Black Friday Death Count the website

[AoTFan]

It's interesting how with the vastness of the Internet, you can find a site that chronicles even the most odd, morbid, and/or off-beat of details (except  when you're doing a paper and you can't find anything other than a semi-reliable Wikipedia entry).  As I was watching some videos on Youtube, one of those "Truth About Black Friday" vids mentioned this site and I just had to check it out.

http://blackfridaydeathcount.com/

Basically, to quote TV tropes, the site is What It Says On the Tin: a running total of deaths and injuries associated with Black Friday around the US with links to articles about each incident.  Luckily, the tally isn't extremely high (9 deaths, 102 injuries.)  Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to diminish the lives lost or anything, but compared to say, I don't know, driving, heart disease, drowning etc, the numbers are comparatively small.

I think my biggest takeaway is simply to say if you're going to go Black Friday shopping, be careful, and consider if it's even worth it, as according to many sites I've been to, the REAL savings come in early December.

As for me, I'll be doing what I always do, sleeping in!

:)

[RCMerchant]

It never ceases to amaze me how sick and crazy the human race is.

What I find interesting about "Black Friday" is when I watch TV news shows-shopping tips-on how to search websites,take your phone, how this is all a "must". I always am amazed how not too many years ago-folks actually couldn't use the phone unless it was plugged into a wall at your house-or-if ya wanted to call from outside-a quarter and a pay phone. Now-folks act like the phone is part of their hand. When I was working,we usta sit out in the smoke shack and shoot the breeze-untill a few years back. Then most of them just sit staring at the thing in they're hand-(and not they're dicks,either...though jerking off may be more productive.)

[dean]

This is one of those 'only in America' things that make the rest of the world go 

[Skull]

It never ceases to amaze me how sick and crazy the human race is.

That's funny...

[Alex]

Just experienced my first Black Friday. Wasn't as mad as I had been lead to expect. Except for the bit I spent $138 in a local games shop and realised I'd not bought anything for myself.

[AoTFan]

This is one of those 'only in America' things that make the rest of the world go 

So, they don't do Christmas shopping in Australia? 

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if gift-giving at Christmas is as big of a thing elsewhere as it is in American (and, I assume, Canada).  Might have to research that.

[Jim H]

This is one of those 'only in America' things that make the rest of the world go 

It's really a human thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_stampedes

[javakoala]

This is one of those 'only in America' things that make the rest of the world go 

So, they don't do Christmas shopping in Australia? 

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if gift-giving at Christmas is as big of a thing elsewhere as it is in American (and, I assume, Canada).  Might have to research that.

The reason this is more of an American issue is because of the narcissistic culture bred in Americans. "I have to be first" which results in the pushing/shoving/punching we tend to see on Black Friday.

[dean]

This is one of those 'only in America' things that make the rest of the world go 

So, they don't do Christmas shopping in Australia? 

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if gift-giving at Christmas is as big of a thing elsewhere as it is in American (and, I assume, Canada).  Might have to research that.

Christmas shopping is pretty big worldwide, even in places like Japan which traditionally don't celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday. We have a 'Boxing day' day after Christmas sale traditionally but to my knowledge its never resulted in stampedes. You should look up Sinterklaas. That crazy Dutch holiday is something celebrated in the lead up to Christmas but Blackface traditions aside have some pretty cool present giving traditions attached to it.

It's really a human thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_stampedes

Stampedes yes, but to be fair most of that list involves some kind of disaster or protestors being shot with tear gas type thing where it all goes wrong. The majority of the more preventable consumerist stampedes are still from America (at quick glance at that list anyways...)

I suppose I'm just saying a 'day after Thanksgiving mega sale' is a more specifically American thing, since of course most of the world doesn't celebrate American holidays so it's hard to have a sale like Black Friday if you don't celebrate the holiday on the thursday in the first place. I can't think of many National events that result so consistently in 'The Purge' like crazy quite like Black Friday seems to have become.

Funnily enough the only major event that I can think of that I consistently think of 'human stampede/crush' is The Hajj. I'm not really serious in this last part but it's almost like both are indicative of the cultures that happen around them. One is religious fervour and the other is capitalist fervour.

[Newt]

This is one of those 'only in America' things that make the rest of the world go 

So, they don't do Christmas shopping in Australia? 

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if gift-giving at Christmas is as big of a thing elsewhere as it is in American (and, I assume, Canada).  Might have to research that.

Christmas shopping is pretty big worldwide, even in places like Japan which traditionally don't celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday. We have a 'Boxing day' day after Christmas sale traditionally but to my knowledge its never resulted in stampedes. You should look up Sinterklaas. That crazy Dutch holiday is something celebrated in the lead up to Christmas but Blackface traditions aside have some pretty cool present giving traditions attached to it.

It's really a human thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_stampedes

Stampedes yes, but to be fair most of that list involves some kind of disaster or protestors being shot with tear gas type thing where it all goes wrong. The majority of the more preventable consumerist stampedes are still from America (at quick glance at that list anyways...)

I suppose I'm just saying a 'day after Thanksgiving mega sale' is a more specifically American thing, since of course most of the world doesn't celebrate American holidays so it's hard to have a sale like Black Friday if you don't celebrate the holiday on the thursday in the first place. I can't think of many National events that result so consistently in 'The Purge' like crazy quite like Black Friday seems to have become.

Funnily enough the only major event that I can think of that I consistently think of 'human stampede/crush' is The Hajj. I'm not really serious in this last part but it's almost like both are indicative of the cultures that happen around them. One is religious fervour and the other is capitalist fervour.

I agree with dean.

Canadian here: we only have 'Black Friday' sales because of cross-border shopping.  And it does not provoke stampedes of any sort.

Yes; we Christmas shop.  But it is not some sort of physical contact sport event.

[dean]

It's funny, we started having some Black Friday branded sales here but it was mainly because stores kept pushing their sales earlier and earlier post financial crisis up to the point that a year or two ago the occasional BF sale was advertised mainly to hide the fact that their sales have been extended from late December all the way into November. It's actually gotten to the point now that you're more likely to be in a sale period rather than a non sale period. I guess that kind of extension takes some of the sting out of one day event sales chaos...