Here’s a long but entertaining article on The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business of 2002. A few highlights:
Panic in the heartland, part 1: The crisis begins.
Outside a Wal-Mart (WMT) in the small town of Geneseo, Ill., a 73-year-old woman buys a newspaper and suddenly finds herself trapped when the door of the news rack slips closed and catches her coat. Unable to wriggle out, she solicits a bystander to enter the Wal-Mart and ask for help. A Wal-Mart employee comes out to explain that she can’t assist, citing a policy against tampering with the news rack.
Panic in the heartland, part 2: The tense negotiation.
After going back inside for a moment, the Wal-Mart employee comes out and tells the trapped woman that she’ll call the newspaper and have a representative come to release her. The woman suggests an alternative solution: Somebody could simply put two quarters in the machine and open the damn door. The Wal-Mart employee rejects this out of hand, explaining that the store can’t pay refunds for the news rack.
Panic in the heartland, part 3: The sweet taste of liberation.
Eventually the employee relents and puts two quarters in the machine. Later the liberated woman’s daughter visits the store and gives her a $5 bill to be used strictly to finance future releases. A Wal-Mart corporate spokesperson apologizes for the incident, saying, “This is not how we do business.”
Although #67 is pretty funny, too.
Those special memories that last forever.
In May, a day after the announcement of possible terror threats involving light aircraft, charter-plane company Wings Aloft flies a Cessna over Seattle to spread the ashes of a Mariners fan over the roof of Safeco Field. Instead of the elegiac dusting that was intended, the container detaches from the Cessna, smashes onto the stadium’s roof, and bursts into a powdery cloud that prompts the mobilization of a haz-mat team.
(via BoingBoing)