The main thing missing from the other comments is that the Brawling didn’t become mainstream until the 2005 telecom bubble and the 2008 financial crisis. People are more willing to fistfight over hearing aid batteries when they have gone from prosperity to moderate financial discomfort within a year or two. Now things just suck in general. No point in punching aomeone over a flat-screen TV when you could be using that money for rent. I haven’t seen anything crazy happen on black Friday in years