Comments on: That whole naughty or nice thing? SERIOUS business this year.

By: Santa

Santa — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:27:23 +0000

Your mistletoe is no match for my T.O.W. missile!

By: fibreoptik

fibreoptik — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:29:47 +0000

one of the crappiest PS jobs I have seen in a LONG time

By: Danbala

Danbala — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:39:43 +0000

Quite so. I can’t understand why so many people seem to think so little of security precautions. Probably the good old “oh, but nothing would happen to me/that wouldn’t happen here” factor at work. /

By: slanagat

slanagat — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:27:27 +0000

Reading the comment DIRECTLY ABOVE YOURS fail.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:09:11 +0000

Is that Will Smith? (I know it’s not but that was my first impression. Like ‘I Am Legend’ just with a santa hat.)

By: jules

jules — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:57:31 +0000

Philly is a strong competitor. We’re extremely fond of our food here.

By: jules

jules — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:04:09 +0000

And Best Buy. I used to work there several years ago and the year before some little old lady was trampled by a bunch of people. Just gotta get that $100 laptop.

By: jules

jules — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:01:35 +0000

Lol!

By: jules

jules — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:01:09 +0000

“Oh you mean Xmas. You must be using an archaic pronunciation, like when you say ‘ask’ instead of ‘ax’”

By: slanagat

slanagat — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:04:01 +0000

They shot each other. After they’d already bred, unfortunately, so it was an evolutionarily neutral act.

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:11:55 +0000

The usual method for large corps who have a ‘no settle’ policy is to just leave you in court forever until you either run out of money or die.

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:10:57 +0000

The ‘bricked up fire exit’ thing happens so often that one could almost call it natural causes for Disco goers…

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:26:33 +0000

But don’t forget, it’s for the kiddies…

By: Danbala

Danbala — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:23:47 +0000

Hehehe. )
`
I am beginning to think that ICHC and all its subsites should have posting bots so that every lol that gets on the first page autmatically gets three posts: First, two different ones that both say “First!” and then one that says “shopped”. It’d save us all some time.

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:18:41 +0000

Ah, but they were shot. There’s no skill in that…

By: Danbala

Danbala — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:15:08 +0000

Ouch. Not good at all. (
.
Not that I am after a “list your worst accidents”-competition, this thread just reminds me all too well of our local disaster, where people – as far as I remember – didn’t die directly by trampling, but by a blocked emergency exit and therefore not enough escape routes, too many people in the premises, and so on. Lots of terribleness. (
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I lived close enough to feel the smoke-smell, which makes stuff so much more “real” (I’m simple like that).

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:12:13 +0000

MiB WIN!

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:11:30 +0000

Oh, it was a complete shambles.

By: Danbala

Danbala — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:09:00 +0000

That one’s probably easier for me to remember, the proximity factor at work, I suppose.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:06:06 +0000

The main difference between Will Smith and "Santa" is that Will Smith would make that hat look good.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:01:08 +0000

Wow. The worst part to me was: “Some fans tried to break through the police cordon to ferry injured supporters to waiting ambulances, and were forcibly turned back.” What a nightmare!

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:15:55 +0000

Another ray of light in the dark shadows of seasonal retail madness! )

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:13:22 +0000

I checked into joining Mensa. Anyone who feels the need to pay the membership fee should be forced to re-take the exam! )

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:57:52 +0000

For real crowd related deaths, try the Hillsborough Disaster. 96 people dead due to crushing. An old friend of mine responded to the call for all available doctors and spent the next couple of hours tagging dead people.

Sordid details behind my name.

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:53:31 +0000

No, it’s just a Black Man… by the cheek bones, Tutsi… Hutus have rounder faces on the whole, and Twa, while superficially similar, seldom are involved in tribal conflicts, and are commonly very short in comparison to other Central African tribes…

So, that gives lie to the idea that ‘they all look the same to whitey’

By: viking gal

viking gal — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:52:55 +0000

Crowds, not so fun. I just want to get what I need, and get back out, fast, so I avoid weekends as well, this time of year.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:47:33 +0000

LOL!! Yeah, I hate it when perves delay my shoplifting!

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:45:03 +0000

There’s a similar day in the UK, but it’s on the production side and tends to be in the food production (specifically baked goods and biscuits) sector. It’s usually the second Friday in December. Up until then most biscuit factories have been operating on last year’s Black Friday profit… Folks buying their ‘Biscuits for Cheese’, ‘Ritz Crackers’ etc for the festive season.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:43:49 +0000

…and Toys r Us (link)

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:41:59 +0000

Look on the bright side… if he was working that shift at Wal*Mart, he was probably an illegal…

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:40:55 +0000

He could have known your Democrat leanings and thought you were stealing stuff… Republicans only steal horses…

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:38:21 +0000

Probably the female hormones and growth hormones those things that are big enough to beat a sheep to death has screwed with his endocrine system…

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:32:38 +0000

Ah but there’s only a body count at Wal*Mart!

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:30:53 +0000

Nothing says ‘Festive’ like an accessory designed by Mikhail! Makes shopping a dream too…

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:24:15 +0000

Testify Sistah! I’m happy to avoid that maddening mess! Some people love the thrill of the hunt, but I would rather not shop in an un-fun mosh pit.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:21:09 +0000

You ROCK! That’s *exactly* the one I was trying to remember! Thank you! )

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:18:51 +0000

Houston is a cheap city to live in, for its size. I don’t have the reference, but Houstonians frequent restaurants for a higher percentage of meals than all other major cities. Possibly for that reason, restaurants are competitively priced. Coincidentally, according to GQ Magazine, Houston is frequently the “fattest” city in America too!

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:11:45 +0000

In a way, yes, you’re right. I guess, given my history with creepy guys, this one seemed harmless, by comparison.

By: Jane St.Clair

Jane St.Clair — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:41:16 +0000

Yeah, I don’t care WHAT the deals are. If I don’t have to be out, I don’t leave the house on Black Friday.

By: Jane St.Clair

Jane St.Clair — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:39:15 +0000

Well yeah, I probably qualify too. That’s why it’s something of a family joke when we refer to her.

By: dissimilitude

dissimilitude — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:34:28 +0000

In general, WalMart Does Not Settle. Even in claims where they are clearly at fault. It’s part of how they keep from constantly being snowed under with stupid petty lawsuits. In this case, however, quickly arranging to pay off the guys’s relatives might be to their advantage from a public relations perspective.

Stuff like this? Is one of the big reasons I was at home sleeping Friday morning. The potential for an incident like this has been apparent for some time now.

By: PortlandMark

PortlandMark — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:26:43 +0000

I don’t put much stock in Mensa membership. *I* qualify; they can’t be that choosy!

By: PortlandMark

PortlandMark — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:24:58 +0000

Weird combination. Prices are very low, by NW standards.

By: PortlandMark

PortlandMark — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:22:48 +0000

No, it’s still creepy.

By: Danbala

Danbala — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:30:32 +0000

In 2000, nine people died at the Roskilde festival during a Pearl Jam gig. (A BBC article is linked if you click my name. That says eight, Wikipedia says another died a few days later.)

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:56:23 +0000

Thanks for the giggles! )

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:54:36 +0000

I can only find the Who concert in 1979 in Cincinnati, in which 11 people were trampled to death. There was another, more recent one, tho.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:48:30 +0000

That may or may not fly. The geophysical company where I used to work hired a subcontractor. (My company was contracted by an exploration company.) The subcontractor accidentally set off a 5.5 lb charge of Pentolite between his legs. The accident was purely the guy’s fault, but my company and the exploration company jointly settled with his widow.
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Walmart probably doesn’t have to pay many claims, relatively speaking. They are bound to have a huge attorney pool to handle all of the inevitable slip-and-fall claims, etc. Still, for PR sake, Walmart may settle with the man’s family. They need to stay off the TV on this one, especially since the news went national.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:27:05 +0000

I think the cameras will tell the tale. One would look a lot different being pushed into a glass door as opposed to forcing the door, himself.
.
BTW, Do you remember anything about an open-seating concert where people were crushed? I can’t remember the details, but it seemed like quite a few people were hurt and 2-3 (?) killed. It was probably +/- 10 years ago. Anyway, I felt as incredulous then as I do now.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:22:07 +0000

I heard the report about the EMT workers, too. Did you hear that several people ran away from the scene when they saw what was happening? I felt a little better knowing that *part* of the crowd was able to muster compassion. They must not have closed the store right away, as I heard that customers were leaving with shopping bags, adding to the chaos.
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If the people in front who pushed the door in were smart, they didn’t use checks or credit cards in the store, hehe. I wonder if they thought that far ahead, or if the thought hit them after they got home and saw the store on the news. At first I thought it would be difficult to prove that certain people were in the crowd, but it dawned on me that Walmart has lots of cameras around, especially around electronics sales areas and IIRC at all cash registers.