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Holiday shopping is almost unavoidable, but if you're going to venture through malls during the holidays, try to be more courteous.

Thanksgiving and Christmas is a time for friends and family to come together, celebrate and appreciate one another along with everything else we have to be grateful for, but this may no longer be the case for our neighbours across the border.

In the United States, the public lines up, claws and pushes their way through crowds during the annual Black Friday sales to purchase materialistic objects at discounted prices with no regard for anyone else but themselves.

The idea that such a humble time of year has been turned it into something so selfish is not very surprising, but Canada has been lucky not to adopt the new found traditions of violence – yet.

Not to overlook previous Boxing Day-related incidents across Canada, but in comparison to the U.S. and being the kind-hearted Canadians that most of us are, we are lucky to have less commotion in regards to the annual sales hosted by retail stores.

“The [American] crowds seem to be overwhelming to the store staff and the chaos of the perceived sales create some issues,” said Terry Pimlatt, manager of Customer Service/Security and Life Safety at Masonville Mall.

“Boxing Day sees an increase in foot traffic from other days of the year which creates some parking issues, but there have been no injuries reported, nothing other than that.”

If one thing is for sure it is that these sales have become virtually synonymous with violence. The reports of injuries have become so common that a website by the name of blackfridaydeathcount.com is now tracking the number of deaths and injuries in connection with the consumer turmoil.

Since 2006 there has been a reported seven deaths and 90 injuries due to Black Friday-related incidents. The following are real life tragic events that demonstrate some people’s complete disregard towards others, for more information go to blackfridaydeathcount.com.

An incident occurred at a Walmart in Long Island back in 2008 when 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death.

The chaotic Black Friday stampede knocked over several employees while others scurried atop vending machines to avoid the flock.

When the madness ended, Damour was pronounced dead and four shoppers – including a pregnant woman – were injured.

Police officials claimed that the Walmart employee died due to a rampant mob of frenzied shoppers that smashed through the store’s front doors. Even officers who arrived to perform CPR on the trampled worker were stepped on by crazed shoppers rushing inside.

Now, don’t you remember when this time of year was celebrated by spending time with family, being kind, giving and sharing? I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy the discounted prices that stores put out to the public during this time of year, but at what point do we put our morals behind getting a good deal?

In 2011, while shopping at a Target store in West Virginia Vance collapsed and went almost unnoticed as customers continued to hunt for bargain deals and later died in a hospital.

Yet this was not the only incident to taint America’s biggest shopping day that year. In 2011, Huffington Post reported that one customer pepper sprayed shoppers over a video game while an exhausted Target worker accidentally drove her car into a canal after working the Black Friday midnight shift.

“We don’t have many incidents as we hear from the state,” said Const. Ken Steeves, media relations officer for London Police Services. “I’m not aware of anything in London that has even come close to that kind of thing. When we have our sales, of course it attracts larger numbers, but I don’t ever remember an incident that resulted in trampling and pushing and shoving and that kind of thing.”

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Buy Nothing Day is a protest to the growing issue of overconsumption across the globe.

During Black Friday and Boxing Day sales, people have been urged to take a stand and restrain from buying anything in hopes to show people the benefits of a lower-consumption lifestyle.

If you are hitting up the sales this year, be courteous to those around you. Remember what time of year it is. Keep the peace and enjoy the holidays.