I am writing in response to the article “Playstation 2 mob enrages Wal-Mart customers.” Blame for the chaos should not be directed at the manager, but at the mob and ultimately Sony Electronics.

I work in a supervisory role at the Wal-Mart in question. How many people in the article have ever managed a retail store, let alone a drooling mob of 100 people, one fifth of whom are going to get what they want?

Obviously, it’s not an easy thing to do. I have worked with Mrs. Culvin for about a year, and she has done a very respectable job managing the store.

Furthermore, I don’t think there was a better decision than to move the line. Bringing the 21 sacred Playstations from one end of the store to another would only have created MORE chaos – every man for himself, wrestling the boxes out of each other’s hands.

We should be reminded of who the police were called to control. The manager? No, the unruly mob who CHOSE to make what could have been a very orderly reorganization a mess that led to injuries and people feeling disappointed that their God-given right to play video games instead of sleeping and doing homework had been infringed upon.

What is at the core of this disappointment? Not Wal-Mart, but Sony. Their marketing strategy, while effective from a business point of view, left many people with empty hands. Wal-Mart did not choose to get only 21 Playstations to sell (the initial order was actually cut in half), but were only allotted this number.

That is not a logical philosophy for a retail store. It’s basic economics that anytime demand exceeds supply, there will be a frenzy for the product in question. To make a machine touted as the next wave of the video game era and then make very limited initial shipments of the product creates an enormous amount of publicity, as shown by the front page article on the subject.

In conclusion, I find it laughable that adults could take this video game so seriously. It’s entertainment, which is not a basic human need, no matter which commercials tell you otherwise.

I wonder how Nick Healy, so adamant in his denouncing of Mrs. Culvin’s decision, got his ticket? By walking to the other side of the store in an orderly fashion? I’m sure. For all of you folks who didn’t get your beloved Playstations, I weep for you, and congratulations to Betsy Culvin for a job well done.

Dan GreenfieldFreshmanPre-medicine and psychology