Two stories that news folks found both humorous and disturbing happened last Friday, the once-but-no-longer busiest shopping day of the year. In one case, a woman was trampled at a Wal-Mart by frenzied shoppers swarming for $29 DVD players (top of the line DVD players, no doubt). In another case there was video of a woman who decided that instead of queuing up in line outside a Toys-R-Us, she could wait in her car, then just as the store opened, cut in to the front of the line but was rebuffed by several of the women already in line. In both cases, the mob was portrayed as having bad behavior. While it is true in the DVD Player case, I vehemently disagree in the Toys-R-Us case.

I don't need to see overpaid anchormeat roll their eyes and tsk tsk the people in line for objecting to someone cutting in front of them. Of course, we're talking about anchormeat with egos who regularly expect to be upgraded to the front of the line or the best seat in the house, etc. These anchormeat have no concept on how regular lower-to-middle class working people live. Anyway, a small debate has popped up as to who is responsible for the trampling and to a lesser extent, the line jumper.

The larger issue is the decline of civility in American society.

The slightly-smaller-than-the-larger issue is the flawed concept of peer pressure or "Line Justice". In both cases, the businesses in question created a situation where a large group of people would assemble outside and then suddenly let loose into the store. Instead of taking the logical, appropriate action of having crowd control personnel judiciously tame the throng, the businesses instead relied on peer pressure to police the crowd. The idea is that most people are interested in order and fairness, so a majority of people in line will keep any troublemakers in order.

Unfortunately, the peer pressure concept is not as effective in society today as it was years ago. Most people no longer want to get involved. Few people want to rock the boat. Few people will risk confrontation while standing up for what is right. Couple that with the fact that the kind of person who will break the social order is generally self-centered, greedy and unconcerned with what other people say or think.

In the case of the DVD player, Wal-Mart created a situation where shoppers knew demand would outstrip supply. Maybe they had 50 DVD Players at each store for $29. The first 40-50 people in line would remain orderly and courteous. The next 100 people are well aware that their chances for a DVD Player were low. An animalistic nature set in which the DESIRE for a DVD player became the NEED for a DVD player. Greed takes over, the person acts in a self-centered fashion and when the doors are open, the other people in line are viewed as obstacles to their goal of a $29 DVD Player (Seriously…how good can these DVD players be at $29?).

In the case of the Toys-R-Us line jumper, Toys-R-Us created a similar situation where demand for the toys on sale would outstrip supply. Even if the woman in the car had originally been fourth in line, Line Justice says that in order to keep your place in line, you cannot leave. She decided to wait in her car and when the doors were flung open, scores of people who patiently waited in line watched as someone got out of their car and tried to cut in front of everyone. Peer Pressure did not affect this woman because she had a skewed, self-centered viewpoint on the rules of the line. Line Justice took over as several people who waited became angry that someone would try to rudely cut in front of them.

In both cases, the stores are 100% at fault. They created the situations and then exacerbated them by failing to police the crowds they attracted. This is why concerts and sporting events have security guards. This is why bars and clubs have bouncers. The clueless anchormeat can tsk tsk all they want, but the crowds were not to blame here.

One classic case of a business incorrectly assuming peer pressure will solve issues happens every day on the CTA. The CTA has a rule that prohibits eating on the trains & buses, but drivers rarely enforce the rule. The CTA expects that peer pressure from other riders will cause the offender to stop. Not. The CTA's "No Smoking" rule at EL stations is a joke. During the evening rush hour, you can go into the subway and witness people smoking right next to "No Smoking" signs and within view of Chicago Police officers (told not to enforce the rule). Again, the CTA wrongly believes that peer pressure from other riders will take care of the smoking problem. The CTA doesn't understand that our society is overwhelmingly self-centered.

We live in an age where hit and run accidents have become common. Few people surrender their seats to the disabled or elderly. The individual overshadows teamwork. Courtesy is expected but not returned. Manners are ridiculed, not taught. Most people believe they are the center of the world.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" has been replaced by "screw you, I'm gonna do what I want."