Black Friday kicks off amid tragedy

Last night I was at a friend's house when he asked me if I had heard about the man that was trampled to death at Wal-Mart. I was surprised at what I had heard, but hardly shocked.

Just in case no one cares to look up this story to find out what the man's name was, his name was Jdimytai Damour. I know nothing of this man, other than the fact that he was a 34 year-old temp from Jamaica, hired to do maintenance work in a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, Long Island, NY. I don't pretend to know anything of this man, but I do want to take a moment to display some form of memoriam to his memory. I'm sure he was just like any of us; working to make ends meet in a troubled economy, with friends and family that loved him, trying to make honest money while corporate fat cats live off the fat of others. At least this man had enough dignity to earn money instead of stealing it.

So, a man dies on Long Island. I'm sure there are plenty of people that die on Long Island on any given day. What makes this man's death so special?

Greed.

Yesterday was Black Friday. Pay particular attention to the color mentioned; it will come clear later. Just before Mr. Damour was about to open the doors for the day's business, the mob standing outside the door had had enough with patience, and ripped the doors right off of the hinges. 2,000 people cared more about the latest deal on a flat-panel television or digital camera than the life of a young man. One hour later, Damour was pronounced dead. Life has once again taken a backseat to materialism.

Back to the color, black. I took some time to read the comments posted by readers of the New York Post. Not surprising, many of the posters have turned the death of an innocent person into a race war. I'll let you read them for yourself.

My stomach turned when I started to read some of these comments. Many are sympathetic to this man and his family, while more are playing the race card, stating that the reason this person died is because the crowd was almost entirely black, and that that somehow makes the black community unruly by default. Even worse, it seems that some are trying to lay blame for this tragedy at the feet of Barack Obama. How much do you want to bet it's a white, conservative, "Christian" who would make such a claim?

Let's starting calling a spade a spade. This man died not because of race of the stampede, but because of greed. No ifs, ands, or buts. And let's start calling the holiday season what it really is: materialist.

It should also be noted that at least three other people were injured in this melee. To those of you who were at the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, I have this to say to you: If you were there, and did nothing to help this man, you are an accomplice to murder.

Enjoy that new flat panel.

In other Black Friday news, two men shoot each other at a Toys-R-Us in Palm Desert, CA, women fued over an Xbox 360, a woman in Secaucus, NJ suffered a broken leg after being pushed around in a crowd of 1,500 shoppers, stocks up.

Happy Holidays.