Thanksgiving and Then What?

I remember learning in school that America was divided into three classes: the lower, middle and upper class. We all strived to get to the middle class, the signal that we had arrived, fulfilling the American dream.

We don't talk very much about classes any longer, and I don't miss that.

But, we do talk about the two Americas, and that hurts.

Our "Red States" and "Blue States" define the divide in basic primary colors.

In California, the maps of the counties that voted for and against Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage was as distinctive as the red and blue states, but most graphic portrayals were in black and white.

The really good America was in full force yesterday. Here in Los Angeles, I saw the wonderful "Father Dollar Bill," the loving name given to Reverend Maurice Chase, who hands out dollar bills (with inflation, now hundred dollars bills sometimes) to homeless and needy people in Downtown L.A. His benefactors range from those who used to need his donations to Bob and Ginny Newhart, Dolores Hope, Barbara Sinatra and Eli Broad. Right nearby are the Skid Row missions and shelters, which serve thousands of healthy Thanksgiving meals to anyone who needs them. The expressions on the faces on the children, senior citizens and everyone else are priceless. It was also encouraging to hear that there were more volunteers than ever before donating their time to prepare and serve the meals.

And, then, this morning, on the aptly named Black Friday, the first national story of the day was that an employee at a Walmart in Valley Stream, New York, was, as CNN told me, "trampled by a mob of morning shoppers." There were also reports of shoppers being injured.

I understand political differences. I worship those who donate their time and money to help others. I have no words for the concept of shoppers trampling a store employee and fellow shoppers to make the most of Black Friday.

Comments

[masslass]

This whole Black Friday thing is pretty much a new thing over the past few years. The day after Thanksgiving was always a shopping day the the hoopla of recent times is off the charts. Opening the stores at 5AM- for what? They can't put the same thing on sale at say -8AM? This is a creation of retailers- look at all the free advertising, the weather girl is out at a Walmart, or a mall talking to the crowd. The media has been duped into believing that this is a story- and the public gets duped into thinking it's necessary.
How many times have you gone to a store with about 20 check out lines and found that only a few are open? Why don't these store shorten their hours and utilize the staff and their marketing space in a more efficient fashion. It would save energy, it may make for a busier store during some parts of the day- but really - how much business happens berween 9 and 10? As for the convenience of the consumer- well like our new president says we all have to sacrifice. Plan your shopping a little differently. We have to rethink how we do things-especially regarding consumerism. Let's change some things and then maybe a poor Walmart workers death won't be in vein.

[Born2Lose]

Happy Holidays 8journey8!- Thank you for your opinion. I respect it & appreciate it. I am proud that we live in a country where our opinions-yours, mine, & Mrs. Spelling's-is free to have. No disrespect my fellow opinionator however...Yes, Mrs. Spelling (the blogger) is assuredly wealthy. Humor me & play devils advocate for a moment-->Ever been the kid that was born to lose? You know the one that everyone always reminds that you are nothing, have nothing, & come from nothing?...Believe me there's nothing more severe than this constant echoing reminder..Safe to say the kid doesn't deserve to be badgered for what life has given him..no? Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd like to think the blogger doesn't deserve to be reminded of her economic status when she has simply stated a compassionate prevailing view. Indeed, I do not recall reading anything from in the blog itself that spoke of banning anything...Sometimes it is easy to confuse the comments with the original hue of the blog. Thanks for listening. Wishing you all the best. -Born2Lose...P.S. I totally agree--"Murder IS a real stretch"!

[katielady]

I agree with Mrs Spelling. What happened is a mark of how much society is degenerating as a whole.. whether the violence is with guns or pushing someone to the ground for a $20 discount.
Gifting was never supposed to be about how much money; it was meant as a notion of sharing your time and energy; the true gift.
.Many of us who are 'war era' babies, know how poor we all were materially, so we made gifts all during the year that we gave. To this day, I still subscribe to that philosophy; that you give your time or energy rather than spend for the sake of spending.
Even though we had little, we were expected to share with others less fortunate. To those who are blesses with much, much is expected. My dad, who worked nights all his life, volunteered at an orphanage and we 'helped'. We invited children who had no 'home' to share our home each holiday and sometimes many Sundays.
I am so proud as I see that my grown sons now make time to volunteer in organizations that interest them. I still find volunteering offers me more than I put in... Sort of the, "if we all did one little thing concept....".

[Ariadne]

I wonder what would happen to the economy if lots of people just decided that they owned enough things. I have never in my life shopped on Black Friday (that name will now be more indicative of greed and death than being profitable) and I have always puzzled over who could think it was a good idea to get out of bed at 5 am and stand in a line of crazed competitors for TV's and Ipods.

As I get older, I worry more about getting rid of the years of stuff that I have accumulated than acquiring more. The retailers have done such a great job though of making people feel that they are missing out if they haven't gotten one of the latest gadgets or you have missed the Today Only deals in your email inbox that I still get that competitive feeling and desire to be in on the deal. Lead me not into temptation.

[flyingmonkey]

Nicely said.
As an advertising person, I've always told myself that I was stimulating the economy. Now I worry that I've been appealing to man's lowest nature. But isn't appealing to our lowest nature the only business that's profitable these days?

[marcelisa]

Here is an explanation that made sense to me. As described, The Story of Stuff is "a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world..." It is fascinating!

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

[robinhood1]

Chances are, the man could have purchased the same or a similar item online for about the same price. Various web sites have many items on sale this weekend and many do not charge shipping on orders of $25 and up. Why wait in line to get into a big box store at 5am?

[geejai54]

The fact that you can make this statement shows that there really are two Americas. The haves and the have nots. You just assume that everyone has a computer and can therefore go online to shop. The items that these stores use to bait these poor people to stand in line at the wee hours of the morning are computers, big screens TVs and other electronic items. I am not making excuses for bad behavior. But many people don't already have the latest and greatest electronic item and they want to give their family the same nice gifts as everyone else. Most of the people on this site have a desk top computer, a lap top computer, a IPod, a GPS system and a I Phone. So no we are not the folks standing in line , in the dark ,in the cold to buy a computer for $300.

[goldcoastsailor]

You couldn't pay me to shop yesterday. The idea is to know where the crowds are and avoid them. As Camus said "hell is other people" The more people around the more likely you will get into trouble. That's why I keep thinking of bidding on these little houses in North Dakota on ebay.

[daddysboy]

We've had eight years with a federal administration encouraging nothing but wanton consuming with no regard for any values whatsoever. It's a miracle this hasn't happened more often. Besides, I thought wal-mart vowed to never let this happen again, or was that a target or best-buy the last time somebody was seriously hurt or killed for a 10$ DVD player assembled by young children in Malaysia? Don't let the bankers fool you; no one has to buy ANYTHING. Spend all of your love this year, not your money.

[nancytheragingliberal]

People should understand that "things" and more "things" is not the answer to being happy. People should spend more time, in quiet, reflecting on their lives and how to give the less fortunate a brighter day. I pack groceries at the food bank, and each year, drag a 25 lb. turkey to the shelter. Materialism does nothing for me. How much do you need? Be happy you have a home, food, clothes, and health. Anything beyond that is excessive. I grieve for the loss of that young employee.

[8journey8]

C'mon. It is horrible that the man was killed, but no one got up on Friday morning planning to murder a hapless Walmart employee. Black Friday is what it is. People who don't understand that the crowds are insane need to stay home. There are ways to keep safe even in that situation, and no one who has watched any news over the last 30 years thinks that shopping (or working) on Black Friday is a walk in the park. It was simply a terrible accident, no *fault* to Walmart, or the hyper-enthusiastic shoppers who had planned to attend all year.

[OCanadian]

I wonder if the guy had a choice about working....I doubt it.

[Ariadne]

The employees can't stay home.

[MCTSilverlakeCA]

"No fault to the hyper-enthusiastic shoppers who had planned to attend all year"... good grief... is murder justified then by "over-enthusiastic" shoppers who just trample anyone in their way, and ignore the consequences - doing nothing to even provide first aid for an injured person? Have we come down to that? If you were one of those "hyper-enthusiastic shoppers" and this is your justification to yourself for being first or second in line to get your $200 discount on your favorite item... I feel sorry for you.

People like you have no concept about what America is all about. You grew up here, but you never grew up inside yourself. It's thoughtless jerks like you that will keep these accidents happening. It's thoughtless stores that promote these "sleep in the parking lot until we open at 4 am" "commercial holidays", that cause them. I blame both of you, and no, I won't erase your conscience for you - ask the retailer for forgiveness... oh, wait...you already did that...they got their donation.. .

[AngelaQuattrano]

Walmart caused the crowd stampede, not the shoppers, by deliberately deciding not to provide crowd control. They should be convicted of negligent homicide, and an executive should go to jail.

[8journey8]

I knew that with all the pompous postings (of the shocked *what is the world coming to* type) on this blog that I was bound to get a response like yours. I have never been to one of the black fridays, but I have heard about them. I am too old to survive the mob pushing me from behind. .it isn't the super rich that go to these; it is the people who are shopping on a limited budget for their loved ones.The lady who wrote the blog (who IS superrich), and perhaps you, have never wanted a christmas toy for your kid that you couldn't pay full price for. You think stores should stop doing this because it poses a danger to people. Then the government should also stop people from buying cars as people can get hurt on the road. Where do you stop when you talk about banning things?

Let me restate: To call this murder is a real stretch; it was a horrible accident. Black Fridays are noted for pandemonium. When the crowd was pushing from behind, no one could stop...have you ever watched this crowd on television? I think your commentary was overly ambitious.. Now I am unamerican for stating my opinion? Now I have no concept of what America is all about? Oh, please.

[Passenger57]

There's no way a person can physically walk on another person and not look down or not realize it.
To think that this guy died for a flatscreen TV ,or a DVD player,or some toys,or whatever the people that literally walked on him to get to the merchandise bought is disgusting.

[brooklyncitizen]

yeah this is what i don't get...some people must have tripped over him and to not help him up is just manslaugheter at best....

[hiprogloho]

When real people feel powerless in a society that rewards wealthy criminal elite who manipulate the public trust to deepen their pockets, the false comfort of objects is no escape or excuse for anything.

But a Black Friday tragedy is no comparison to Wall Street moneychangers who trample on the US economy and get bailouts and bonuses while globalists sell the US to Chang, Juan and Schlomo.

[MCTSilverlakeCA]

"Wall Street Moneychangers..." so true, so true. But we CAN do something about them... don't buy from those stores, don't use those products that are made outside of the United States by countries that don't support us. Don't act like the world is passing you by and you can't do anything about it...get involved! Volunteer! Help someone that can't help themselves... and flip the bird to the Wall Street Marketeers and the Big Three Automakers and anyone else in a Corporation that thinks that yours and my tax money is to be used to bail them out of STUPIDITY.

[whrsdfyr]

The saddest part is the fact nothing that was ever put out for these so called limited quantity are ever sold at a loss. Nothing is ever sold at a loss. You can always mark it up, so as to mark it down. In the mind of these low information trolls, it is a never seen before bargain. Yet if you wait for the rest of the shopping season, the price will only slightly go up. Either way, a certain preset profit margin is always achieved, never a loss.

The hype is unreal. This past campaign offered a glimpse of what happens when and if trolls get excited or being egged-on. No brains. Nobody forms a line anymore. Whatever happened to first come first served decency that has always auto-regulated situations like these. Greed has just taken over the whole populace, and I can't wait for the perpetrators of this kind of behavior to leave town in a little over 50 days.

I have always had something for my family for Xmas ever since I have been able to, just like my father - God rest his soul - always did. My kids make lists of whatever they want, and come Xmas day, they do OK.

I have never seen so many poor a**holes, in such a hurry to throw whatever little they've got at a an industry that does not give a damn about them. Wal Mart has always been against all sorts of worker protections, surprised!!

[SethBLiNK]

It's all well and good to come out against people trampling somebody to death, but I can guarantee you that nobody shows up at a store with the idea in mind of doing somebody else harm. It's not a sin to show up in search of a bargain, especially when one considers that most Black Friday shopping is done by people looking for gifts or just looking to clothe their families.

Those who were in close enough proximity to have actually participated in trampled this poor man were probably in danger of being trampled themselves. If you've ever been trapped in the middle of a mob, whether it be something contentious or just a mass of people trying to get in or out of a public place that is ill-equipped to handle the crowd.

I feel nothing but sympathy for the poor man and his family as well as for those who were injured. I also feel sympathy for those who found themselves trapped in the mob, probably were terrified and now must deal with the guilt of the outcome.

We can feel for the victims here without the harsh and unfair judgements to others.

[MindyM]

This man came to work early in the morning to do his job. He ended up getting trampled to death by a mob of idiots so intent on getting a so-called bargain or freebie, that they didn't even realize what they were doing. It's abominable and has nothing to do with the spirit of Thanksgiving. What has become of some of us? Is getting a piece of merchandise worth the price of a human life? I can't imagine what his family must be going through. For them there won't be a happy holiday. They lost someone they loved in the most senseless way possible.

Wal-Mart shares a lot of the blame for not having enough security and precautions to protect its employees. But the ultimate responsibility for this horror rests with those who so callously ran over this man in their mindless need to get what they wanted.

[BuckeyeGal]

"Wal-Mart shares a lot of the blame for not having enough security and precautions to protect its employees."
W-M is concerned with protecting its bottom line. Scroo the employees (they are easily replaceable) and the stakeholders, it's all about the profit, baby!

"The High Cost of Low Price"

[wutheflip]

There is a lesson in here somewhere about the evil of greed. At what point in life do we learn that things don't /can't make us happy? RIP to the dedicated employee. Shame on the rest.