I'm originally a New Yorker, my family is still on Long Island and my folks live about 20 minutes or so away from Valley Stream. I was curious about what the New York Papers would have to say about this tragedy so I read Newsday (a paper my family still gets every day)online and the New York Post online, to read their two different takes on it. Newsday had the story and a video with one of the shoppers along with comparisons with other Black Friday stores nearby. The New York Post, always sensationalist did not disapppoint me. But the comments section made my stomach turn and I had to walk away from the computer before I hated humanity.
Here Is the Newsday Article
Again in Newsday: here Is An Article About The Black Friday Shopper Mentality
I find the second article fascinating because it's looking at the reasons behind why people wait in lines for Black Friday. It's a study of human nature, which I admit is very interesting to me.
And here is the NY Post
First, the Front Page and you can instantly see the button ushing. The words are meant to breed outrage at an incident that is outrageous enough.
And in this article, it's easy to remember that Rupert Mudoch owns the NY Post.
But read the comments and you can see who their target audience is.
Notice, there is barely anything about Wal Mart's responsibility in the article. There's nothing mentioned about how unorganized the store was. All there is on the bottom is an example of the merchandise and the prices.
Yes, materialism during Christmas is horrible. But I think that's too simplistic.
There were people in this line that may have just lost their job or knew their job was going to be gone soon.
There were parents in this line that may have seen an opportunity to finally get that toy that their child always wanted but had not been able to get.
There were even people in this line who wanted to get something they couldn't usually afford and would never be able to afford otherwise.
I think that if someone is willing to get up at the crack of dawn and wait in line, they want the $300 laptop or the $700 plasma TV more than I do. As long as no one gets hurt I see nothing wrong with it and until this morning, no one got killed because of it.
I've been guilty of decrying materialism, telling my mother that Walmart's prices are only so cheap because their employees' health insurance "plan" is Medicaid. I've said that people may care about the fact that prices are low at Walmart but not why they are.
I admit, I'm a hypocrite. But I realize as someone who is not poor, it's easy for me to criticize materialistic desires. I'm not rich either but I have no kids and I'm separated so even though I only have one income, I can survive fairly easily. I have a boss who is a decent man so even though I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is a degenerative disease and I am dependent on a drug that costs $1,300 a month, I have a high deductible health insurance but he pays half the deductible up front and once that deductible it paid, my doctor's visits AND drugs are covered at 100 percent. I have no car but I'm lucky to have a support network that includes my husband who still loves me enough to take me to doctors and hospitals when I need them instead of the cabs I'd have to take and even when I do take cabs, the cab driver I usually use has an independent cab and because I'm a steady customer he gives me a break on the price.
I've been lucky in my life. A lot of people aren't. A lot of those people were in that line in Valley Stream, NY and except for the mob mentality that took place, why is it evil for them to want the same luxuries as other people who can afford it more easily? I don't think there is anyone in the world that hasn't wanted something so badly that if the opportunity to obtain it presented themselves they wouldn't take it.
In my opinion if there is one thing that overrides anything else as the main reason things happened as they did was MONEY. A bad economy led people to be more mercenary than they may have been usually and not wanting to spend the money on real security instead of temporary workers were the two main ingredients that created this mess.