Sometimes the perfect gifts don't cost anything at all.Well, the Christmas buying frenzy has officially begun. Do I know because some stores opened today, Black Friday, at 4:00 a.m.? Do I know because some stores were open yesterday? Maybe I know because of the Christmas carols playing on loudspeakers and on the electronic bells at the church down the street. Nope.
I know because the traditional stampede for the good deals has happened yet again, this time with typical tragic results.
Jdimytai Damour's family will be celebrating the holidays without him this year and forevermore. This guy had the misfortune to work at a WalMart about 20 miles outside of Manhattan. As he was opening the doors at 5:00 a.m., the crowd surged into the store, knocking him to the ground and trampling him underfoot. At least four other people were taken to the hospital, including a woman who is eight months pregnant.
Who knows what deals those people were in line for? There's something wrong with people who are so desperate for a bargain that they will push and shove and run to get to their "must-buy" item ... and do it at 5:00 a.m. the day after the holiday on which Americans pause to give thanks for all we have.
What I just can't wrap my head around is that these people weren't in line for food or water or medicine that they had to have to live. They were in line for "stuff." They were waiting to spend their money on a TV, camera, computer, hot new toy, tool, or jewelry. You know: stuff.
Until people stop thinking of shopping as a sport, where the race (or bargain) goes to the swiftest or the toughest, the annual buying frenzy will go on. And each year, people will be hurt or even die, all for the sake of a "really great bargain."
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