Death is inevitable. This knowledge wears greatly on the souls of man.
Though our death is inevitable, how we die is not. There are those among us who dream of a glorious death, a death where they fight the last stand against the alien horde to ensure humanity’s dominance of the galaxy.
Of course, for every person like that, you have some poor guy who was trampled to death on Black Friday.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is when people get up at ungodly hours to fight, jostle, yell and punch for the most insane shopping deals they can find. In the process, occasionally, someone dies. Back in 2008, for instance, a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by shoppers.
Black Friday is a big deal to stores because it generates a lot of revenue. Apparently enough to cover the lawsuits and still draw a profit. It’s a big deal to shoppers, too, since some of the deals offered allow people to buy things they normally couldn’t. Whether the item in question is worth their life probably doesn’t come to mind until after they hit the floor.
Despite the risks, Americans swarm in droves to shop on Black Friday. Getting up at hours considered sane for bats and Wal-Mart customers, the massive horde descends like a plague of locust, leaving only despair and dollar signs in its wake.
Though the cost may be your life, people willingly toss themselves onto the rampart of insane bargain shopping. Laughing at the danger they face, they charge headlong into the fray, year after year. This Tyranid-like horde, oblivious to those trampled underfoot, continues consuming everything in its path.
What drives these people? The glory of a great bargain? The danger of shopping amongst the Hive Mind? Illuminati-sponsored government hallucinogenics?
My guess would be all of the above.
The pioneering spirit of danger, excitement and adventure is strong in the American culture. Unfortunately, the outlets for that spirit are few and far between these days. So when an outlet exists, it makes sense that people will cling to it, draw on it and seize it. With a store flyer in one hand and a wrongful death suit in the other, these brave souls venture forth where no sane man has any business going.
Black Friday should not be thought of as a time of death and despair, it must be remembered as a personification of the American dream. From all walks of life, the American people descend upon the stores, ready to fight to the death over the latest must-have thing that will be that same price in another three months.
At the same time, those who fall must be remembered. Not because they died heroically in the last ditch, but as a warning, because when Americans go too far someone usually dies.
