Wal-Mart Holiday Blues

An employee of Wal-Mart in Long Island, NY was crushed to death by a stampede of thousands of people trying to get to discounted items on Black Friday, November 28th 2008. Everyone around me I hear says "Blame Wal-Mart!" Now, while I hold a portion of the blame for Wal-Marts mismanagement of people (they should have had MORE security (they called the police)) but the true blame falls onto the crowd who crushed the man.
The crowd was asked, and then told, to back up 4 feet away from the door (I've read and listened to testimonies from those who were actually there.) THOUSANDS of people crowded outside the door, and did not listen to the direction of the Wal-Mart employees. Wal-Mart called the police, asking for assistance because they knew they could not control the crowd. The police sent ONE officer, who assessed the situation and LEFT.
It's all good and well to say after the fact that Wal-Mart should have hired security, but when they called the police for help the police did nothing. And then before the store even opened, people bum rushed the door and BROKE IN. And you're telling me that Wal-Mart is to blame for not being able to control thousands of people? They definitely have some looking in to do, and they are definitely responsible for the care of their customers, but this isn't entirely their fault. Hundreds broke into the store and trampled over someone, all trying to get a deal on an item.
They should have been handed numbers, they should have been talked to before the store was open at least. BUT they weren't, and when they WERE told to please step back from the door they instead broke it down and did not listen. Do you think this crowd would have cared all that much about tickets? They broke down a door, I can see a riot having happened outside BECAUSE someone was given a ticket and Wal-Mart may have mistakenly given it to the wrong person first. Then, is Wal-Mart to blame for that happening? People talk about how Best Buy only let 25 people in at a time. Well, this crowd wasn't listening to the Wal-Mart employees asking them to please just step back so they could open the doors and LET them in!
This crowd of people was obviously pre-disposed to this sort of behaviour, and I think we need to turn and take a look at society and what we as a whole have become. Do you think, for any reason, that it is okay to rush a door of a store and break it open, in attempt to purchase an item, when the store employees are begging you to back off and calm down? We've created this culture of consumerism that is devouring us whole. We're bombarded with advertisements for gadgets and toys everywhere. Sale this, half off that. Everywhere. And YAY! You saved $100 on a TV.
How about we look into how that TV was sold for so cheap? Oh, it was made in another country, off the backs of someone else. American companies operating overseas. Or American companies buying products made by foreign ones because it's cheaper. And then it turns around and gets sold to the people, who really don't give a fuck where it came from or if someone died in an avoidable mining accident in Africa digging for material to make that TV. All people see is dollar signs and what they personally are saving.
The mentality we live in, BUY BUY BUY, is responsible for this disgusting disregard for human life. It goes from people not caring where and how a product is made, to people not caring about breaking the law and damaging a companies property to save a buck. To lay blame solely on Wal-Mart for this mistake is, in my humble opinion, retarded. Wal-Mart made the mistake of not better managing people, and the people made the mistake of DISREGARDING THE LAW and trampling someone to save money. Not one person took a second to step back and say "Hey maybe what we're doing is wrong" until someone was dieing on the floor.


Edit:
Oh, and after the person was being taken away to the hospital, customers were refusing to leave because they still wanted that god damned TV or Laptop or whatever the fuck they were buying. I'm so sick of people avoiding looking at themselves for their mistakes, and turning around and trying to place the blame for their fuck ups in life on anyone else they can.