Another reason to call it "Black Friday"

It seems as if almost every year someone is injured or killed in the rush to enter the materialistic season we call "Christmas" that formally begins on "Black Friday". This year a man died because people were in such a rush to grab that "great deal" that it's being reported they broke through the door at a Wal-Mart in New York. Not only is one employee now dead, but a pregnant woman was also injured as well as three others according to the local news of that area.

This behavior on the part of some has been around for quite some time. The media and the retail giants actually feed into this by their constant harking about the "great deals" that will be offered when the reality is most of those waiting in line will not get what they are there for. The "fantastic laptop" offered so cheap that some camp out over night for will perhaps be grabbed by less than a dozen, even less depending on the store. The retail stores are banking on the hope that once your "item" that you waited for is not available that you'll be in the mindset to buy something similar that's a bit more expensive, or something, else you'll feel as if your "shopping event" was a waste of time.

I've gone out on Black Friday, we didn't this year, but I always went for something specific and if it was gone? It was gone...A horrible shopping experience back in the 1980's with grown women fighting over "Cabbage Patch" Dolls soured me on any desire to be one of the grabbing, pushing, clawing bunch over a materialistic item...

I'd also like to offer a huge thank you to those of you who work in retail, it's a thankless job at times and it's clear that none of you should have to be faced with the possibility of dying or being injured at work because of human greed. Enough families face the loss of a loved one during the holiday season, many times due to the senseless act of another, in this situation it's clear every single one of those who pushed through the door forgot what the true reason for the season is...

crossposted on Glass City Jungle....