The good news is that we’re not showcasing any physical Black Friday Fights in these two videos–although there’s no shortage of Black Friday Brawls out there. We’re skipping the fisticuffs and just going into really uncomfortable confrontations here. These two fine videos are both from Pennsylvania, but we’re going to assume that every state is having these kinds of problems as we continue our grim trek through the Thanksgiving weekend. [photo: Andrew Toth/Getty]
We’ll concede that the guy in this Stolen Valor video seems kind of creepy–but we’re not really going to judge a real military veteran who catches a guy pretending to be a Ranger while out shopping at the Oxford Valley Mall on a Black Friday. Is there some kind of special shopping privileges that come with shopping in a military uniform? We wouldn’t know. As noted, that’s why we’re not going to judge this guy for being so outraged at catching this guy in his fake fatigues….
This other one has us feeling a lot more conflicted. On the one hand, we really hate the notion of standing in line to show a receipt. You don’t have to do that. It’s an assumption of guilt. We have, in fact, often explained that to a few security guards when we didn’t feel like wasting one precious minute standing in line to produce a receipt for our purchases.
We still like to think we wouldn’t get as dramatic as the guy in this video–who’s allegedly a Pennsylvania cop himself, and who won’t shut up over his moral outrage at being asked to show his receipt. Before it’s over, Mike Brown and Ferguson is getting invoked while some poor cop just looks bemused. Mostly, it’s a reminder to really stay home on Black Friday. Check this out yourself, though. Maybe we’re missing the broader sociological point, or maybe it’s just fun to watch mutual idiocy in engagement….
