Remember that movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger called “Jingle all the way”? He portrays a father that tries to get his hands on the most popular Xmas toy. He gets in several fights to accomplish his mission. Well, in Elkton, Maryland a melee erupted among a crowd of shoppers in the rush for the new Xbox 360 video game console at a local Wal-Mart Supercenter. According to the story at CNN it took 10 policemen to end the brawl. About 300 people waited as much as 12 hours for the game, considered a must-have item this holiday season, to go on sale at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. But an announcement from a store manager that the Xboxes would be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, instead of using a number system devised by customers, triggered the mayhem.
“That’s when all hell broke loose,” said Ben DiSabatino IV, a 23-year-old Bear, Delaware, resident, who had been waiting in line since 4 p.m.
Some customers were knocked down and trampled, though there were no serious injuries, said Elkton Police Lt. Lawrence Waldridge. Wal-Mart canceled the sale and police ordered everyone to leave.
I guess nobody got lucky there. What posessed the manager to deviate from the good idea the crowd had (basically a form of self-regulation), is beyond me.