Note from Steve: Would you trample children and old people using walkers for an outdated computer? If you wouldn't, then you probably don't live in Henrico County, Virginia. See the story below about how stupid people can be sometimes.Mob scene, several hurt in rush for cheap laptops
From NBC12 News, Richmond, Virginia
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
What started as a sale turned into a mob scene as thousands of people pushed their way through the Richmond International Raceway gates to buy a $50 iBook laptop computer from Henrico County Schools Tuesday morning.
An estimated 5500 people were on hand when the gates were opened. What followed can only be described as chaos as dozens rushed to get to the head of the line. People were trampled, shoved and pushed.
Starletta Wilson pointed to her child’s broken stroller, “Yeah, they pushed me, look at my child's stroller... they actually pushed me and stampeded over me. Those people who are down there now were behind us."
Dustin Coppinger, who attended the sale, said he saw an older man run over by anxious buyers, "An old man in a walker was trampled to the ground. Trampled to the ground... walked all over," he said.
Alice Jemerson was one victim who got trampled." Look at my knees. They ran on top of me. I just starting kicking the people," she said.
There were also heat problems as 17 people were treated for heat exhaustion. Four were taken to the hospital.
There were only 5 police on the scene when the gates were opened at 7 o’clock. Seventy additional officers were called in including 20 in riot gear. Twenty-two firemen were also needed.
Despite the chaos, Henrico County officials insist there was ‘adequate planning.’ Paul Proto with Henrico County General Services says in preparing for the event, “all that was necessary was done.”
Many who were there disagree. Steven Poor, who managed to get a laptop, said the problem was simple. “Just poor County management,” he said.
And a Henrico Police official told NBC12 News that Henrico General Services had been informed well in advance of the sale that the five off-duty officers that were retained wouldn’t be enough.
In four hours, the 1000 surplus computers had been sold.
Jeez, you mean you're surprised?!!
ReplyDelete~J
Just a little disappointed. There's no call for people to be that crazed over computers that outdated.
ReplyDeleteChecked out your blog. Nice skull!
Steve, the laptops may have been outdated, but they were only $50! A lot of people don't have the kind of money to buy any sort of decent computer, new or used. I will say, though, that this story shows the darker side of human nature. It seems to take very little for anarchy and mob rule to set in. It's a wonder that humankind was ever been able to move beyond the "hunter-gatherer" era.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt it was a great deal, but those people were nuts! There's no need to trample people to get a computer.
ReplyDeleteI begged an old-school laptop off of a friend of mine about to enter law school (laptop mandatory), because it was outmoded and she would need to replace it. I feel bad now because (as it was my first computer) I quickly realized its replacement, a generic table-top pc, was infinitely more usable (fast), and because it had originally cost her $2k.
ReplyDeleteIf you consider that these folks think they were getting some $1500 affair, with wireless and highest-speed-internet-imaginable, like they see advertised, the trampling makes a bit more sense...(okay, it doesn't, but that's the 'mob' in all of us)
'Laptop' translates to state-of-the-art in most people's minds. State-of-the-art is, in reality, what was built last Thursday.
There were shades of the Cabbage Patch Doll scuffles of 1984 in this near-riot. Instanly imagined two people beating each other over the head in a Kmart like space, except that the hairstyles were less hairsprayish and the phrase "OH I KNOW YOU DIDN'T" was probably in the air.
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