Thursday, December 04, 2008

They Kept Shopping?

The throng of Wal-Mart shoppers had been building all night. Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob of 2,000 surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede. “When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, ‘I’ve been in line since yesterday morning,’ ” one eyewitness told The Associated Press. “They kept shopping.” [click pic for more].

Our English word Advent comes from the Latin adventus and is the translation of the Greek word parousia commonly used in references to the second coming of Jesus. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves as a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by believers for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they await the second coming of Christ.

How sad that not even the death of a 34 year old man in Wal-mart can remind some how eternally significant it is to know the 33 year old man who also died on a Black Friday. Do you care more about saving a few hundred bucks on a TV than anticipating the birth and return of Jesus? Do your kids? How can you tell? Mute the playlist on the right and click the triangular play button for more.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this is why it's called BLACK FRIDAY. The human aminal bares its fangs when greed and selfishness are given full sway.
Stores should be sued into chapter 11 for letting that happen on their property. They would get sued for allowing a wet floor to cause someone to slip and fall....why not a trampled shopper???

Mike S

Anonymous said...

I worked retail for years as a teenager and young adult. Since my mid 20's I have made it a rule to not go anywhere near a mall or large store after the beginning of November till after mid January. The guilt alone with not having change to put in every single red bucket! ! !

This just turns my stomach. I really hope there "stuff" was worth it. I really don't blame the people in this accident... The doors opened and maybe the first 50 people did see what was happening. But the 500 or so after, must have been a mad dash and did not know what had happened ahead of them. Like coming up too fast on a bad accident and not being able to stop. It's just the whole idea, nation wide our society has agreed to accept this "Black Friday" a a sort of right of passage. As long as we are willing to be treated like this, and as a whole, that is what we are saying. We will buy your stuff all the time but mostly on this day.

This is the day that the stores have made... I will rejoice and be glad (or dead) in it.

It's just very sad...

Kim