Attention Walmart Shoppers

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming

Paul Simon      

In the week just passed we have seen the horrors of man's inhumanity to man in Mumbai, India. It was another case of people killing people in support of some religious or political cause. Yet, as unjustified as it was from my point of view, it was not the worst instance of man's inhumanities to man last week. Nope. The worst of the worst happened right here in the United States of America.


A mob of about 2000 Walmart shoppers in Valley Stream, NY crushed to death one of the employees opening the door at 5:00 am on Black Friday. Jdimytai Damour, 34, was fatally injured as a crowd estimated at 200 crashed the door, trampling him underfoot, offering neither aide nor comfort as he lay dying.

Now, folks, this was not a stampede resulting from panic. No one yelled "Fire!" in a crowded theatre.

So, exactly to what neon god were these people bowing and praying?

A Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV being sold for $798 .

A Bissel Compact Upright Vaccum being sold for $28.

A Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera being sold for $69

And DVDs such as "The Incredible Hulk" being sold for $9.

And exactly what words of warning did this sign flash?

That, here in the United States of America, materialism has become more valuable than life, more valuable than ideas, and more valuable than our very soul. Indeed, Black Friday has become the ultimate symbol of the commercialization of Christmas. And, poor Damour became the first person known to have died as a direct result of Black Friday.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

Shop on, America ... until you hear the fat lady singing.