Lose out on the Best Black Friday Bargains Because You were Unarmed?

How did you do at the Black Friday sales? Did you lose out on the best bargains because you forgot to bring your weapons?

According to news reports following this year's Back Friday shopping event, Black Friday sales have become something of a show down. And apparently Wal*mart might be the new OK Corral.

This year, shoppers greedy for the best Black Friday discounts weren't letting anyone get in their way. Fights broke out. Frenzied shoppers kept men, women, and children at bay with pepper spray.

And if a shopper collapsed from heart failure, he was ignored and casually stepped over like damaged goods. Did anyone even bother to yell: "Medical emergency on aisle 7!" or anything like that? I suspect not. It took a concerned off duty ER nurse and paramedic to finally try to help the fallen shopper.

And some parasitic deadbeats didn't even bother to fight the crowds inside the stores. They waited outside, let others do the shopping for them, and then tried to rob them at gunpoint in the parking lots.

That sort of behavior used to be reserved for special bridal sales events at Filenes' basement. Has it really come to this? Are people so desperate to save a bit of money on a TV, toy, or appliance that they'll pepper spray and shoot each other? 

The values people need to be looking for on the day after Thanksgiving are human decency and common sense, not discount values and bargain cents. Of course, if there were stores that could sell such things, it appears from accounts of this year's Black Friday mayhem that no one would shop there anyway.

2011's Black Friday mayhem makes online shopping look that much more attractive. At least if some parasitic deadbeat steals your identity, it won't be at gunpoint. Your catastrophic personal injuries would be financial rather than physical.