Black Friday craziness!

Posted: November 23, 2012

Here are a few stories from Black Friday that will make you cringe. They make me happy that I was not out shopping the doorbuster sales this morning!

The first story out of Massachusetts is incredibly disturbing: A guy babysitting his girlfriend's 2 year old losses the child while Black Friday shopping for a TV in Kmart. So he goes home with the TV BUT without the child. He does not report the kid missing and security finds the boy asleep (and unharmed) in a car at 1:30 AM. Unbelievable. Click HERE for the story.

In the second story, 2 people were apparently shot over a parking space outside a Walmart in Florida. Police are still searching for the suspects in the shooting. Click HERE for more information

HERE's a story about a man getting punched while in line at Sears and then pulling out his gun. Talking about clearing out the lines quickly.

And then there were the Walmart protests regarding the Thursday early opening. According to one story HERE, there were rallies with employees and supporters in 100 cities.

9 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

page 1

sort order: oldest first | newest first

I met my friends at the outlets in Smithfield. The lines were not as crazy as I thought I guess b/c they had staggered opening times. We did stand in line for about 45 mins at the bath body works but it was organized chaios. The only thing that made me mad was the one store I usually go to (pepperidge farm) has godiva chocolate for half off. Becuase the store was offering 25% off that night they raised all of their prices for the day. You could clearly see they had placed a temporary sticker over the $4 and replaced it w/ a $8 (which is retail price). If I'm going to pay retail I'm going to get it from the actual godiva store. So I left chocolate-less. :(

prisskat
November 26, 2012 1:26 p.m.

Report abuse

I did venture out at midnight. My nieces came with me this year. We were all give out by 4:30 but still did not make it home at to bed until 9am. I will not do midnight sales next year. I enjoy being able to go to bed and getting some rest first after the already long day. My husband asked me what I got, and I had to laugh and say not one Christmas present. Ibout myself new cookware set, black slacks, 2 thsirts and a sweater. I did not see any rude people(Thankful) and I always made sure that I was polite and wished everyone a Merry Christmas, because I remember working Black Fridays at JCP. The employees get tired too.

lorawatson
November 26, 2012 11:24 a.m.

Report abuse

That is awful, superturfguy. I would definitely follow up with corporate on Monday. You may still get that deal if you can get corporate to honor it.

Kathy, sounds like your hubby had a rough time. It's really sad that folks become such savages over stuff (most of it junk). I hope you get that retirement on the beach with the little umbrella drink in hand! I just ask that you continue to post on the blog so I can pretend there is hope for me to retire someday! lol

Steph - Those are some sad stories.

Faye Prosser - Smart Shopper
November 25, 2012 11:58 a.m.

Report abuse

I didn't see any craziness when I worked at Kohl's in apex but it was after midnight, I worked 3am to 12:30 pm. Fred saw loads of problems in Walmart in Morrisville. There are stories of people leaving kids behind but no police reports so far. People pushing and being nasty if they didn't het something. Fred says it his last Black Friday. He's going to find another job. He's tired of being on the receiving end of people without a clue. We are talking about retiring when he turns 62 and going overseas. A hammock on a sunny beach with a fruity drink in hand sure sounds sweet after working crazy hours the past few days.

Kathy

chesirekat1964
November 25, 2012 10:13 a.m.

Report abuse

The only bad things I saw while out shopping -- I could think of a lot of words for the unresponsible parents who had their kids falling asleep along the wall at the mall. Ridiculous. Then whomever that woman at Kohls in Cary was who threw a fit because I got the last set of twin sheets when she was standing there looking, you could have at least said thank you when we found more and brought them over to you. Instead with a huff you said yes that was what i wanted and stalked off. Ridiculous.

stephlw
November 25, 2012 7:03 a.m.

Report abuse

For the first time ever I didn't go to a single store Thursday or Friday. Did it all online and was able to combine it with a few promo codes to save more than I would have in the stores. One kid and hubby totally done and pretty close on the rest of it.

lilypony
November 24, 2012 7:40 p.m.

Report abuse

There are definitely some crazy stories out there, but I can say that I have been participating in Black Friday shopping for 17yrs and have not seen any incidents. Instead, I have made friends with the people in line around me..had lots of laughs...watched people help others to get the items they are looking for...and gotten some great deals. If people just followed the rules, there wouldn't be problems and there is risk of running into these crazy people any day of the week at the mall. Go into it with the right attitude, have fun and be thankful when you get the deal you are looking for.

thinkb4speak
November 24, 2012 10:22 a.m.

Report abuse

Here's a hysterical music video about Black Friday sung to the hit Some Nights. It's called Sale Nights. Warning: a couple bad words for the faint at heart.

http://screen.yahoo.com/sketchy-sale-nights-050000511.html

Faye Prosser - Smart Shopper
November 23, 2012 10:51 p.m.

Report abuse

I shopped online and did not get shot at or have to put up with all the crowds. Some great deals came right into my email box! And as for those Walmart employees, if they are not happy with their wages and the lack of benefits why don't they just look for a job that has pay and benefits that they do like? Seems like the energy spent protesting could be better spent on a job hunt.

heremeaj
November 23, 2012 10:11 p.m.

Report abuse

page 1

sort order: oldest first | newest first