Durban - Forget road rage: trolley and mall rage has reared its ugly head as staff brace themselves for the last minute Christmas “war zone”.
Two women got into a brawl over a trolley outside a toy shop at the Liberty Midlands Mall, Pietermaritzburg, last week. One of the women pulled out a can of pepper spray and sprayed her opponent into submission.
The two women were eventually escorted out of the mall by security.
A witness, Shanti Naidoo, said she could not believe her eyes when she saw two well-dressed women, one with a toddler in tow, fighting over a trolley.
“The mall was congested and there was hardly any space to walk, and here these two ladies were scratching each other’s eyes out, pulling hair and hurling obscenities at each other.”
At the Brookside Mall, also in Pietermaritzburg, a woman and a man got into a verbal altercation over a parking spot on Saturday.
The two refused to budge over the spot, and as the drivers tried to get into the space, the cars smashed into each other.
Car guard, Sifiso Dube, said he had never seen anything like it.
“It was very busy. Cars were lined up in parking aisles waiting for an available space when these two drivers started fighting for a spot. They were both screaming at each other and neither wanted to leave. They both started edging into the space and then boom, their bumpers crashed,” Dube said.
Chris Chetty, a sales assistant at a mall in the city, said festive shopper rage was on the rise.
“People have no common courtesy anymore. Sales assistants are also at the receiving end of shoppers’ frustration because of the queues and congestion and we have to put our heads down and take it.”
Another retail shop manager, Margie Prinsloo, said malls became a war zone in the week leading up to Christmas.
“It’s every man, woman and child for themselves. Christmas shopping is only for the brave and the tolerant. If you have a short temper or are impatient, I suggest you stay home until after the new year,” Prinsloo said.
According to local conflict resolution therapist, Sandy Craig, people who find themselves at the mercy of their feelings over the festive shopping period, should jump into the e-shopping vortex.
“Online shopping is the easiest solution to avoid the craziness that has become Christmas shopping,” Craig said. It eliminated queues and parking lot trauma.
Daily News