Wal-Mart employee trampled to death
Maybe it is because I spend so much of my time trying to prevent death that I find this kind of death so shockingly needless. 2,000 people were waiting to get some deal at Wal-Mart. Is it worth it? What can Wal-Mart do to prevent something like this from ever happening again? This reminds me of the 11 deaths at a Who concert in Cincinatti almost 30 years ago.
The TV Show WKRP in Cincinatti did an entire episode about that event. Now I know that a concert and Wal-Mart are two very different things, but with the downturn in the economy, Americans can’t afford to get their kids as much as they could in years past. So maybe there is a feeling that if they only get one gift it should be a “super” gift..? I don’t know. All I know is that life is way too important to lose it at Wal-Mart or any other store because of some crazed ambush for a bargain.
Maybe we should take this tragedy as a symbol of what the holiday season has become: a malignant commercial travesty. Perhaps not having the money to lavish our children with every little thing they desire is actually a positive lesson. The stress that most people endure over the holidays revolves around this unconscionable expectation about gift-giving. I used to feel obligated to find gifts for all around me. I’m not wasting my time twisting what it supposed to be celebratory into something guilt-laden anymore. I want the firelight and the family’s coming together, comfort food and sparkles. Keep the electronics, WalMart! (If I want to purchase them, I’ll go elsewhere anyway.) That is just SO NOT what this season should be about.
Doc,
Here is where you and I differ. Your question is: “What can Wal-Mart do to prevent something like this from ever happening again?”, which necessarily puts the onus on the company to prevent idiots from behaving badly.
I would much rather put the onus on the idiots who trampled the poor guy to death. Why did they do such a thing? How come they didn’t heed the police officers who were attempting to work the victim? How mad should I be that when Wal Mart closed for the day in the wake of the tragedy, people who stormed in were actually pissed off that they closed the store?
I don’t think that punishing Wal-Mart for this is necessary. It’s silly to require them to react to this, especially in the light that the crowd actually burst the doors open on their own five minutes before the store was scheduled to open.