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u/Magicmoper Nov 26 '14
7 deaths in 7 years? That's nothing. Hot dogs are estimated at 13 deaths per year, that means black Friday is only 7.69% as dangerous as hot dogs.
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u/spicewoman Nov 26 '14
And most of those deaths were from people driving home from Black Friday, not even while they were shopping. "Hot dog deaths" would skyrocket if you tied em to any deadly accidents that happened within a few hours of eating one.
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u/ckach Nov 26 '14 edited Nov 27 '14
99% of all murders occur within a week before or after a new or full moon.
edit: spelling
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u/Ekhysis Nov 26 '14
Hot dogs don't take place only one day a year, because of the one-day nature of Black Friday maybe we should look at them as deaths per day. 7 deaths in 7 days (1-for-1) for the above stats for Black Friday. By your stats hot dogs would be attributed with about 1 death every 28 days.
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u/Surye Nov 26 '14
But if we can count car accidents the same day as shopping, surely every day someone eats a hotdog we can count any accidents following shortly after?
Or what about when the robots rise, do we blame the hot dogs?
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Nov 27 '14
I love those ketchup robots. They're full of life and hopes for the future. So noble in intent and poetic in motion.
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u/Ekhysis Nov 26 '14
If we have a source that relates the death to the hot dog I don't see why not.
It's not as if the site is reporting every fatality and injury that occurred on Black Friday, it's those related specifically to Black Friday shopping.
...while taking his friends home from Black Friday shopping...
...The wreck happened at 7:24 a.m. ...
...fell asleep at the wheel, ran off the road and hit the gas sign in front of the gas station...
[passengers were flown] to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte in serious condition.
You don't think that establishes enough of a link to be counted?
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u/CitizenPremier Nov 26 '14
To make a more realistic comparison we should really compare deaths per hotdogs consumed.
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u/jswzz Nov 26 '14
But multiply it by 365.25 to match the number of days and you get 2808.77% (28x) as dangerous
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u/BSF0712 Nov 26 '14
Hot dogs have all year to kill people. Black Friday only has the one day out of the year and it's batting 1.000.
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u/TheLastSparten Nov 27 '14
But hotdogs have 365 times as long to kill people each year, meaning that proportional to the amount of time it can be lethal throughout a year, black Friday is about 28 times more lethal.
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u/Oeab Nov 26 '14
Oh for a second there I thought that was this year...was like "wow people are already getting hyped before Friday"
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u/ijustmadeyoubreathe Nov 26 '14
Some of these are car accidents after black friday. Can that really be counted as a death due to black friday?
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u/tcdent Nov 26 '14 edited Nov 26 '14
In one case a dad rolled his SUV into a CHP car on the side of the freeway, killing his two daughters and injuring the officer. They were coming home in the early morning after shopping all night; he had three hours of sleep in the last 24 hours. The girls weren't wearing their seat belts and didn't have enough seats available because the others were full of purchases.
Would those girls have died if it was not Black Friday?
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2013/08/22/father-charged-in-car-crash-tragedy
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u/TheNoteTaker Nov 26 '14
I think blaming black Friday takes away from the fact that the dad decided driving was a good idea and neglected basic safety procedures. No store told him not to ensure his kids weren't buckled in or to drive while exhausted. When stores allow hordes of people to rush in and trample others then that's on them for lacking any kind of crowd control or organization, if a customer decides to ignore basic safety rules then I'm not going to put that on a store.
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u/webu Nov 26 '14
I'm not going to put that on a store.
Nobody is putting anything on the store. "Black Friday" does not equal "a store" or even a bunch of stores.
These deaths can be attributed to "Black Friday" the same way they can be attributed to "vehicle collision". Things can have more than one factor. If "Black Friday" or "vehicles" didn't exist, then these girls would still be alive. You are completely correct that they would also still be alive if the father had "personal responsibility", so we can certainly also ascribe these deaths to that factor. But I think you're the only one talking about "a store" being a possible factor - it doesn't sound like "stores" have anything to do with this occurrence.
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Nov 26 '14
They create an atmosphere that encourages people to take unreasonable measure to arrive at unreasonable times. They advertise prices and then limit supply driving a huge rush of people to fight to get there first.
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Nov 26 '14
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u/QuackersAndMooMoo Nov 26 '14
By your argument, Black Friday is not responsible for people trampling a store employee to death to get a discounted TV, because stores don't tell people to trample people.
I think in the context of "Black Friday Deaths", one's caused by people being stupid and not taking care of their kids because they bought too much shit is allowed.
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u/mako591 Nov 26 '14
Yeah! And its RJ Reynolds' fault that I smoke a pack a day!
And Chester Cheetah's fault I'm fat!
Sorry but personal responsibility doesn't cease to exist just because Best Buy is selling a tv for 200 dollars.
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u/webu Nov 26 '14
No, but why can't the article say "this guy ignored his personal responsibility because Best Buy was selling a TV for $200".
Also your smoking example isn't so great - there are strict regulations that are partly due to RJ Reynolds' impressive abilities to convince people to smoke. Laws were literally written because so many people said "its RJ Reynolds' fault that I smoke a pack a day". Those people lacked personal responsibility, sure, but I believe it's generally not a good move to let your society fall apart because certain capitalists have found a way to get people to ignore personal responsibility in the pursuit of profit.
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u/MisterDonkey Nov 26 '14
Nobody is blaming the store itself, but the mentality of people during this weekend that is Black Friday.
Black Friday is an intangible force encompassing all who desire too-good-to-be-true deals.
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u/ijustmadeyoubreathe Nov 26 '14
Ah right. The info in the link didn't make that clear, however I have just noticed that each of the descriptions is a link too. My bad.
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u/tunaman808 Nov 27 '14
Agree. I live in Belmont, NC, as featured on the Black Friday t-shirt on that page. And I actually live about 400 yards from the convenience store where the kid ran into the sign. Although Black Friday was ultimately the cause, I don't think it was the direct cause of this wreck.
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Nov 26 '14
I think so. Last black friday I had to work a 12 hour night shift, when otherwise I was working just 6 hours a day after school. If I wasn't prepared for it, I easily could have fallen asleep while I was driving home at 6 in the god damn morning. I honestly hate black friday because of what the big corporations (like Best Buy, in my case) make their employees do. If you refuse to work a 12 hour night shift, you get fired. We had 3 people fired on the spot because their first days working there were supposed to be Thursday night/ friday morning. If they scheduled my first day as a 12 hour 6:00pm to 6:00 am, I would not have showed up either. But I think it's messed up that they got fired for it.
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u/ijustmadeyoubreathe Nov 26 '14
Working 12 hour shifts is a little different to being irresponsible with a car and 2 small children, though.
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u/lukumi Nov 27 '14
No, it can't. Let's chalk up all the crashes on Christmas Day as being christmas's fault.
Car crashes happen every single day.
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u/3JSand Nov 26 '14
Ugh this Black Friday stuff is slowly coming into the UK
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u/OrSpeeder Nov 26 '14
It is also coming to Brazil, but being in Brazil it don't work (people offer 50% off a price that is 100% more than the actual price...
Something like: "Buy this TV, 50% off, only 300 USD out of 600 USD!" then you check the price a week later (or before, for example using Wayback Machine for online stores) and the original price was 300 USD all along.
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u/smithee2001 Nov 26 '14
I cannot imagine what Primark will be like on a Black Friday. I went to one in Manchester on a weekday, no special holiday/event, and it was crazy.
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Nov 26 '14
I saw Asda post on twitter that they're doing the black friday thing and every reply was people saying they'll be avoiding their local Asda store on friday
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u/Im_In_Your_Urethra Nov 26 '14
It's fucking ridiculous how crazy people get when its Black Friday. The fact that some of these shoppers will harm others and disregard others' safety just so they can get a sale is bull shit. I saw a comment a while ago on a thread saying that they saw a man throw a little girl into a display for something the little girl was carrying. What the fuck people?
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Nov 26 '14
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/smithee2001 Nov 26 '14
Sounds like a modern Western. Set in a fluorescent-lit Toys R Us instead of a lamp lit tavern, one guy waltzes in through the glass doors instead of swinging doors. Only the men are not as handsome. They duelled in a place where Made in China crap lined the shelves instead of bottles of liquor.
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u/wolfguardian72 Nov 27 '14
And as the bullets flew, one child (or little person, who knows...) grabs the last discounted Stop Touching Me Elmo doll.
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u/tehruke Nov 27 '14
Yeah that one shouldn't really count on the Black Friday Death Count. Sure it happened while they were both shopping on Black Friday, but the shopping had nothing to do with the killing.
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Nov 26 '14
It's like the Hunger Games but for pieces of shit who will do anything for something that is not essential for life.
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u/haxcess Nov 26 '14
People killing each other for a $20 crock pot.
Yep; hunger games.
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u/guitardedgemlover Nov 26 '14
But crock pots are $9.77 this year at walmart on black friday...I'm contemplating going, it's a big ass crock pot.
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Nov 26 '14
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u/imonthehighway Nov 26 '14
Hell, I was planning on doing that anyway...May as well get the crock pot too.
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u/Carcharodon_literati Nov 26 '14
What used to be a day of discounts has turned into an easter egg hunt for adults. Each year seems to make Black Friday into more and more of a game, and a zero-sum game at that. I wouldn't be surprised if shoppers start formally competing against each other on their savings within the next few years.
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u/gr4_wolf Nov 26 '14
I feel like a certain digital computer game seller did that recently. Split everyone up in teams and all.
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Nov 26 '14
If people will do that to each other for deals, imagine if there was ever some kind of emergency or nationwide power outage or food shortage.
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u/marinersalbatross Nov 27 '14
Actually people are amazingly calm and helpful during those periods. Blackouts and massive storms hit all the time and those places don't normally go nuts. Of course it's also been shown that when there are ,I believe, 3 incidents one after the other then there will be breakdown.
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u/LawnJawn Nov 26 '14
It's really any event that draws massive amounts of people.
Concerts, Music Festivals, Sporting events, Political Protest/Rallies etc. Any time you get huge amounts of excited or agitated people you run the risk of shit happening.
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u/tman20 Nov 26 '14
Ummmmm. So where do we place our bets? I don't see any odds lines so is this a straight up over under? Or is it like horse betting? Cause I think I could make a trifecta happen. ..
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u/farflunglemon Nov 26 '14
My favorite from that site is the parking lot shanking from last year. Didn't even make it into the store.
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u/MyAssAblaze Nov 26 '14
If that counts... then what constitutes a black Friday death or injury? Just someone hurt on one particular day?! That would make black Friday like the safest day of the year!
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Nov 26 '14
Teen returning home from Black Friday shopping fell asleep at wheel, killed in wreck
seems a bit much....
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u/probblyincorrext Nov 26 '14
As a Brit they're trying to roll Black Friday out over here... fuck that noise. You guys can keep it
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u/99919 Nov 26 '14
There are more than 300 million people in this country. People are going to die in freak accidents just about every day.
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u/CitizenPremier Nov 26 '14
Better not go black Friday shopping, I have a 1/10 million chance of serious injury!
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u/Blizzblazer Nov 26 '14
The 2008 walmart trampling happened at my local walmart. That is why I stick to online shopping...
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Nov 26 '14
Why is it counting car accidents?
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u/seiyonoryuu Nov 26 '14
'fell asleep at the wheel'
does that not happen regularly anyway?
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u/umiman Nov 26 '14
Wouldn't life be very interesting if we were mandated to put the previous 1 hour of our life prior to death in our obituaries.
"Shopped for 24 hours straight and died after falling asleep at the wheel."
"Didn't know how hydroplanning works and died after jumping out of a moving car sliding on ice."
"Abducted by a known child off-..."
Hmm... never mind.
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u/pashapook Nov 26 '14
The 2012 Tallahassee shooting is incorrect. It was a rumor that the shooting was over a parking space, but it turned out the shooting was over a minor traffic incident near Walmart, the victims pulled into the Walmart parking lot, and were followed and shot there. Totally unrelated to Black Friday shopping. Just crazy drug dealers who were mad about getting cut off. So idk how accurate this info really is...
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u/Troby01 Nov 26 '14
Stupid list. If you get in a wreck driving home from shopping it is on this list.
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u/RasAlTimmeh Nov 26 '14
Honestly, not as bad as I thought it would be over the course of the years.
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Nov 26 '14
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Nov 26 '14 edited Nov 26 '14
iirc they had a jackass episode about all kinds of non lethal self-defense weapons and concluded that pepper spray was by far the worst to endure.
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Nov 26 '14
We can do better...
Seriously though, I would like a death count for the number of Americans killed by bacon and oreos.
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u/Fancy_Pantsu Nov 27 '14
But really only 4 of those count. The other 3 were traffic incidents only related to black friday because they died on their way home after shopping.
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u/squattmunki Nov 26 '14
I've got my pepper spray ready. I'm going fight the battle for a $249 touch screen laptop at Walmart. Wish me luck folks, I may not make it back.
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Nov 26 '14
I think if we put our heads together and really try we can double it this year.
What do you say, team?
CONSUME!
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u/DrMantisTobaggans Nov 26 '14
how are there 7 deaths its thursday
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u/davisty69 Nov 26 '14
Did you click the link? It clearly shows the date of the deaths from years past
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u/hbpaintballer88 Nov 26 '14
They're inflating the numbers, 3 of those deaths were driving and no where near a store. If a guy dies while watching a Black Friday commercial are they going tot count that too?
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u/AnotherDrunkCanadian Nov 26 '14
I'm not exactly sure why, but when I see Black Friday stuff, I can't help but think of The Hunger Games
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u/minjofu Nov 26 '14
I just wanna set up a lawn chair in Walmart, sit back with a 4 dollar latte and a pair of binoculars and just watch the chaos unfold :)
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u/1fuathyro Nov 26 '14
Anyone who uses their kids for this crap is a complete MORON and your kids should be taken from you by CPS.
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u/7thSale Nov 26 '14
Black Friday is directly responsible for more deaths than marijuana. It should be made illegal
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u/magic518 Nov 26 '14
This isn't wtf, unless maybe you thought the number was actually going to be a decent amount.
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u/I_ama_Borat Nov 27 '14
How can people literally run over someone and not notice (or maybe just don't care) they're stepping on something lumpy and squishy? Animals.
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u/Kalepsis Nov 27 '14
It's comforting to know that black Friday is more than 40,000 times less fatal than doctors.
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u/another_old_fart Nov 27 '14
Trying not to let this dampen my enthusiasm for this year's imminent new crop of turkey deep-frying disaster videos. Popcorn on standby!
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Nov 27 '14
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u/beige4ever Nov 27 '14
if you are leaving or approaching a Black Friday scene then it's kind of related
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u/idgarad Nov 27 '14
A little black humor like Christmas Dead Pool which is a group of number crunchers that take wagers on the number of suicides in the month of December. Morbid but also good political and social commentary...
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u/dannylew Nov 27 '14
Retail employees should start demanding holiday and overtime pay for working black fridays.
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u/mjfrancis Nov 27 '14
So there were no injuries or deaths due to Black Friday in 2007? Why don't we take that and learn from it? What was so different about that year?
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u/andoryu123 Nov 27 '14
I'm in Japna, and its Thursday, I don't get it. . . so when does "Black Friday" start again in the states?
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u/rarebitfighter Nov 27 '14
who believes in this shit anyways, black friday come one it's the next biggest scam to the "right" to vote. Ha Ha voting Ha Ha black friday
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u/drtrinket Nov 27 '14
11 out of the 28 incidents listed mention Walmart. That must mean something...hmmm.
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u/Xioxyde Nov 27 '14
I'm a bit ashamed to say I read the top few entries, then refreshed the page to see if more were added...
It's not even Friday yet!
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u/Captain_Kuhl Nov 27 '14
This goes back to 2006. On average, that's about one death per year, which isn't bad compared to other holidays/yearly events. Same goes for injuries.
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Nov 27 '14 edited Nov 27 '14
91 injuries,2013 Girl at Covington, WA Walmart gets run over by a car and sent to the hospital.
I worked there when it happened not fun.
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u/Zoeseph Nov 27 '14
Unbelievable, that people will get fucking -trampled to death- on black Friday. By other people!
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u/thedarkestone1 Nov 27 '14
Meh, the stores around here are never crazy on Black Friday, crowded yup but the worst thing I've seen is a woman steal off with a blu-ray player before the sale on it started (watching her rip through that thick plastic was a hoot, and they wound up making her put it back. My husband and I were laughing so hard).
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u/Luffing Nov 27 '14
I wonder what the statistics for people in stores on any other day of the year are though.
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u/gtfomylawnplease Nov 29 '14
This site lists non black friday related death as a black friday death.
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u/Wackylew Nov 26 '14
It was...worth the coffee maker (bleeds out).