News & Views

An alleged Walmart shoplifter died in the store parking lot early Sunday morning after three employees allegedly attacked him for stealing two DVD players from the super store early Sunday morning. The story is the latest horror show from Black Friday weekend and highlights not only the possible brutality of the incident, but also the frenzy and insanity of the whole "holiday." 

The incident occurred just outside Atlanta, where a "middle-aged man" was caught with two DVD players. A security guard supposedly put him in a choke hold and when authorities arrived, the man was bleeding and unresponsive underneath all of the men. Wal-Mart suspended both employees and fired the security guard. They also condemned the actions, saying: "No amount of merchandise is worth someone’s life." They added that their employees are not trained to engage that way.

See below:

This video can not be viewed on The Stir Mobile.

More from The Stir: Naked Man Robbed Walmart for the Most Unexpected Reason

Every year we hear these Black Friday horror stories. Two people were even shot on the "holiday" itself. And yet, every year, it gets worse and worse and earlier and earlier. Now Friday is creeping into Thursday and the whole thing is getting out of hand.

People, cheap crap is NOT worth losing our lives. Hell, it's not worth missing time with our families. Truly, it's a despicable "holiday" and represents so much that is wrong in our society.

This is a weekend that is supposed to be about spending time with our families, eating great food, and generally enjoying one another's company. Instead, retail workers are working long hours away from their families and shoppers are being shot or killed. Awesome values, people. Let's keep it up.

Look, we need to get away from this idea that any of this cheap crap is "needed." Sure, you can get a toaster at 3 a.m. for $5, but you can wait a few days, skip the frenzy and pay $100 more to walk away with some dignity. I'd take the latter every time.

Black Friday is one of the few things in this country that truly makes me ashamed. It is just embarrassing and this incident is just another in a long list. Obviously, no one would condone shoplifting. But only in a society where cheap crap is valued more than family togetherness could something like this happen.

It is a sad day when people will kill one another for a $100 DVD player.

Do you participate in Black Friday?