Black Friday gets its name from stores finally breaking into profitability for the year.
After reading the news on Friday, Black Friday gets a brand new meaning: the ugliness of deal-crazed shoppers.
This is not a slight to shoppers in general, but a condemnation reserved for a group of shoppers at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart in Long Island, N.Y. It was here that shoppers trampled 34-year-old temporary worker Jdimytai Damour to death, barging into the store to take advantage of discounted vacuum cleaners and DVDs, and killing him in the process.
The worst of it was that the other Wal-Mart workers who tried to help Damour were trampled by rabid shoppers as well (the fact that employees tried to help might be the only bright spot in this story).
Who knew that a holiday in celebration of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ would turn into a time of year marked by the ugliest side of humanity. These people are so horrible that they are unable to see through their greed long enough to realize that they are literally killing a man.
Also trampled in this story was a pregnant woman, but the AP reported that she and the baby are safe.
I hate that I'm starting the Christmas season on such an angry note. I love Christmas when it is done right. I love the church services, decorating the tree with my mother (along with all the sentimental ornaments) and watching the Garfield Christmas special year after year (and singing along to every word). Each year I try to take a name from the Angel tree and donate food or hygiene products. I'm not perfect, but I try my best.
I love Christmas. Not commercialism. Not greed.
It's such a wonderful holiday. If you celebrate it with the spirit of love, not the spirit of hate as these Wal-Mart shoppers did.
The most telling thing about this story, that really points out how twisted these people were, was that they started complaining when the store was closed. After being told that Wal-Mart was closing because an employee died in the store, many of them shouted that they'd been in line since Thursday morning.
Unless they had Thanksgiving breakfast, those people missed Thanksgiving dinner with their families to get in line to shop (and eventually kill a man). I know that some shoppers who missed Thanksgiving to wait for stores to open had good reasons (perhaps not having any family to visit), but I have to think that some of them probably did have family to visit. I know Thanksgiving gets overshadowed by Christmas, but I had no idea that some people would skip it to get an early start on shopping.
These people exemplify the term "selfish" when they started complaining about their inconvenience in the face of a man's death, one that they had caused.
I really wish I could sit down with at least one of these people, stare them into the eye, and ask them, "What. Were. You. Thinking?" I'd just like to get some answers. Some sort of explanation. Some reason why he/she valued money over a human life. It's probably a good thing that I have no contact with any of the persons responsible, as I'd have to try very hard to remember that "vengeance is the Lord's."
It's that desire for revenge that contributes even more to the ugliness that permeates throughout this holiday. Yes, I want justice, don't get me wrong, but harboring a bloodthirsty spirit of bitterness isn't going to help.
I wish I could tell you that I realized all of this Friday night after reading the story. Truth be told, I've been cranky and bitter all weeekend. It's only Sunday afternoon that I'm starting to realize that I too have a blackness in my heart, for wanting this revenge.
No, instead of harboring anger, I will start praying that justice will be served, that those who killed this man in the name of sales will be punished to the full extent of the law. Praying for this man's family in a time of the year when family means everything.
Instead of focusing on how much I hate these people right now, maybe I should focus on helping others this holiday season. It's not easy, and as I type this, I still have that desire for revenge, but I'll do my best to get rid of that hatred.
I think that's how Christ would want me to celebrate his birthday.
Dustin Faber is an avid Boston Celtics fan, an optimistic New England Patriots fan, a page designer and podcast anchor for The Log Cabin Democrat. You can reach him by phone at 505-1260, or by e-mail at dustin.faber@thecabin.net.
