Black Friday Indeed

There is a novel by Robert Heinlen, "Friday", in which the main character is asked for the signs of a deteriorating civilazation. One of the answers was a decline in personal courtesy. One can't help but feel that this is happening in the United States as we speak.

I got up this morning and settled in with my coffee and newspaper. On the front page, I read about a Walmart employee getting trampled to death yesterday because the early morning shoppers broke down the door he had been attempting to unlock. Other employees suffered injuries as they too were trampled attempting to rescue their downed comrade. One of them was an eight-month pregnant woman. When the store announced they were temporarily closing because of the death, the shoppers got angry. Their reasoning was that they had been standing outside for hours.

First of all, no one held a gun to their heads to make the shoppers stand outside waiting for the store to open. They made that choice. Second, it is disturbing to think that people have such a sense of entitlement that makes them feel that as long as they accomplish their "goal" of procuring the hot toy or electronic device on their list, everything else is secondary and unimportant.

I can only hope that these people will feel remorse for causing such permanent grief in other people's lives. Especially since the items the shoppers were after have such temporary lifespans. The toys, especially, may not even last out Christmas morning. Refunds aren't available for human life.