A Poem About Christmas Heartbreak and Greed on Black Friday

I greatly enjoy the Christmas season. I always have since childhood, and not for the presents, but for the chance to give to those around me.

That's why I so despise Christmas greed. Black Friday is a day that truly disgusts me. The idiots that line up in front of Best Buy and other retailers -- even sleeping in tents -- need to get a fucking life! Come on. Is it really worth it to sleep in the cold for a cheaper HD TV set?

Haven't we learned anything from the recent economic crisis? Less is more. It is time to cut back and reduce spending. Uncontrolled spending in Washington and around the country (and globally, too) is how we got into this mess.

But the worst news from this year's Black Friday is that a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in a stampede by overzealous and greedy shoppers.

It was the Blackest of Fridays for his family.
What were the shoppers thinking?
What was Wal-Mart thinking by allowing something like that to happen?

Is this the true Christmas Spirit in action?

However, it is not the first time for Wal-Mart, though.

A few years ago, I read a ridiculous story about how a woman in Florida was nearly trampled to death at another Wal-Mart as people fought to get an opportunity to buy a $29 DVD player. It happened during the Christmas season, too, which seemed fitting to me..The story struck me then as the epitome of stupidity and greed...

Later it was discovered the woman was faking and had done this a number of times in an attempt to sue for damages. It didn't change the story all that much for me. It was still about naked greed, which the recent more deadly Wal-Mart incident drove home for me.

Merry Christmas? Good will to all men? Apparently not.

The whole ugly incident inspired this following poem..

GP

******************
DVD NIGHTMARE

The other day
a woman was
trampled
by a crowd of
Christmas shoppers
at a Wal-Mart.

They were making
a mad
dash to buy
$29 DVD players.

Consumed
by
consumer lust
no one stopped to
help her.

So much for the
Christmas spirit.

This was real life
entertainment.

When the crowd
cleared
the woman was found
laying unconscious
on top of a DVD player.

A Wal-Mart spokesman
said he hoped
the trampled woman
would continue
to be a customer
after she recovered
from her injuries.

Maybe next time
she'll lose her life
over a TV.

All in the name
of rabid consumerism.

File this under the horror section
in your local reality store.

Later it was discovered
the woman may have intended to
fake the whole thing as she done previously,
but this time things went horribly awry.

Sometimes justice does come to those who wait.

George Pappas
Copyright 2008