deals to die for?

In this, the season of generosity and thanksgiving, we live in a country where a man was killed in a shopping frenzy. In the midst of an economic recession, an employee was trampled to death at 5 a.m. opening the doors to a New York Wal-Mart, America’s notorious bargain junk warehouse.

Imagine you are a 34 year old man. After a day of giving thanks with family, you wake up early to “kick off” the holiday shopping frenzy. You arrive at work around 4:30 a.m., an hour unfit for much of anything and find that the customers have beat you there, some bundled in sleeping bags, some huddled together for warmth, others just waiting to beat down the doors.

The frost is starting to re-form on the windshields of the cars around you as you pull in to park. You mumble greetings to your co-workers, none too thrilled to be there, and the frenzy in the eyes of the customers in the line stretching beyond your sight is a reminder that it is going to be a long day.

Residual cheer from the day before encourages you to volunteer to open the store. As you make your way to the double glass doors, the number of people you see on the other side is overwhelming. “At least the sales will take some of the pressure off,” you think to yourself as you paint the greeter’s smile across your chapping lips.

The click of the lock opening is the last sound you hear as the roar of the crowd rises up and approaches you. That click reverberates in your ear as you are pummeled by shattered glass, shouting voices, rumbling carts and thunderous footsteps pouring across the threshold.

The wave hits and knocks you to the ground and you hear your shout join the cacophony of panicked screams. In the sea of bodies, noises and colors, it is impossible to determine what hit you and where, but the panic has turned to pain and it is getting harder to breathe. As the pain drowns out the chaos that surrounds you, you catch the chorus of a remake of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” meant to welcome the customers with holiday cheer.

A woman’s elbow violently wipes the lone tear that falls as you picture the faces of your family gathered around the plentiful meal whose remnants you brought for lunch, but will never eat.

This is America- land of the spree, home of the mall. This is the season of joy and charity. For this man’s family, “Black Friday” takes on a different meaning as they don the mournful color and gather again, this time not in thanks, but in remembrance of a man who gave his life in the battle for a better bargain.

As we are all subjected to America’s sales, discounts and the pursuit of materialism, I urge you to pause for a moment, take a deep breath and be grateful. Despite the hard economic times, we have many things to be thankful for- our lives for one.