{∅, {∅}, {∅, {∅}}} : Rage Against the Meat Grinder

It was supposed to be the start of the peak Christmas shopping season. But across Britain yesterday, stores were left looking more like a battlefield as Black Friday frenzy took hold. Shoppers fought – in some cases literally – to get the best bargains.
At Asda’s flagship store in Wembley, a smartly dressed young woman clung frantically to a 40in Polaroid TV which had been reduced by £80 as a group of young teens tried to wrestle it away from her.
Witnesses told how bargain-hunters behaved ‘like animals’ and likened scenes to ‘a war zone’ as police were called to restore order at many stores, including Tesco branches in Edmonton, Willesden and Surrey Quays in London.


Queues had formed before midnight as many retailers, who had heavily advertised Black Friday savings, opened early.
But police were called to a Tesco in Wigan at 11.37pm on Thursday - before it had even opened- after reports that several hundred people were trying to break down the doors before the official midnight opening time.
Another Tesco store, in Manchester, had to be closed just 36 minutes after opening due to fighting, while another customer was arrested on suspicion of assault in the Salford branch after allegedly telling a staff member that he would 'smash their face in'.
Two other customers were arrested for public order offences by officers in Manchester, who dealt with some of the worst scenes of violence on the biggest day of discount shopping in the year.
As the discounting frenzy reached fever pitch, there were also reports of staff being left in tears in Cardiff, while another female staff member was apparently given a black eye following a melee in Stretford. 


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Walmart workers are staging protests in front of the stores across the nation on Black Friday morning. The unofficial consumer holiday is the most important day of the year, when Walmart workers and their supporters are hoping to bring to attention their low wages, part-time schedules and unfair treatment.

“That’s a huge business day, so yes, you always have to work on the holidays. That’s a given,” said Marie Kanger-Born, a Walmart worker from Chicago, Illinois. “That’s not our big issue. Our issue is what goes on in the stores every single day. The thing is that’s their big day – that might be the only day we can get their attention.”

Sometimes all I have money for is a can of tuna and crackers

This year’s protests by Walmart workers will kick off on Thanksgiving with a 24-hour fast by 12 protesters. The fast, which is protesting the hunger suffered by some Walmart workers who can’t afford food, will be staged outside a Los Angeles store.

One of the workers participating in the fast is Richard Reynoso, an overnight stocker at the Duarte, California store. Reynoso is one of those workers who cannot afford to purchase three meals a day. As a result, he only eats once a day on his lunch break.

“Sometimes all I have money for is a can of tuna and crackers,” he said.