HISTORIC ISSUES
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Vol.17
No.2 - 7/15/1882 |
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Courtesy of the New York
State Historical Association Library, Cooperstown, N.Y (.PDF files)
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April 2009
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February 2009
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New York Canal Times -
Online newspaper
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Mercury Media Group
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Black Friday will never be the same
By Janine Giordano |
Black Friday has finally earned its name.
What was once a signal for the official start of the holiday buying season has now become a grotesque reminder of how desensitized humankind can be at times when it suits them best.
And we owe it all to one man.
His name was Jdimytai Damour, 34, and, according to reports I’ve read, he was hired as a temporary employee in the Valley Stream, Long Island store of one of the largest companies world wide, Wal-Mart. Working at barely more than minimum wage, this man gave his life while working retail. Retail.
Damour died beneath the trampling feet of hundreds of people stampeding over his body, rushing to buy holiday presents for loved ones on Black Friday. As the 5 a.m. opening time neared, security guards scampered, leaving employees to man the doors that were buckling under the weight of a crowd that began forming 24 hours earlier, on Thanksgiving Day.
As Damour and his fellow employees unlocked the doors, heralding the start of Black Friday, fellow human beings raced forward in a frenzied, mad rush, not caring who they harmed. They knocked him down and stepped on, over and around his body to get the best bargain possible.
On Friday, Nov. 28, 2008, a human life was worth less than a flat screen TV or electric blanket or hand held video game. On the last day of Jdimytai Damour’s life, he mattered less than a fad, less than an inanimate object that will still be wrapped and placed under someone’s tree.
What have we become?
| | Janine Giordano | |
Damour died at the start of what is supposed to be the holiest time of year. He died on a day when he had to work, probably not by choice, on a day when he should have been home with family, sleeping off the effects of too much turkey.
I know people who work in retail. I used to work in retail. And while I loved working with people, the hours often kept me away from family. If I worked in retail, I probably would have had to work Black Friday. I would have wanted to call in sick. I wonder if the thought to call in sick crossed Damour’s mind at all before leaving his family and heading off to work in the still dark hours before dawn.
This year, we made sure we made it to the Herkimer Wal-Mart to grab the one item my daughter asked for this year. They offered it at the best price around, and we were told it might be difficult to find it after this weekend.
I had never seen the parking lot so jam-packed with cars. It was so full that people were parked all the way to the McDonald’s lot, filling up Applebee’s and other adjacent lots.
As we snaked our way through the crowded store, I had a fleeting thought about fire codes and emergency exits. As we neared the electronics department and my eyes fell on an empty unclaimed shopping cart, those thoughts were forgotten. Suddenly, I wanted to fill the cart with bargains. I made a mental list of all the things I could buy.
As we searched for the sole item we came for, I continued to add to my mental list. And then I saw a woman, arms loaded, without a cart, balancing her bargains in a precarious embrace as the crowd pulsated around her.
She caught my eye and without thinking, I opened my big mouth, pushed my cart towards her and said, “Here, take mine.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief and she dumped her purchases in the basket, not really giving me a chance to rescind my offer.
I released the cart and my mental list was ripped to shreds. I only wanted the one item and I wanted to leave. It was way too crowded for me, the people were jostling and too close and we just wanted to get out of there.
As we walked toward the registers, we found another empty cart. No sooner did my hands curl around the hand bar that my list reformulated in my brain. To make a long story short, we waited in line for about an hour to contribute nearly $600 to the failing economy. I was officially part of Black Friday.
If this were a perfect world, the news of Damour’s death would have made a much more impressive impact. People would have stopped in their tracks and asked, “What have we done? Who are we and what are we becoming?”
Instead, they talk about the atrocity of it all, then go back to planning where they are going to find the rest of their items on their Christmas list this year.
Now, looking back on this Black Friday, I realize that while I may have lost $600 out of my bank account, that was nothing compared to Damour losing his life.
As we move toward this holiday season, we need to place less emphasis on giving as a way to show our love, and focus more on living and experiencing that love through acts of kindness and compassion.
With that in mind, remember, life is for the living. So live it.
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Reader Discussion
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