Sorry about no post yesterday. My computer and Xanga were not speaking to each other.
Speaking of yesterday….
Black Friday is my least favorite day of the year. I feel there’s a reason more people kill themselves during the holiday than any other time of year. I’d be willing to bet my life savings (as small as it is), that the majority of people who kill themselves are probably in retail.
Speaking of retail related deaths, yesterday a man was killed by a shopping mob in a Walmart. I really don’t think I can adequately convey how utterly disgusted and horrified I am by this! Everyone who went shopping yesterday should be ashamed, whether or not you went first thing in the morning, but ESPECIALLY if you happened to be part of this crowd and COMPLAINED about leaving the store after MURDERING someone as you DESPERATELY sought a bargain. WTF people. You disgust me. If you don’t understand what is wrong with this kind of behavior then I revoke your right to be called human. Whether or not you were part of this mob, you were still part of the mob that descended upon shopping centers yesterday like a swarm of rabid locusts. You played right into the hands of the retailers, and you have no consideration for anyone but yourselves.
Yeah, I know I’m generalizing and not everyone is a bad shopper on Black Friday, but think about it! Crap people! They lead you around by your noses with these sales. They control you on this day. On this day, more than any other, you are nothing but a number. You are nothing but a zombie, a blind consumer. I suggest everyone take away the power of big business and boycott Black Friday sales from this day forward. There’s no excuse for pushing in the doors of a Walmart and trampling someone in search of sales. I know our economy is crap, but I like to think a human life is more important than a frikkin bargain!
Look, I didn’t even know this guy, and chances are that no one who reads this knew this man, but he’s everyone of us. That could just as easily have been me or you or someone we do know. How much do you want to bet that there will be no accountability here? Who will his family sue? The Walmart? Hardly. No matter how much Walmart has fostered a sale-minded culture, it’s not their fault a zombie horde busted their doors down.
Look, it may seem like I’m cutting my own throat here since I work in retail myself, but you really need to boycott Black Friday, everywhere. If you have any regard for human life, you need to boycott Black Friday. Don’t let poor Jdimytai Damour’s death be in vain. If nothing else, this should teach us that our culture has gone too far in terms of the holiday shopping frenzy.
Buy from catalogs. Buy from the internet. Buy throughout the year so you are done shopping by now. But never, ever go to a store on Black Friday. You take your life into your own hands, and worse, you become a component in the death of retail workers throughout the country. Whether first hand through mob indifference, or second hand by suicide, you are responsible for this and other deaths if you shop on Black Friday. If you have never worked in retail, you probably think I’m being melodramatic. Everyone else…. you know where I’m coming from.
To the family of Jdimytai Damour, I am so very sorry that this happened. I wish I could do something more than this blog. I hope that Walmart at least makes some kind of outreach to you over what happened, that they take some responsibility for his death. Even though legally they will probably not be held accountable, they are still responsible from a moral standpoint. That mob would never have been at their doors if they had not encouraged their behavior with their sales. I think I can speak for any retail worker who heard about this crime yesterday when I say that our hearts go out to you. I feel like someone in my own family was killed.
November 28th (yesterday)
The 13th day of Tybi was a Feast of Hathor and Sekhmet. This is the Day of prolonging life and the goodness of Ma’at.
November 29th (today)
A festival of the sons of Saturn in their saintly guise as St. Saturnius. Saturnius, “son of Saturn,” was a name taken up by Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto.
In Rumania, strigoii (vampires) leave their tombs and return to their former homes. Garlic is hung by the windows and doors to keep them out. Failing to find victims, the strigoii will fight among themselves before returning to their graves.
Comments (7)
It is difficult, no, impossible, to fathom the mindset of anyone who would stand in line for a sale much less trample a guy in a mindless frenzy. And for what? Plastic technologies and baubles made in China by oppressed workers.
Be grateful you are on a higher spiritual plane~
Blessings~
I avoid Black Friday like the plague. I’ve never worked in retail (well, I did work at Dillard’s for about a week in high school–AND THAT WAS LONG ENOUGH), but I totally agree with you. I’m not going to allow some sales to lead me into an emotional frenzy of concumerism. Like wtf? Some people must have really empty lives, that’s all I have to say about that.
PS–now I need to go buy garlic for the strigoii.
I have never and will never shop on Black Friday. It’s not worth it. I was stunned to find out about this poor soul yesterday. It’s nuts. What the hell is wrong people? Last year an elderly couple leaving Toys R’ Us with their purchases were murdered in the parking lot for their purchases. There was shootings over the latest/greatest electronic gizmo that was limited in supply. What? The manufacturer didn’t know that the holidays were coming? This year, in Palm Desert, 2 people took out guns at a Toys R’ Us and shot each other dead. They’re not sure whether it was shopping or personally related but give me a break… when is it ever a good idea to pull out a gun and use it at a store? Personally, if that’s their mentality then I’m glad that they’re out of the gene pool.
I worry for people that I know will be shopping on Black Friday. I don’t know whether they will make it back home or not. And for what? A good bargain? No bargain is worth endangering your life for.
I tend to shop more online at the holidays. No muss, no fuss… unless your order gets screwed up… which really is kind of rare… even at the holidays. I’m for boycotting Black Friday… and Wal*Mart. Wal*Mart just on general principal. I don’t like their practices, their corporate breaks, and they don’t stimulate our economy… they stimulate China’s economy. My hubben and I don’t shop there and we won’t. Just say no to Black Friday and Wal*Mart… that’s my motto.
I may shop on line on Black Friday. But I do not go out to the stores. It is too crazy.
very interesting about the vampires. I never knew that.
everyone at my store was talking about this today. mostly because it could happen anywhere. but the fact that they broke into the store ahead of time. not even waiting to be let in. they broke in. thankfully my store is open 24/7 and that couldn’t happen here. although even though we were open i was a little scared for my life at one point during the day. i say a little because we had to force people out of my department because of busting lines. i actually had a body guard and another guy managing the people coming in my department.
today wasn’t much better. today was withdrawl day.
it is insane.
I have assiduaously avoided shopping on “black Friday” for many years now. (what a wierd name for holiday shopping, eh?” I can’t stand the crowds & the stupidity, greed & insanity that is present.
I was appalled when I read of the “riot” at the NY Walmart that took the young man’s life & even more so disgusted when I read that people were complaining that they had to leave the store due to this horrible death “because they’d stood in line for x # of hours” Get a grip, people!!! Geez!
Peace…….AbbeyC
My last job before I went full-time mommy was in a store that sold Hallmark, Books, had a cafe and also *gasp* sold those damnable Beanie Babies. I was the customer service chick. Sucked very much bad. Having done my time in retail, I know what to expect and I NEVER go out on Black Friday unless I am starving and there’s nothing to eat in the house. And even then I consider satisfying my hunger with paper towels and used coffee grounds until daybreak Saturday.
My memory on this also frequently wanders back to the early 80s and the news stories about people trying to beat each other to death over Cabbage Patch Kids and Transformers. That was the first time I realized how insane Black Friday is.