Today is Black Friday in the United States. The day after our Thanksgiving holiday. The day retailers often offer the best sales of the year.
Today at a Wal-Mart in Long Island, NY, a crowd of shoppers literally broke open the doors, taking them off their hinges, and trampled a Wal-Mart employee to death. Another employee was also knocked down and had to battle people to get them off of his back.
A few feet away from the dying employee, a pregnant woman was knocked to the ground. When the paramedics arrived, they explained, "there's nothing we can do. The baby is gone." [UPDATE: I'm happy to report that according to this CNN article, the mother did not miscarry.]
All the while, people kept pouring into the store. [UPDATE: People were even knocking into the police trying to render first aid.]
People... Is there really anything so important at Wal-Mart that you just have to be one of the first people through the doors? Is saving $35 on a digital picture frame worth killing someone over?
It seems absolutely disgusting when you're sitting at your computer reading a blog entry about it. But I'm sure you've all been there. You've all had a time when you've been so focused on what you wanted that you were completely ignorant of what was going on around you.
Chances are, you're part of the problem. Shame on you.
Don't get me wrong -- those directly involved with today's trampling are pathetic excuses for human beings. They don't get a free pass by blaming their actions on society.
Those shoppers today ended two lives a life so they could save a few bucks. And every year the victim's family will spend two months getting constantly bombarded with media hype, posters, ads, and commercials reminding them of what it was that killed their loved ones -- people's greed. Long after today's purchases today are outdated, discarded and forgotten, that man and that child will still be dead.
The greatest gift of all is life. An expecting mother was about to bring that miracle into the world. Shoppers robbed her of that. Shoppers robbed the employee of that gift just so they could save a few bucks.
And yes, shame on them. But how many of you got out early this morning and packed yourselves into stores like sardines? How many of you avoided shopping today due to crowds? This could have just as easily happened where you live.
The problem is that we're a society of hypocrites -- we tell our children that Thanksgiving and Christmas are about taking care of one another, and yet once money's involved, we're all out for ourselves.
That's greedy, and it's selfish. Sorry if hearing it makes you uncomfortable, but perhaps it's time you took a look at your own attitudes while you're out shopping this year.
See, attitudes are contagious. If only we had enough people looking at how they treat others, this frantic mob shopping mentality we seem to have developed might give way to something that's more in line with what we say we're like during the holidays.
So I challenge you to do the following from now on:
ATTITUDES ARE CONTAGIOUS.
Some of you may already be doing this. That's great. But as a whole, we're not doing it enough. Here's the catch -- If you have to stop and think before you do this, you're not doing this enough. This should be second nature. It should be natural. It shouldn't require thought.
People, this isn't hard. It doesn't take much to change the world we live in. It takes a very, very small amount of action by a large number of people. It's a simple concept. Don't refuse to do your part just because nobody else is -- that's the problem. Have the integrity to do the right thing, even when others don't. They'll catch on.
Let's put the jerks, the cretins, and the monsters back in the minority. Let's take our happiness back.
Thanks to Amazon.com and other online shopping options, I will never set foot in a store on Black Friday. No way. I bought a ton of gifts online, with free shipping, and most of the prices were the same, or cheaper, than in stores.
I order a lot online too, but I also enjoy getting out to the malls, browsing from store to store, seeing the decorations, etc.
Of course, Wal-Mart is not included in that description.
…an additional note:
I want to point out that I don’t necessarily have a problem with people who camp out for things. I camped out for a Wii. I camped out for Star Wars movie tickets (back before online ordering was around and before we knew the movies would suck).
That’s not the issue. It’s the old “everyone push the person in front of you into the door” mentality, much like the “festival seating” at music concerts I remember hearing about when I was a child. Same thing — everybody wanted to rush to the front, and they ended up stampeding people to death.
Great article Erik! This was truly a tragedy that speaks volumes about the ignorance and stupidity that has infected a great deal of the population these days. I mean, how hard is it to tell that you are stepping on another human being!
Everyone please take this to heart and like Erik said…make the types of behavior he listed second nature in your life. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Also…I would hope that the majority of people reading this site have the intelligence that is above the mob mentality shown today. However, showing others thru better behavior is the best way for them to learn…go forth and teach! ;)
One more thing to add to the list…
When you use a shopping cart do one of the following (at last the last one)
1. take it back into the store…again, the exercise will do you good and it helps the employees.
2. On your way back with said cart, if someone is heading in, offer it to them…saves you some of that walk and is just plain nice.
3. When you return the cart to the stall outside…notice i didn’d say when you leave the cart in the parking place next to you(grrr)…push it into the others as best you can…they stack into each other for a reason.
Sorry about that last bit…big pet peeve.
Anyway, my prayers go out to the family of the deceased and to those that were part of this tragedy whether they were aware or not.
ClydeFrog
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