11.29.2008

Death By Shopping

He has a name now, the tragic soul who was trampled to death by frenzied WalMart shoppers on Black Friday. Jdimytai Damour, 34, was a temporary maintenance worker at the Valley Stream Long Island WalMart where he was killed by a thundering herd of early morning bargain hunters. Several employees were knocked to the floor in the stampede that killed Mr. Damour. Four shoppers were injured. One, a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy, was taken to the hospital and later released in satisfactory condition.

No doubt a lawsuit will surface alleging negligence. Unfortunately no amount of money will ever restore Mr. Damour's life. He lived in Jamaica, Queens and leaves behind a sister and a cousin.

At the least, WalMart and the staffing agency that sent Mr. Damour to his job should pay for his dignified funeral and burial expenses, as well as any related hospital bills for the victims of these cretins. As for whose "fault" it is--there's plenty of blame to pass around. Don't start with WalMart.

Start with the cameras, then on to the store receipts for purchases made by check or plastic. Hunt them all down, every miscreant that charged over and past the expiring body of Mr. Jdimytai Damour, heedless and clueless and heartless and utterly devoid of humanity. Hunt them down, prosecute them for murder and sentence them to LIFETIME COMMUNITY SERVICE in Walmart--cleaning the floors, the bathrooms, the breakrooms, taking out the trash. Let them spend the rest of their sorry lives doing the job that Mr. Damour reported to on November 28, his last day of work, his last day on Earth.

There is a serious case of misplaced priorities at work here--and elsewhere. On the one hand, cheap consumer goods; on the other, humans. Cheap Stuff vs. human beings. Profits vs. people. Choose the most important one: Low prices vs. priceless human life. These shoppers chose low prices, cheap stuff.

Wrong choice!

They tell us we must save and they tell us we must spend. They push EZ credit and EZ mortgages and indebtedness on us and then they wonder why so many Americans are deeply in debt. They wonder why we can't save and why we default on mortgage loans that never should have been made. Take a breath. Cut up your credit cards, and cut off your chains.

How about living within our means? How about an end to obscenely high salaries paid to CEOs and to people who make their living gambling with other people's money. How about decent salaries for decent work? How about a national living wage, instead of a national minimum wage?How about basic quality health care--with emphasis on prevention and personal responsibility for maintaining health-- as a right not a privilege?

How about no more overpriced empty luxury condos taking up space, and more, much more affordable housing providing living space for low and middle income families?

How about no more feeding frenzies at malls and Walmarts and more families eating healthy, unhurried meals together?

Source: NY Daily News.

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