All for $29.00 DVD?

[ResinIII]

Woman Knocked Unconscious While Shopping

ORANGE CITY, Fla. (Nov. 29) - A mob of shoppers rushing for a sale on DVD players trampled the first woman in line and knocked her unconscious as they scrambled for the shelves at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Patricia VanLester had her eye on a $29 DVD player, but when the siren blared at 6 a.m. Friday announcing the start to the post-Thanksgiving sale, the 41-year-old was knocked to the ground by the frenzy of shoppers behind her.

''She got pushed down, and they walked over her like a herd of elephants,'' said VanLester's sister, Linda Ellzey. ''I told them, 'Stop stepping on my sister! She's on the ground!'''

Ellzey said some shoppers tried to help VanLester, and one employee helped Ellzey reach her sister, but most people just continued their rush for a deal.


''All they cared about was a stupid DVD player,'' she said Saturday.

Paramedics called to the store found VanLester unconscious on top of a DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her, said Mark O'Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance.

She was flown to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where doctors told the family VanLester had a seizure after she was knocked down and would likely remain hospitalized through the weekend, Ellzey said. Hospital officials said Saturday they did not have any information on her condition.

''She's all black and blue,'' Ellzey said. ''Patty doesn't remember anything. She still can't believe it all happened.''

Ellzey said Wal-Mart officials called later Friday to ask about her sister, and the store apologized and offered to put a DVD player on hold for her.

Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman Karen Burk said she had never heard of a such a melee during a sale.

''We are very disappointed this happened,'' Burk said. ''We want her to come back as a shopper.''

[PrncssNikki]

I'm not surprised. Women go insane when shopping. I remember going wedding dress shopping with my friend and it was like a scene out of a movie where women were snatching dresses out of eachother's hands and getting trampled on.

[Sinn Fein]

Every year I refuse to take part in this nonsense. This year was no exception. Anyone who goes shopping on Black Friday has at least one screw loose.

[RandomNY]

That is f'n ridiculous.. I sometimes hit the malls on BLACK FRIDAY but at the very end of the night.... this 4am crap is moronic.

[peewee]

i live mins away from woodbury commens, i don't know if any of you heard of it but it is hell this weekend. fucking i hate it and i am too drunk to type more so thats it

[MetalSign]

I worked at Toys R Us for 3 blak fridays. You've never seen craziness unless you've been to a TRU on Black Friday. THen I did 2 black fridays at Best Buy. There used to be fist fights in the parking lot over parking spaces. THe only place crazier i think would be Walmart. People are insane!

[mascan42]

What a bunch of redneck douchebags. All this for a $29 DVD player that has to be so cheaply made that it would break down after a month?

[Rob]

Originally posted by Sinn Fein
Every year I refuse to take part in this nonsense. This year was no exception. Anyone who goes shopping on Black Friday has at least one screw loose.

I agree... I have a few screws loose, and I still wouldn't shop on that day... :liljim:

[PrncssNikki]

Originally posted by Sinn Fein
Every year I refuse to take part in this nonsense. This year was no exception. Anyone who goes shopping on Black Friday has at least one screw loose.

What about us assholes that work in retail that work Black Friday? ::hammer:

[Stinkysteve]

Originally posted by peewee755
i live mins away from woodbury commens, i don't know if any of you heard of it but it is hell this weekend. fucking i hate it and i am too drunk to type more so thats it

Woodbury Commons sucks on a good day. The place is full of so-called factory outlet stores that have prices much higher than regular retail stores. For instance, the Levi's Outlet sells irregular jeans for a higher price than Sears sells the good items for.
Just because some dumb white trash hears the words factory outlet, they think they are getting a good deal! People are better off if they have an idea of what and how much a product should be before they go running out blindly to buy something.
I used to work retail too, I sure don't miss this shit!

[tysonpunchinguterus]

People are such lemmings. What's the big deal about going shopping the first Friday after Thanksgiving anyway? There are still 27 days or so left before Christmas. But people have to wait on line outside a store for an hour just so they can be among the first inside. It's just so stupid.

And what's worse is that they all get angry and pushy, and carry that mood around for the rest of the day so they can pass it on to those of us smart enough not to go to Wal-Mart or the mall that day.

[IRISHJERICHO]

Originally posted by I'm Resin
Woman Knocked Unconscious While Shopping

ORANGE CITY, Fla. (Nov. 29) - A mob of shoppers rushing for a sale on DVD players trampled the first woman in line and knocked her unconscious as they scrambled for the shelves at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Patricia VanLester had her eye on a $29 DVD player, but when the siren blared at 6 a.m. Friday announcing the start to the post-Thanksgiving sale, the 41-year-old was knocked to the ground by the frenzy of shoppers behind her.

''She got pushed down, and they walked over her like a herd of elephants,'' said VanLester's sister, Linda Ellzey. ''I told them, 'Stop stepping on my sister! She's on the ground!'''

Ellzey said some shoppers tried to help VanLester, and one employee helped Ellzey reach her sister, but most people just continued their rush for a deal.


''All they cared about was a stupid DVD player,'' she said Saturday.

Paramedics called to the store found VanLester unconscious on top of a DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her, said Mark O'Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance.

She was flown to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where doctors told the family VanLester had a seizure after she was knocked down and would likely remain hospitalized through the weekend, Ellzey said. Hospital officials said Saturday they did not have any information on her condition.

''She's all black and blue,'' Ellzey said. ''Patty doesn't remember anything. She still can't believe it all happened.''

Ellzey said Wal-Mart officials called later Friday to ask about her sister, and the store apologized and offered to put a DVD player on hold for her.

Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman Karen Burk said she had never heard of a such a melee during a sale.

''We are very disappointed this happened,'' Burk said. ''We want her to come back as a shopper.''


HA HA HAAAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAA :clap: :drunk:

[Sinn Fein]

This woman is a con-artist:

Article (http://www.local6.com/money/2683654/detail.html)

'Trampled' Wal-Mart Shopper Has History Of Injury Claims
Report: Woman Has Filed 16 Previous Claims, 9 At Wal-Mart Stores
Tony Pipitone, WKMG-Local 6 News

POSTED: 5:25 p.m. EST December 4, 2003
UPDATED: 6:54 p.m. EST December 4, 2003

ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- A woman reported "trampled" last Friday by Wal-Mart shoppers desperate for $29.87 DVD players has a long history of claiming injuries from Wal-Marts and other businesses where she worked or shopped.

Patricia Vanlester, 41, was knocked unconscious and, her sister said, "trampled by a herd of elephants" by a stampede of shoppers reaching for DVD players that went on sale at 6 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving, according to Orange City police and the sister, Linda Ellzey.

The story was picked up by the Associated Press and carried in newspapers and other media as far away as Australia and China, an example -- some commentators have opined -- of American excess during the holiday shopping season.

An investigation by WKMG-Local 6 reveals Vanlester has filed 16 previous claims of injuries at Wal-Mart stores and other places she has shopped or worked, according to Wal-Mart, court files and state records. Her sister, who accompanied her Friday on the visit to Wal-Mart, has also filed a prior injury claim against Wal-Mart, with Vanlester as her witness, a company spokeswoman said yesterday.

Asked whether Vanlester's frequent injury claims might cast doubt on the veracity of her latest allegation, her attorney, David L. Sweat, of Port Orange, said, "No comment." He did stress, though, that Vanlester "has not filed a claim nor have we decided to file one" related to last week's incident.

Wal-Mart is reviewing store videotapes "as we look into the claim," spokeswoman Karen Burk said from the massive retailer's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. "We will investigate this claim as thoroughly as we have the other 10 claims that this customer and her sister have brought against our stores in the past."

Vanlester, who worked at Wal-Marts in Mt. Dora and Orange City in 1996 and 1997, declined comment through her mother, Barbara Rastellini, with whom she owns a home here.


Vanlester spent at least two days in Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach last weekend and today was back in the hospital "having a procedure done," Sweat said. He did not know if the procedure was related to the Wal-Mart incident.

Vanlester has for years complained of head, back, neck, leg or arm pain caused by slipping and falling, objects falling on her and other accidents, according to medical records in a public court file examined by WKMG-Local 6. In fact, her sister says she was wearing a neck brace at the time of last Friday's incident because of injuries from a years-old car accident.

According to state worker's compensation records and court files at the Volusia County courthouse in DeLand, here's some of what Vanlester has claimed over the years under some of her various legal last names: Rastellini, Findley, Crabtree, Platt and Vanlester.

In 1978 and 1982, more than $400 in worker's compensation was paid after she claimed injuries from being struck by a falling object and from slipping and falling while working as a machine operator at a now-defunct manufacturing plant in DeLand.
In 1984, she claimed a back sprain from working at a restaurant in Winter Haven, producing $356 in worker's compensation.
In 1987, she filed an injury claim against Deltona Lanes, a Volusia County bowling alley, after claiming she slipped and fell while bowling there. In a 1993 sworn deposition in another case, Vanlester testified she received a cash settlement from the bowling alley claim, but did not recall the amount.
In 1989, after her car ran off Interstate 4 in Volusia and overturned, she filed a claim against Big T Tire and Wheel Service, of Orange City, claiming the crash was caused by a tire blowout. She testified she received a cash settlement in that case, as well.
In 1991, she claimed to have slipped on a puddle of hand lotion while shopping for a curling iron at an Orange City Walgreen's, causing "permanent injury, disability, disfigurement (and) mental anguish." She filed suit in 1993, but it was thrown out in January 1994 after a 10-minute hearing. Walgreen's argued no one at the store had seen any liquid on the floor, so it could not be liable for failing to clean it up.
In 1995, Vanlester reported slipping and falling on liquid or grease while working in the meat department of a Eustis Publix, resulting in more than $1,200 in worker's compensation.
In 1996, she claimed to have slipped and fallen while working at the layaway desk of a Mt. Dora Wal-Mart, leading to more than $600 in worker's compensation payments.
In 1997, she claimed a back strain while working at the snack bar of an Orange City Wal-Mart that was replaced by the Wal-Mart Superstore where she claims to have been trampled last Friday.

Burk, the Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said she could not reveal exactly how much Wal-Mart has paid in medical expenses and direct payments to Vanlester as a result of her nine claims, but said the total was in the "thousands."

Nor could she provide details on the injury claim Wal-Mart received from her sister, Ellzey, 48, of Inglis, Fla., except to say Vanlester was listed as a witness to the injury.

Ellzey said in an earlier interview that Wal-Mart should have foreseen the danger of unleashing shoppers on a huge bargain at 6 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. "For several years, every time they do this, people get trampled," she said last week, adding, "I'm panicked. I'm afraid to go into any stores, especially Wal-Mart."

This week, Ellzey has not returned repeated calls seeking comment. But her widely-reported characterization of the incident last Friday as a trampling by a "herd of elephants" has provoked much comment around the world.

Syndicated columnist George Will used it to bemoan the death of Puritanism at the hand of Christmas excess, calling department stores "cathedrals of consumption." A Portland, Ore., Web site carried the story under the headline, "Capitalism's Greatest Hits."

[MetalSign]

I hope this lady gets sent to prison and railed with a plunger. I hate people like this. I had a guy come to me when I worked at Payless 5 years ago and explain that his mother is involved in several lawsuits for
(Tyson) Allegedly (Tyson) "slipping" on juice in several stores in the area. He was BRAGGING about how she was faking injury. How f'n stupid can you be?

God damn, I hate people.

[mascan42]

Jesus Christ . . . just the fact that she sues every time is proof that she's full of shit. My Mom is ridiculously accident-prone due to a poor sense of balance (2 broken hips, 2 broken ribs, a broken foot, a broken kneecap, and 3 broken fingers over the last 20 years!), but she's NEVER sued anyone over her injuries - she just accepts that she's accident-prone and takes the hit.