Martyr to "Black Friday"

An unnamed overnight stock clerk at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart in Long Island, New York, was trampled and killed at 5 AM this morning as out-of-control shoppers broke down the doors on what is billed in the U.S. as the "biggest shopping day of the year." He was 34 years old. His coworker describes, "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back." There are also numerous reports of shoppers getting injured, including a miscarriage*, a broken nose and a broken arm, and back injuries. Awful, ridiculous, and a sad (and unnecessary) symptom of our commercialized society. And so the Christmas shopping season begins...

*The report of a miscarriage turns out to be untrue. The expectant mother was taken to the hospital, but did not lose the baby. Two additional shoppers were killed, however, when they shot each other in a Palm Desert, California, Toys R Us.