So some dude was killed in a mad rush of people breaking down the door to get at the bargains at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, NY. That's Long Island, Naasau County which is not a poor working class or hillbilly neighborhood.
I'd like to say that this is an isolated incident and doesn't represent America as a whole especially since I've been feeling so good about my fellow Americans since Nov. 4, but can we? Does the quest for cheap flat screen TVs, low priced DVDs, digital cameras and similar products not represent the norm? Couldn't what happened in Valley Stream have happened anywhere in America? I dunno, I'd like to think that people around here would have been much too courteous to their fellow human being to let one get trampled under-foot. . . but I digress.
Yes, this does represent the sick and festering condition that is American consumerism. No one is ever satisfied. There is a constant need and craving for the next thing to acquire. It drives people away from their reality. They live for the future acquisition of material goods and as a result they're completely missing the only thing that is real. "But SagaciousOne, my 10.4 mega pixel large format extrasuperduper groovy digital camera IS real." Sorry Charlie, but the only thing that is real is where you stand right now and what you are doing right now. Your big screen TV, DVDs, game systems and all the other bullshit you use to transport yourself someplace else is all fantasy and illusion. The real world is passing by you without you even having a brief moment of consciousness about it.
We have a society that is fixated on creating for themselves a life (if you want to call it that) of illusion. It's so sad. I fear it will destroy the Earth. . . or at least western civilization.
What kind of holiday season will the family of the man who was trampled to death have this year and every year from now on?
Will justice be done? Will people be arrested for trampling another human being and tried for murder? Surely they have store video tape of the whole thing going down.
the horror
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9 comments:
I too wonder if there will be any prosecutions. Identifying the guilty is one problem, the crime is another. If murder isn't pursued for some, then good samaritan laws may apply. The problem is, how can you establish intent or knowledge for a lot of these people that trampled or walked by him?
With apologies to anyone who may fall in this category, but anyone who willingly goes out to shop at 5am the day after Thansgiving is a fucking lunatic. Myself, I NEVER shop on Black Friday. Granted, I never shop...the wife takes care of that, mostly over the internet, and mostly well before the holiday season. And I count myself outside of the excess consumerism of our culture. I don't need any gifts, Christmas is for kids.
You nailed it, Sagacious, when you said, "Your big screen TV, DVDs, game systems and all the other bullshit you use to transport yourself someplace else is all fantasy and illusion. The real world is passing by you..."
Good Lord, that was magnificent. Thumbs up!
I have never and will never join the ranks of Black Friday shoppers. I have read that they are reviewing store video to try and find someone responsible for this young man's death. Who do you charge? The first one to knock him down or the 1000 that stepped on him rushing to satisfy their greed? What a quandary - but someone needs to be held accountable.
Arroz, Mom, Yes, prosecution will take some work, but surely those who stepped on the guy should be held accountable.
And yea, I can't imagine going out there on a shopping expedition against thousands of other fellow human beings. . . for the celebration of Christmas. Actual insanity.
Kit, I think I need to begin only blogging about what I truly believe in.
Sagacious: I'm lost. I don't understand why someone would brave huge crowds and all-around bedlam at one of these stores--especially given their reputation for treating their employees so bad and for selling poison stuff from China-- at 5 or 6 in the morning. It's hard for me to fathom.
Like most of the commenters, I can't understand the Black Friday phenomenon. I bought only 2 things: a bottle of water for the ride home and a loaf of good bread for my honey, who can't get good bread where he's living now.
I also think it's sad. We're trying to fill our lives with these illusions so that we feel we have meaning.
I'm finally at the place where people ask me what I want for Christmas and I can say "I don't know. I have everything I want or need." I have friends and family, a roof over my head and all the "stuff" I need or want. Sure, my stereo is older than the hills, and my clothes aren't the latest designer fare. but why would I need that? I feel blessed as I am.
Daddy, I hear ya. It's not like they're getting good deals on high quality American products. . . Wal-Mart junk is what they were acting like barbarians over.
Yes, I think it is beyond comprehension for people who are not insane.
Just when I was beginning to think it was safe to go outside. . .
Laurel, I bought a gallon of milk, some veggies and a loaf of rye bread. Does that make me a "black friday shopper?"
There were more people killed on Friday in the US than in 30 days in Iraq.
"There were more people killed on Friday in the US than in 30 days in Iraq."
Are you talking about American deaths in Iraq or all fatalities in Iraq? The former would be likely, the latter not.
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