Is a Great Shopping Deal Worth More Than a Human Life?

I'm disturbed beyond belief to even be writing this blog entry. Having enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family, I go online to catch up on what's been happening and read one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard.

At a Long Island Wal-Mart this morning at 5 a.m., the huge crowd gathered for the company's early-bird deals swarmed into the store when the doors were unlocked, trampling a 34-year-old temporary Wal-Mart employee to death.

Nassau County police Lt. Michael Fleming said that security officers who had been monitoring the crowd---which began forming as early as 9 p.m. Thanksgiving night---were concerned about its size and the organization of the queue. He also said that criminal charges have not been ruled out, but bringing them might be almost impossible due both to the difficulty of identifying individuals on the store security video, and to the fact that many of those in front were pushed by others from behind.

"I don't know what it's worth to Wal-Mart or to any of these stores that run these sales events," Fleming said, "but it has become common knowledge that large crowds do gather on the Friday after Thanksgiving in response to these sales and in an effort to do their holiday shopping at the cheapest prices. I think it is incumbent upon the commercial establishments to recognize that this has the potential to occur at any store."

Listen, I'm not big Wal-Mart fan, but I'm not going to hold Wal-Mart morally responsible. Individuals in a crowd have to take it upon themselves not to become a mob. I know that none of those responsible for this as-yet unidentified man's death are reading this blog, so I'm going to send out a mental curse on all of them. On Christmas morning when they're unwrapping their new cell phones and digital video cams and big-screen TV's, may they all be haunted by the vision of that man's blood on their hands.