Walmart Rush

While watching the land race in Far and Away I was reminded of a tragic story I heard. On Black Friday a Walmart employee was trampled by a crowd of shoppers. The crowd was over-eager to get "big savings" on their holiday gifts. They broke down the electric doors and stormed the store. In the stampede towards the items, a Walmart employee was knocked over and then trampled to death. I find it appalling that people could be so blinded by a sale that they could not realize they were stepping on a person. The employee, Jdimytai Damour had no experience in crowd control, but was chosen for his size, he was 6-5 and weighed 270 pounds. My prayers go out to his family, the loss of his life could certainly been prevented. 

 The event reminded me of the land rush in Far and Away. The director of Far and Away clearly glorified the land race. The scene was exciting, jaunty music played in the background, it was a beautiful day, and opportunity was in the air. It barely portrayed the Native Americans who were losing their land or the people's greed in general. Like the people of Far and Away the crowd at Walmart allowed themselves to get caught up in the frenzy of ownership. The Walmart case shows how American materialism has progressed further. The people were so desperate to get items on sale that a man's life was lost. Although the current economic situation has made the holidays harder for some families, a recession is no reason to value a sale over a man's life.