We’ve Missed it
Posted in Family, Society, culture, life on December 2nd, 2008First, I’m sorry i’ve been away for so many weeks. Work is heavy, and last week was the holiday so I really didn’t want to touch, or look at my computer. Sleeping in everyday till at least 10 (sometimes as late as 12:30) was glorious and I could use another solid week like that where I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn for some reason or another.
Second, Happy belated Thanksgiving!
I don’t think wishing someone happy thanksgiving can be belated, that is unless thanksgiving is all about the food, the day off of work or the shopping which for me it’s not. It’s spending time with my family, being thankful for what i’ve been blessed with and taking a moment to reflect on the year and just be thankful for the little things…..my family, my health, my employment status just to name a few.
Third, Alert!!!
America…..We have a problem.
And THIS is it
And
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27955316/
NEW YORK – Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.
Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday’s video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman.
Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.
At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.
Police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart doors before its 5 a.m. opening at a mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the employee, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.
“This crowd was out of control,” Fleming said. He described the scene as “utter chaos,” and said the store didn’t have enough security.
Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store.
Damour, 34, of Queens, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined.
And
Is this what the holiday season is about now?
Shoppers returned to Toys R Us in Palm Desert on Saturday, a day after two men shot each other dead in front of terrified Black Friday customers.
An armed security guard stood watch outside the store and another was inside. A police car patrolled the parking lot. Many employees came from other Southland stores because some regular clerks were too scared to return, said an employee who asked not to be identified by name.
The dead men were identified by Riverside County sheriff’s officials as Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City. Two handguns were recovered at the scene.
The shooting occurred about 11:30 a.m. Friday after two women got into a fight. After the women began arguing, witnesses said, Meza pulled out a gun. Moreno also pulled out a gun and started chasing and shooting at Meza, witnesses said. Frantic shoppers either dropped to the floor or stormed out of the store.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said no one was arrested, but he would not identify the women. Their dispute was not part of the investigation, Gutierrez said.
Many shoppers Saturday were slightly skittish.
Valerie Criscuolo, 26, of Twentynine Palms went to the store with Marcus Noil and their two sons. It was their elder child’s birthday, and the family planned to go to Chuck E. Cheese and Toys R Us.
After hearing about the shooting, the family almost canceled its plans, but the security guards reassured them, Criscuolo said.
Ryan Tidd, 13, of Sky Valley went to the store with his parents but seemed nervous. As his mother, Michelle, perused video board games, he asked her if the gunmen could return.
“They can’t come back,” she said, although that didn’t seem to reassure the boy.
Tidd said the situation was surreal.
“You gotta be kidding me,” she said. “A shooting at a Toys R Us?”
These two events are sickening reminders that humanity has happily replaced caring and respect with greed and selfishness. This shouldn’t be a holiday/weekend/time for a “deal” but a time for family, out pouring of reflection, joy, compassion, & kindness to your fellow man. Nope. Its about saving a few hundred bucks on a TV.
The Walmart tragedy boils down to scarcity, IMO. Scarcity cuts two ways: scarcity of goods and scarcity of dollars in the pocket. Walmart being the largest and arugably deepest discounter profits BIG TIME from both of these and could probably care less about what happens in thier “parking lot” or “front door”…….now if people had starting running out of the store carrying TV’s and blu ray’s I can promise that the Walmart story would’ve been about people getting shot and arrested for theft by store security….believe it.
Not even going to touch the Toys-R-Us story being that all of the details aren’t known and it we don’t know exactly why it started. Other then it being shameful, and sad.
B.Price
