WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES
Wow! What a difference a day makes. No better illustration of this time-worn saying exists at this moment, than in the crushing death of a Wal-Mart employee in Valley Stream on Long Island on Friday. For 34 year-old Jdimytal Damour of Queens, New York, a day made the difference between life and death. It's difficult to fathom, isn't it, that there would be any position at Wal-Mart that could be considered life-threatening? While it may have been business-as-usual on Thursday, at 5:00 a.m. on Friday, nearly 2,000 frantic shoppers were festering just outside the doors, waiting for the traditional great sales that are the life-blood of Black Friday. This Friday turned darker than expected when the crowd surged through the entryway, crushing the door like an accordion, and then literally stampeding over Damour, who was pronounced dead an hour later at a nearby hospital.
The obvious tragedy notwithstanding, these events always make me want to hide my head under a paper bag to keep from being recognized as an American. Imagine how the world loves a story of an American being trampled to death by a crowd of marauding shoppers. And it is ridiculous and deserves mocking. Not the death, just the complete and utter indifference to another human being shown by a crowd of virtual zombies, who continued to step over Damour as they went into the store to shop, and then were irritated and indignant when told by police that they had to leave. The store was then closed for several hours while an investigation took place.
Never mind the fact that this is the beginning of the Christmas Season when, ostensibly, we all warm to each other, try to be a little kinder. What the hell happened to any sense of dignity in this country? Is this what we've become, so self-absorbed that even a death occurring right before our eyes, does not cause us to take a breath? As a parent, I shudder, not only at the thought of such a senseless death, but equally at the behavior of the people involved. It is alarming. Imagine someone you love...a sister, a brother, husband or wife, being the victim of this stampede. Could you ever, ever, reconcile yourself with the events and the aftermath?
I certainly understand wanting, and needing, to save money. I will also admit that I would never stand in line for hours, in a huge crowd, through the night, waiting to shop. I wouldn't do it for a free TV. I also think that there is something about the chaos of these events which is attractive to some people. There could be no other explanation, because it is, at least a little, a kind of odd behavior. I understand that it may be a tradition for some people, a sort-of "ringing in" of the holiday season, and that's great. I confess my bias as someone who doesn't like to shop under any circumstances and also does not care for crowds, chaos and frenzy.
I am also someone who will never, in a million years, understand what would compel a crowd of what are most likely otherwise decent people, to stampede, literally like cattle, through a building and over a person, simply to be the first one to get 40% off on an HD TV. These "Christmas Crushing Deaths" are becoming a tradition in themselves when you stop and think about it. I'm not sure where they fit in with "Jingle Bells", but I wouldn't be surprised if they changed the ending of "It's A Wonderful Life"..."listen, Daddy...every time a bell rings, a person just get crushed."
Karl From New Hampshire