ôôJingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Trampled on in front of the WalMart ôô

[Ganonator]

THis is my second post in this topic.. aparently vBulletin doesn't like little text notes.

here's my original post -


Woman Knocked Unconscious While Shopping

ORANGE CITY, Fla. (Nov. 29) - A mob of shoppers rushing for a sale on
DVD players trampled the first woman in line and knocked her
unconscious as they scrambled for the shelves at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Patricia VanLester had her eye on a $29 DVD player, but when the siren
blared at 6 a.m. Friday announcing the start to the post-Thanksgiving
sale, the 41-year-old was knocked to the ground by the frenzy of
shoppers behind her.

''She got pushed down, and they walked over her like a herd of
elephants,'' said VanLester's sister, Linda Ellzey. ''I told them,
'Stop stepping on my sister! She's on the ground!'''

Ellzey said some shoppers tried to help VanLester, and one employee
helped Ellzey reach her sister, but most people just continued their
rush for deals.

''All they cared about was a stupid DVD player,'' she said Saturday.

Paramedics called to the store found VanLester unconscious on top of a
DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her, said
Mark O'Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance.

She was flown to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where doctors
told the family VanLester had a seizure after she was knocked down and
would likely remain hospitalized through the weekend, Ellzey said.
Hospital officials said Saturday they did not have any information on
her condition.

''She's all black and blue,'' Ellzey said. ''Patty doesn't remember
anything. She still can't believe it all happened.''

Ellzey said Wal-Mart officials called later Friday to ask about her
sister, and the store apologized and offered to put a DVD player on
hold for her.

Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman Karen Burk said she had never heard of a
such a melee during a sale.

''We are very disappointed this happened,'' Burk said. ''We want her to
come back as a shopper.''

Question - is wal-mart so cheap that they couldn't just give her a free one.. what the fuck...

[Amber]

And that is why I had no problems working that day. What's the use of buying stuff on sale if you're just going to get walked on?

[inori]

I have no idea why anybody would want to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving.

Of course, being in Japan now, I have a pretty good excuse to not go shopping at all. :kawaii:

[DarkPanther]

Originally posted by Ganonator
Paramedics called to the store found VanLester unconscious on top of a DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her, said Mark O'Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance.

Another question, if she was in the rush to get the DVD player, why was there one under her when they "found" her. That's just not true.

Also, "surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her"... no, while the instance was occurring, there were shoppers trying to form a circle around her to protect her, but they were getting shoved and trampled as well.

This story was in my local paper, and I don't know who that Mark O'Keefe guy is, but he must've just been excited to be in the news. A spokesman for the EVAC ambulance? How about the EMTs who were actually on the scene? :p

Anyways, crazy nonetheless.

[Master Ghaleon]

Man thats harsh. The Wal-mart up here there is nothing but people that look like this :weirdo: and this:goofy: and they are about 300 - 400 pounds. If I was on the bottom of that pile I would be grabbing legs that where running over me nad beat thier monkey ass down.

[MacWeirdo42]

Capitalist pig dogs!!! Greed, greed, greed!!! What is wrong with our society? Well I hope everyone got their DVD player... Yeah, why is Wal-Mart being so cheap? Hell, if I were her, first, I agree with Master Ghaleon about beating the other people down. Secondly, I would sue every person involved, and then sue Wal-Mart for allowing this stampede. Oh, and by sue, I mean "Beat to death with a large, blunt object."

[Jemsee]

http://www.evertek.net/gchalland/walmartshirt.jpg

Think it will sell?

[Starkist]

It's not WalMart's fault that people are mean and uncaring. I mean, a DVD player for $30? WalMart rules! The people that shop there (i.e. America) are to blame.

[AlphaDawg]

I agree that it's not Wal-Mart's fault but I don't think it would be too hard for them to sacrifice 0.0000000001% of their likely Black Friday profit to give this poor woman her DVD player for free.

I worked a Black Friday two years ago at Best Buy. I can personally vouch that those people who line up at the front door and freeze their asses off for hours on end just for cheap DVD players and the like are fucking maniacs. I have a couple of great (albeit blurry) digital photos saved somewhere of the thundering herd as they approached the pyramid of then-cheap $49.99 DVD players my co-workers and I painstakingly set up so neatly in the Video section. Within seconds it looked like an earthquake hit.

[cyberkitten]

Originally posted by Jemsee
http://www.evertek.net/gchalland/walmartshirt.jpg


jemsee, i lub you :D

[Zeo]

Yes, very crazy.

We had to get Christmas lights, and Mom decided it HAD to be done THAT Friday.

We stood in the back of a 500-1000 person line, just to get dang c7 light bulbs in the morning so that we could put them on in the afternoon.

[Ich]

I actually went into my work on Black Friday, but only to buy some Mountain Dew (I work in a grocery store) and it wasn't crowded at all. Everyone had leftovers, I guess.

I just thought of a joke: The woman can now call it "Black and Blue Friday" har har har.

[Starkist]

According to state worker's compensation records and court files at the Volusia County courthouse in DeLand, here's some of what Vanlester has claimed over the years under some of her various legal last names: Rastellini, Findley, Crabtree, Platt and Vanlester.

# In 1978 and 1982, more than $400 in worker's compensation was paid after she claimed injuries from being struck by a falling object and from slipping and falling while working as a machine operator at a now-defunct manufacturing plant in DeLand.
# In 1984, she claimed a back sprain from working at a restaurant in Winter Haven, producing $356 in worker's compensation.
# In 1987, she filed an injury claim against Deltona Lanes, a Volusia County bowling alley, after claiming she slipped and fell while bowling there. In a 1993 sworn deposition in another case, Vanlester testified she received a cash settlement from the bowling alley claim, but did not recall the amount.
# In 1989, after her car ran off Interstate 4 in Volusia and overturned, she filed a claim against Big T Tire and Wheel Service, of Orange City, claiming the crash was caused by a tire blowout. She testified she received a cash settlement in that case, as well.
# In 1991, she claimed to have slipped on a puddle of hand lotion while shopping for a curling iron at an Orange City Walgreen's, causing "permanent injury, disability, disfigurement (and) mental anguish." She filed suit in 1993, but it was thrown out in January 1994 after a 10-minute hearing. Walgreen's argued no one at the store had seen any liquid on the floor, so it could not be liable for failing to clean it up.
# In 1995, Vanlester reported slipping and falling on liquid or grease while working in the meat department of a Eustis Publix, resulting in more than $1,200 in worker's compensation.
# In 1996, she claimed to have slipped and fallen while working at the layaway desk of a Mt. Dora Wal-Mart, leading to more than $600 in worker's compensation payments.
# In 1997, she claimed a back strain while working at the snack bar of an Orange City Wal-Mart that was replaced by the Wal-Mart Superstore where she claims to have been trampled last Friday.

Burk, the Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said she could not reveal exactly how much Wal-Mart has paid in medical expenses and direct payments to Vanlester as a result of her nine claims, but said the total was in the "thousands."

Nor could she provide details on the injury claim Wal-Mart received from her sister, Ellzey, 48, of Inglis, Fla., except to say Vanlester was listed as a witness to the injury.

Source (http://www.local6.com/money/2683654/detail.html)

Make of it what you will. :shrug:

[MacWeirdo42]

*GASP* This is shocking! Makes for a very interesting twist. Darn it, Starkist, how can I condemn American consumerism when the posterchild turns out to be a fake? Well, that just stinks. Gosh, really, that just ruins my day.

[Jemsee]

Originally posted by Starkist
Make of it what you will. :shrug:

Awsome.
That does put a twist on the story.
You should be a detective Starkist.
http://www.4kids.org/detective/images/webster-main.gif

[Pablo]

She beat the system...I congratulate her for making a living out of screwing one of my most hated stores.

[AlphaDawg]

Perhaps that's why Wal-Mart is only setting aside one of the cheap DVD players for her.
</capt. obvious>

[Mercy]

Originally posted by DarkPanther
A spokesman for the EVAC ambulance? How about the EMTs who were actually on the scene?
It is SOP for most medical rescue services to direct all comments about an ongoing investigation through an approved spokesman. It is to prevent the personnel on the scene from saying anything incorrect or libelous before the legal matters are finalized.


Originally posted by Pablo
She beat the system...I congratulate her for making a living out of screwing one of my most hated stores.
Please tell us you are joking with that statement. I despise Walmart for a plethora of well-researched reasons, including but not limited to their purposeful handicapping of the U.S. production market, unscrupulous business paractices, reprehensible employment practices, bureacratic corruption, et alia, but frivolous and/or bogus lawsuits are not the answer. If you actually took the time to examine the effects of superfluous litigation you would discover that they are actually part of the problem and grossly responsible for our bloated legal system. They foster an environment of victims, incapable and unwilling to take responsibility for their own actions; always looking for some way to make a buck off their mistakes rather than a way to avoid making those mistakes in the first place.

Litigation of this nature will not raise the over 50% of 'full-time' Walmart emplyees who are currently below the poverty level. It will not rebuild companies who have gone bankrupt because of Walmart's highly questionable business practices or the communities that were decimated after Walmart came into their areas, destroyed local businesses, reduced local property values, and impoverished the residents, only to close up and move on to the next ripe pickings. It most certainly will not nurture our already suffering manufacturing community that is systematically collapsing due to foreign competition with our home-grown, all American hero corporation telling us to 'Buy American!' while importing a majority of its goods from overseas. Incidentally, 'Buy American' in Wally-world speak means 'Buy Mexican'. Walmart is Mexico's largest employer and yet they still import a majority of their products from China.

A shitty DVD player and a few grand in medical expenses will not even register on Walmart's financial records. That sort of thing is merely a tax write-off for the likes of the Waltons. If you really want to 'screw' Walmart, purchase USA-made products and services from local vendors rather than Wally-world and encourage others to do the same. Take some responsibility yourself and do not look for someone else to do it for you.

I would have included cites for this post but all of this information and much, much more damning text on Walmart's underhanded practices is easily found through a Google search.


m.

[DarkPanther]

Originally posted by Mercy
It is SOP for most medical rescue services to direct all comments about an ongoing investigation through an approved spokesman. It is to prevent the personnel on the scene from saying anything incorrect or libelous before the legal matters are finalized.

Well congrats to him for being either inaccurate or misquoted. :o

Maybe Wal*Mart needs a SOP for crowd control during heavy sales periods.

[TheGeepster]

Why shop on the day after Thanksgiving? Two words... BARGAIN SALE

I hadn't realized this lady was a fake, good work Starkist. However, the mindset of bargain shoppers can be a scary thing, as well as their cold zeal.

I do understand that WalMart is a very powerful, and very often controlling entity, often poking into the affairs of their suppliers, but guarding their own, and including the allegation that they have driven some producers out of business (See Vlassic pickles)

As for myself, I shop at Super Target.