Black Friday crush no fun for anyone

Ever wonder what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a Black Friday shopping rush – you know, to work at, say, Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer or Macy’s as the mob busts through the door early in the morning? Blogger Bre Williams/To Blog Or Not To Blog was working one year in the photo lab of Moscow’s Wal-Mart when the dam broke the day after Thanksgiving. Bre: “Suddenly, I heard this low rumbling, rattling sound, and the sound kept growing louder and louder. And I saw one shopper come flying around the corner with her cart. … A swarm of shoppers followed suit and flew around the corner, two carts crashing into one another and causing a traffic jam.” The stampede swallowed “the boys in electronics” before heading for the checkout counter. Bre rushed to the cash registers to assist cuss-tomers. According to Bre, the electronics workers staggered from the bowels of their department hours later, “hair tussled, looking like they’d been run over by a truck. Their department was wiped out.” Her point? Be nice and thank the worker bees. You might be one of them someday.

Unassisted tackle

You probably know that a pushing and shoving match ensued when victorious WSU began dancing on the U-Dub logo after the Apple Cup. But did you know who tackled Coug footballer Brandon Asuega-Stark as he carried the Coug banner around Husky Stadium? Thanks to Jim Moore, a WSU fan and the Seattle PI’s Go 2 Guy, Huckleberries does. UW senior marketing major Jacob Esparza defended the Huskies’ honor by blind-siding Asuega-Stark. “He went down pretty easy for being a football player,” Esparza told the Go 2 Guy. “He got up and looked pretty much dumbfounded to me.” Esparza hadn’t had that much to drink either: “a little bit of beer and a few mixed drinks” at a tailgate party. P’haps the Huskies woulda won if he’d suited up?

Out of favor

First, you should know that there are two registered voters in Coeur d’Alene’s Precinct 61, a freak of the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course annexation. Then, you should know that Duane Hagadone’s Coeur d’Alene Press endorsed incumbent Mayor Sandi Bloem prior to her easy win in November’s city elections. Onward. Not only did the two voters not take Brand X’s advice on the mayor’s race, voting unanimously for underdog Joe Kunka, but they also, surprisingly, both ignored the paper’s recommendation and picked newcomer Steven Fox over incumbent Woody McEvers, the popular Rustler’s Roost owner who easily won re-election. So, what’s the big deal? According to the records of the Election Department, the two registered voters are Hagadone Hospitality partner Jerry Jaeger and his wife, Ellen. Seems Mayor Bloem fell out of favor with HHospitality by not supporting its push for a downtown garden last year. But what about the votes against Woody? Mebbe he burned Jerry’s soufflé years ago when he was learning to cook at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Sightem

In the busy Post Falls Wal-Mart parking lot earlier this month, a Berry Picker spotted a father racing around with an unstable grocery cart, with one young child in the cart seat and two others hanging from the sides. Wondered the BP: “How stupid can you get?” … And the answer to that question is – plenty. Consider the two rabid shoppers who were pushing their way into Fred Meyer at the opening bell on Black Friday, only to wind up talking to CPD Blue. Seems one cursed the other for cutting. And was socked. Do not pass the store door. Do not collect your cheap laptop … Ex-state senator Kent Bailey from Hayden was lucky he didn’t get poked at the recent GOP central committee meeting when he announced his intention to regain his seat by challenging incumbent Mike Jorgenson in the Republican primary next spring. Jorgenson was sitting next to Bailey at the time, smile frozen in place.

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “It’s a mighty long way/from Post Falls to Iraq,/but they did us all proud/and we welcome them back” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Welcome Back, Idaho Guard”) … And the answer is – “praying and evangelizing loudly.” The question? Why did unrepentant Bonner County Deputy Dawgs escort an Oldtown, Idaho, man home last Tuesday afternoon … Bumpersnicker (on an older pickup in Spokane): “The government’s motto: If it ain’t broke, fix it until it is” … Inscription on the back window of a black Ford Probe zooming east on I-90: “Boyfriend applications being accepted.” The gender of the driver was concealed by tinted windows … Quotable Quote: “Technically, we’re on a holiday, and we’re not going to send out any press releases until Monday” – Bonner County sheriff’s dispatcher on Black Friday when asked about a house fire. Your tax dollars in action.

Parting Shot

Then, there were the long faces of Fox 28 anchor Greg McKinney and his sidekick, Dana Haynes, Wednesday night as they watched their monitor as an unhappy worshipper punched Oklahoma pastor Billy Joe Daugherty in the face repeatedly. Actually, the hothead got one surprise punch off, but Fox 28 showed it over and over, prompting McKinney to say with faux sincerity: “I hope we don’t see that scene again.” They did. One more time. If it bleeds, it leads.