Recent "tragic situation" at Wal Mart is a reflection of how out of control our society is. The recent trampling of a temporary employee (Damour) at a Long Island Wal Mart on Black Friday is nothing new, when it comes to crowds. Every year or two there's always a story, or two, with someone getting trampled either at a concert, sporting event, or nightclub. I can't recall this happening at a store recently. The Union representing retail workers said, the death could have been avoided, well, THAT, is a no brainer. As of Saturday, Wal Mart had no comment to what the Union said. A Union representative went on to say, "it rises to a level of irresponsibility by Wal Mart" http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/29/black.friday.death/index.html,.

Now, I understand the Union is in a position to get compensation, and justice for Damour's family, as they should, and there's no reason Wal Mart should back away from doing everything possible to cooperate, however, not only was Wal Mart irresponsible, I believe everyone that huffed, and puffed, and blew that door in was responsible to a certain extent, because they continued to stampede, even while others were trying to rescue him. I'm sure some got caught in the hustle, and bustle of the herd (crowd), and probably were not aware what happened, however, when people continued to push forward when officials stated the store was closing because of the death, that is just unacceptable. Granted, Wal Mart should have had the foresight to prevent this horrible tragedy by only letting so many people in at once. They're not new to the business world, they know how extreme things can get, especially around the holidays. I Think it's going to be extremely difficult to pinpoint who trampled Damour to death.
It's crazy, it's like 3 full moons, it's like a movie, and speaking of movies, I had been wanting to check out a holiday movie before this unfortunate, yet avoidable tragic event happened. Not taking this situation lightly, as soon as I heard what happened, I rented Jingle All The Way (excellent movie, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sinbad). Call me twisted, but, I think I enjoyed this movie more this time, then I did the first time I saw it (because it was just that, A MOVIE). Again, not taking this situation lightly at all, not only was the movie hilarious, it shows exactly how crazy people can get, especially around the holidays............................Things are challenging as ever with our economic climate, and our global politics, and when you throw in the holidays, unfortunately, as this tragic example from Wal Mart proves, you have the potential of a real disaster..............PLEASE SLOW DOWN!
Mike Otis
November 30, 2008
6:15pm PST