Black Friday: Competitive Shopping Edition

Another Black Friday rolls in and along with the traditional tramplings of the bargain hunting shoppers, this year ushers in a new twist, deploying pepper spray to gain a competitive edge. An still unidentified woman casually spritzed the shoppers at a Walmart store in order to keep them at bay long enough to grab the best bargains ahead of the horde.

Meanwhile at various other Walmarts around the country, there were fist fights, shootings and other forms of mayhem commited by consumers intent on grabbing those $3 waffle irons and $10 Wii games.

But the pepper-spraying wasn't confined to aggressive shoppers. Off duty cops hired by Walmart were taking their crowd control duties very seriously. At one store a cop pepper-sprayed the customers and then arrested a former cop for mentioning this probably wasn't a great idea.

Gordan Jackson, 58, a former police officer in Kinston, was arrested and now faces one count of disorderly conduct. Donnie Jackson, Gordan's son, was also there. ... Jackson says he didn't do anything wrong, only that he told a police officer that children were in the area and they shouldn't be using pepper spray.

When Gordan Jackson approached an officer about spraying the crowd, the officer asked him to leave. When Gordan, who said he has a slight hearing impairment, asked for clarification of that order from the officer, he was put into cuffs.

Kinston police said they made the arrest because the man did not immediately comply with an order from an officer.

But the highlight of the day, or rather low point, was this shopper who was bodyslammed onto the concrete floor, face first for trying to save his grandson from being trampled. Apparently, the man stuck an electronic game into his waistband so he could pick up the kid. The cop slammed him into the ground to prevent him from potentially shoplifting the merchandise. Apparently no one told him it's customary to wait until the person actually tries to leave the store without paying before you assume they're stealing the item.

Capitalism at work folks. No doubt, just as the baby Jesus would have wanted. Cue the Christmas carol, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."