Sad State Of Affairs - Black Friday Death

What kind of a world is it that a Wal-Mart employee can be trampled to death because people are in such a rush to get their "stuff"? Probably stuff they can't afford anyway. The "temporary" Wal-Mart employee was killed when shoppers rushed in for the Black Friday sales. Then, there were upset people because they were closing the store. Wow. The Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y. is pictured in the AP photo on the right.

I'm probably reading more into this than I should, but here is someone trying to earn much needed income by working as a temp on Black Friday at 5 a.m. Someone that was probably just trying to catch a break and was blessed for the opportunity to gain that additional cash flow. Now, they are dead, and likely family and friends are suffering.

Don't get me wrong, every time I have gone to a "door buster" sale, I've seen issues. I've done the get up at 2:30 a.m. thing only to be 200 back in line at Best Buy. I've done the go to Circuit City at 9 p.m. to wait overnight to get a steal price on a computer. In both situations, people who must think they are better than everyone else showed up right before opening, and tried to cut in line. I'm sure had it been allowed, there would have been violence. At least some of the bigger stores are being smart, and handing out vouchers to those in line for big ticket items to avoid a stampede. Wal-Mart should learn from places like Best Buy and Circuit City when it comes to this, if they aren't already doing this kind of thing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming Wal-Mart, although I'm sure some attorneys will. Human kind has to step up and be...well...human.