• the217
• Life
• Editor's Note

I can’t tell you glad I am that I didn’t go shopping on Black Friday. These days, apparently, people will literally kill others over discounted televisions and $10 sweaters, and you can count me out of that.

Last Friday, 34-year-old Walmart employee Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death by a stampede of Black Friday shoppers in Valley Stream, N.Y. The shoppers were so aggravated and had been waiting for so long to shop, that even after they were notified that an employee had died, they kept shopping and refused to leave. At a Toys R Us in Palm Desert, Calif. two people were killed in a shooting. Let’s keep in mind that they weren’t even fighting over something they were getting for free. They killed someone so that they could give their money to a major chain store and take home crap that will be in their garage sale next summer.

In my book, giving a present to someone that purchased after trampling or shooting someone for it is a lot like giving someone a Blood Diamond. What kind of sick and demented people have we become?

The point of this early-morning shopping excursion is for Christmas, a holiday celebrating Jesus, Santa Claus and peace on Earth. Would Jesus or Santa Claus step on your face or whip out their .09 mm for a $25 espresso machine? I don’t think so.

The fact of the matter is that the people of Valley Stream, NY or Palm Desert, Calif. Are not deranged, freakishly violent purchasers; they’re likely a sampling of the average American shoppers.

I think we need to remind one another the true meaning of the Christmas season. It’s not about buying lots of stuff or waking up at 4 a.m. and waiting in line outside a mega-store. It’s about eating lots of delicious food and drinking holiday nog with brandy and enjoying the people you care about in life. I suggest we get busy doing just that until December 25, and set a goal to maybe not kill anyone next year. Baby steps, America, baby steps.