A Christmas Carol

Due to the tremendous spiritual and economic pressures placed upon Christmas, it tends to be a very polarizing time of year.

Maybe that helps to "explain" how people can be trampled to death, or shot, during this time of year in the average American store.

Once again (yes, tragically, this has happened before) there have been deaths associated with shopping during the Christmas season. Most recently, a temp employee working at the illustrious Wal-Mart was trampled to death when the store opened early the day after Thanksgiving. To make matters worse, he died trying to shield a pregnant woman who had been knocked down by the hostile hoards of bargain hunting Mart-ites. As of this writing, this author does not know the condition of the woman being protected.

Much can be said at this point about the average Wal-Mart shopper. My family owns and operates a relatively small business in a very small town that was visited by the Wal-Mart franchise way back in the mid 80's. 4 or 5 long time businesses closed their doors the day Wal-Mart opened theirs, which was cowardly but probably a wise decision in the long run. Sam Walton was a totally ruthless businessman, much like Ted Turner, and his mantra was to eliminate the competition. He had no intention of just competing. Anywho, I have known for decades that Wal-Mart caters and focuses upon the lowest common denominator among humans, and more often that not, succeeds in that quest. It's not as if you find America's brightest and best shopping there. In fact, on any given day, you can tally up the TOTAL IQ numbers for all of Wallys shoppers at any given time and fall short of 100, easily. Not a smart lot. And Wally knows it. He made hundreds of millions counting on it.

As to the tramplers, what do you think they will be giving thanks about this Christmas season? Wonder if their minds will wander back to that day when they got a "terrific" deal on some second hand, reconditioned game box, and..........oh yeah, trampled a worker? Wonder if those who actually stepped all over him will say a small prayer for his family? One thinks that of the dozens who actively participated in the MURDER of this man, at least a few will consider their implication in the matter and say a prayer of repentance. Lord knows (based upon viewing the type of people identified in the security camera tapes) no one is going to turn themselves in for murder. Gracious -- these poor people were just trying to save themselves a few dollars on some life giving entertainment items that due to George Bush, they have been denied all this time.

But you have to think......there are people out there today, right now, who KNOW they trampled this man. They killed him. Others went by, watching it happen, but not slowing down on their way to the bargains Wally held for them. They know they took part in his death.

So what happens when the gifts they bought on that day, all wrapped up for Christmas, are opened? Will that child know this gift was bought just after a man was trampled to death? Will it be worth it? Will the giver of the gift even make this correlation? Will there be a shred of conscience about it all?

Sadly, this author doubts any of this will happen. Wal-Mart, evil empire that it is, is not liable for any of this. They put on a sale, opened early, but did nothing to incite this behavior. There is absolutely no reason why any store in America should have to anticipate this kind of behavior. Any why not? Well, are we giving away free rice to starving people in Sudan? No, we're selling X-boxes and other worthless plastic trinkets. The people who rushed in to that Wal-Mart (among others, and other similar stores that morning) behaved like crazed animals, and in my humble opinion, should have been treated that way. I would have had the police lock everyone in the store, bring in lots more police, question everyone, review the tapes, and haul them all down to the station for retention until it could be sorted out. Instead, talk began immediately about suing the store. Shame on you America.

This incident reveals the horrible underbelly of America -- a class of people who will kill, maim, and destroy without conscience or contrition. We're not talking about starving, desperate people, but just ordinary people with cars, cell phones, a home, and income, even if it comes from the tax payers. When a man can be trampled to death by a crowd running to buy unnecessary gifts, in a Wal-Mart, of all places, and nothing is said about those who trampled him.....we are in serious trouble.

I believe our society, as a whole, is still relatively conservative in nature, respecting God to a degree, abiding to laws in general, and has some degree of respect for the fellow man, but we are losing ground in those respects. Morality has become relative, punishment has become passe', and right and wrong are made up on the spot. Some days it seems as if all everyone wants is to be on T.V., have lots of money via suing, and whine about life in general. Everyone thinks that they can never be implicated in anything, can never suffer even a little bit, and can never be told "no." Just watch any child in any grocery store for affirmation on those 3 points.

So what do you want for Christmas? To be trampled in a dump store like Wal-Mart? Or to be the trampler? Maybe the murderers who killed this man will rename some of the seasonal favorites as:
I'll be trampling you for Christmas
You'll have a blue Christmas under my shoes
All I want for Christmas is a chance to breathe
Hark, hear the yells
I saw mommy stepping on a man today

Well, to those of you who actively took part in this man's death, here's hoping that you are filled with guilt, shame, and fear this Christmas season as you play your games covered in innocent blood. And God help you if you ever try something like that again while I am around.