Black Pepper Friday

The Sound of Sgt Pepper

Last week when Lieutenant Pike was demoted to Sgt Pepper he instantly became fodder for the internet practice of meming (photo-shopping current events into a parody image). From fascist pig to laughing stock overnight is quite an amazing transformation even in these speed-of-light, world-wide-web times.

You would think people would get the message that pepper spray is a social no-no in non-hostile situations. But then shopping at Wal-Mart on Black Friday could be considered hostile.

Late last evening, in an L.A. Wal-Mart, 20 customers were subjected to pepper spray, not from law-enforcement or over-eager security guards, but from a fellow shopper protecting her turf.

If seems that when the covering was lifted from a stack of electronics, a female shopper whipped out her pepper spray to hold the crowd at bay while she snagged the object of her frenzied shopping eyes.

In the ensuing melee, nearly two dozen customers were injured, many from “rapid crowd movement.” Police are still searching for the competing pepper sprayer. Those not affected by the spray continued their late night shopping excursion.