A Wal-Mart employee was killed by being stampeded by a herd of customers. He was trying to hold the unruly patrons back, and they knocked him down.
I honestly wasn’t amazed upon reading about this, maybe because this sort of thing has happened before.
But I am disgusted. A man’s life was taken because people were so focused on getting into the premise of a store quickly – that nothing else mattered. Consideration for others became a foreign concept.
How can we become so blind to others?
Some of you may be thinking: Why are you picking this story to speak about? Atrocities of untold measures happen every day all around the world…
True.
But this is something that happened outside of a war zone and devoid of a gang fight. It was perpetrated in a very safe environment. This is a testimony to a selfish tendency that will creep into broad daylight if one becomes so focused on what they want, that people around them disappear.
I don’t think anyone involved in this circumstance had any intent whatsoever to kill another human being. Instead, they just were so focused on getting into the store that all caution for the sake of others vanished from their minds. Their want overshadowed any other consideration.
This is a tendency we all have to face, day in and day out. Here are some examples:
A drunk driver kills others because it’s more important to him to drive conveniently while intoxicated, than to take the necessary precautions…
A driver eating a sandwich, drinking a coke and reading the newspaper kills someone because it’s more important to him to have it his way than to take the necessary precautions for the sake of others…
Someone in a hurry, drives extra fast and as they’re making a right turn, they didn’t notice the pedestrian crossing the road. Too late.
Let’s all work on our tendency of being selfish – and make the necessary sacrifices for the sake of others. What we “lose” in the process can not be compared to what we gain.
I just saw this on the news. They covered it and moved on. They didn’t blame anyone. They just moved into the next story about how we need to get out and buy things to keep the economy going.
What is really going on here? We should be appalled at this story. Thanks for covering it here.
Bamboo,
I echo your call for being less selfish. A simple description is that these shoppers had the mentality of “I win, you lose” which makes them disregard the concerns of others. I also think that in general, too many people have this mentality and it doesn’t have to be this way. More collaborative “win-win” mentality is needed, and when I hear stories such as the outpouring of kindness from a call for charity by a dying 11-year old helps restore optimism in me.
Also to be fair, some of the people who rushed the Wal-mart were probably doing holiday shopping for their family, so some were actually doing some level of unselfishness by shopping for presents. Plus, the frenetic atmosphere the crowd had was somewhat induced by Walmart itself to help promote sales. I guess what I’m saying is that a lot of people share a little bit of guilt, but it adds up to one big mistake. It’s a reminder that even a little bit of guilt is not justified.
@ Chase March: Indeed we should be appalled by this story. He lost his life: for what? We need to be concerned for our fellow man, wherever we find ourselves.
@ Al: “I win, you lose.” That’s an interesting perspective. I think you’re right – that Walmart may also have some to blame: they need to protect their employees from possible outcomes such as this. Walmart can not expect an employee to hold back throngs of people.
Wow. I haven’t heard about it until I read it here. This is disturbing on so many levels.
Bamboo, I think it’s truly devastating that people care more about more junk that’ll clutter up their homes than the precious life of a human being. I know the family of that man wishes he had never gone to work that morning. Imagine that. Your loved one leaves for work and you never see them again. The magnitude of that is so great, so sad, so eternal. The saddest thing of all, is that the people who were rushing through that door like a herd of elephants probably won’t even feel any remorse – and worse than that, they’ll never remember the anniversary of his death next year; they’ll be rushing through yet another door to get what they want…
Amazing post! I’m Stumbling this – and Digging!
*smiles*
Michele
This is really awful! I stay away from black-friday shopping areas because of fear, like this..
@ Vered: You’re right. It is disturbing on more than one level.
@ Michele: You make some fine points. The magnitude is indeed on the highest of levels. Thank you for the social media kudos.
@ BC Doan: I think you’re wise to stay away from it.
You’re most welcome, Bamboo!
Hi Bamboo-
Excellent post- Certainly points out the shortcomings of some facets of our society. Materialism over humanitarianism. Greed and self absorption should never displace civil behavior. I hope anyone that reads this takes away a little humility from your post- and makes an effort to be a little less aggressive during this holiday season- after all- that behavior was so contradictory to the meaning of the holiday season- Peace on earth goodwill toward men.
Hi Bamboo Forest. This is disgusting! I just heard about it on the news tonight and had to give my head a shake. I can’t believe that these people couldn’t recognize that they were actually running over another human being.
This is how my beloved sister died. She was run down by a speeding pickup truck. My heart is forever broken because of someone else’s selfish thoughtlessness.
@ Patti: Apparently the meaning of the holiday seasons has gotten lost in the shuffle for some.
@ Davina: I think they recognized it – it just wasn’t what was foremost in their mind.
@ Tabbie: I’m very sorry that you lost your sister.
Hi Bamboo: I heard about that on CNN today. I can only imagine what the pushing and shoving must have been like. It’s so sad what consumerism has turned into. And during the season of good cheer toward others . . .
@ Marelisa: It’s something all of us can probably improve upon. What happened here though – is the extreme end.
What a wretched story. I agree, Bamboo, we need to be more mindful. I happened to be in a Walmart yesterday (I needed a present for a birthday party), and my stomach was turning the entire time. Last year I was at a Target for Black Friday. I had everything loaded in my cart, and somebody swiped my cart. I left empty handed and sad. People can be so selfish.
Great points, Bamboo.
That Walmart story angered me when I saw it. Interestingly, I first heard of it on Twitter. That’s where I first heard of the India terrorism, too.
Anyway, especially with the holidays upon us, your note here is something we all need to keep in mind. Have fun, but not at the expense of others.
“A drunk driver kills others because it’s more important to him to drive conveniently while intoxicated, than to take the necessary precautions…”
@ Writer Dad: Swiped your cart? That’s insane.
@ Jesse: In that case, twitter must be like the eyes and ears of the globe. Yes indeed.
[...] Patience is not a virtue I often witness in people these days. Our instant-gratification culture has eliminated the need for patience in so many ways that we rarely practice it at all; combine our impatience with our increasing selfishness and the results can be devastating. [...]