Article: Why I hate Virginia

A Richmond VA school was going to sell 1,000 of its used laptops for $50 a piece.

This somehow created a stampede:

An estimated 5,500 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the 4-year-old Apple iBooks. The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the computers to county residents. New iBooks cost between $999 and $1,299.

Officials opened the gates at 7 a.m., but some already had been waiting since 1:30 a.m. When the gates opened, it became a terrifying mob scene.

People threw themselves forward, screaming and pushing each other. A little girl's stroller was crushed in the stampede. Witnesses said an elderly man was thrown to the pavement, and someone in a car tried to drive his way through the crowd.

Oddly, this made me think of a good idea. The Red Cross should offer to sell off its used laptops for $50 a piece during its next blood drive. Then, after the stampede, it should announce that it will no longer sell the laptops because of the chaos. The police show up on cue and insist everyone must stay there in order to be questioned, a process that could take all day. Out of fear for being arrested, everyone gets in line to donate blood, insisting that's what they were originally there to do.

Just saying. Maybe the Army could do something similar during its next recruitment drive.