything. I even saw two ladies fighting over a comforter set that was on sale. My wife had been waiting for a different toy item and had actually been pined up against a shelf because people behind her were pushing and shoving to try and get up front. She finally made her way up to one of the items and picked it up, when a lady grabbed it from her and took off. To make matters worse, she actually knew the lady. She was the mother of a classmate from my son’s preschool! When I got to my wife, she had tears in her eyes and was very upset. Thank goodness she was not physically injured, but emotionally she was a mess.

After calming my wife down, we noticed just behind us a grown man was pushing a lady trying to take a Barbie Hot Wheels ride on toy from her. This lady had been waiting in line for hours to get the toy, and was fortunate enough to get one. The man had rushed the line and was in such a craze that he tried to steal it from her right in the store in front of hundreds of people. Fortunately, security was called and the man was escorted out of the building. The store manager then informed people that it was not their job to figure out who got in line first and that they could not control what other people did. I say – SHAME ON YOU WALMART!!! I could not believe my ears at what the manager of the entire store was saying to us. He was actually promoting this type of activity, not trying to prevent it.

We finally got out of that store, and vowed never to return to Walmart. After we went to a few other calmer and more controlled stores, we went home. It was no surprise to me later that day when I found out that a Walmart worker actually died at a different store, because shoppers trampled the employee when the doors opened. It is very unfortunate and concerning to me that people have to act this way just to save a few dollars. I am very ashamed that we decided to stay at the store and was part of that mess. I feel for the family of that victim and unfortunately witnessed a similar frenzy at a different store.

I have often questioned some of the ethics that Walmart uses. Most of the time, I have chosen to ignore them, as Walmart typically has the best deals available. But this time was different. This time it got really personal to my family. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened if there was a fire in the store. It took us 20 minutes just to get to the exit and that was without any mad rush out the doors. Fortunately we got lucky, but the frenzy inside was enough to disgust me. I don’t know if it was different this year because of the economy and how people were reacting or if it is just a human instinct to act this way. Either way, I cannot consciously shop at Walmart any longer.

Did you witness these types of behaviors in your shopping experience?

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