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Americans have been lined up for days already, waiting patiently outside malls and major retailers in eager anticipation of the annual Black Friday sales, ready to grab consumer goods for slight discounts from their secretly inflated prices, because this is the economy now.

Missing Thanksgiving dinner and freezing to near-death does not a happy customer make, and so, quite often, stores descend into pure madness once the doors open. A recent Reddit thread collected many nightmare memories from Black Fridays past earlier this week, and we've selected some of the best/most awful stories as a note of warning/sociological study.

Enjoy?