Saturday, November 29, 2008

The Inevitable Happened.


Each year Black Friday has become progressively worse. The total lack of respect for others becomes more evident. The greed of people is amazing and the total apathy became crystal clear in Long Island, New York, where a Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death shortly after the store opened. The picture you see here was taken minutes before the store opened. The worker, 34 year old Jdimytai Damour, was a member of the maintenance crew. Police are trying to identify shoppers involved but it will be extremely difficult.

One sad thing about this is when I heard the news I really wasn't surprised. I have witnessed some of these rushes and people are so focused on what they want they don't pay attention to anything but what they want. What a way to celebrate a season that is supposed to be about caring and sharing with your fellow man. People were actually mad when they cleared the store. They complained because they had waited so long. It was just too bad that someone died. I have read several news stories and have read the comments people have had about this incident. Of course Wal-Mart gets blamed as usual. This could have happened at any other major retailer but it is Wal-Marts fault. Some believe stores shouldn't open earlier than usual. As usual, the fault always belongs somewhere else. Is it too much to ask for a little civility among human beings? Have the words please, thank you, and excuse me been excised from peoples vocabularies? What about remorse? Someone should come forward and say that they were part of the crowd. One person cannot be blamed for this tragedy, but those responsible should be punished for their actions. My heart goes out to the family of Mr. Damour. When we are celebrating Christmas on December 25, his family will be reliving this tragedy.

There was a second incident on the west coast where two men shot each other in a Toys 'R' Us in Palm Desert, California. Evidently their women got into a fight and the men drew on each other. Fortunately no one else was shot. Hopefully people will see what is going on and start treating one another better. Let's all remember the meaning of this season and start showing it.

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