What's A Gift Worth?

The morning of Black Friday my husband had the news on and of course they interviewed a man who was out shopping about how the economy is affecting his buying. He explained that he was shopping pretty much like he did last year, however he thought more people were shopping for just what they needed, "like TVs and clothes." I looked at my husband and said "Need? since when is a TV a need?"

Then later in the day we heard of the many stores where there was bodily harm and even death. One of the harmed was a pregnant woman and the death was an employee that was opening the doors of a Wal-Mart. [Newsday | New York Daily News]  My first thought was why would a pregnant woman continue to stay in a situation where there were hundreds and even thousands of people who were jostling and pushing for a chance to get ahead? Did she actually think that when the doors opened the crowds would get polite and walk calmly and politely into the store?

The employee was trampled to death and the shoppers continued to force their way over his dying body—even with emergency medical personnel working on him. When they tried to close the doors of the store due to this tragedy the shoppers refused to leave. They yelled that they had invested too much time waiting to be sent home without their purchases.

My heart and prayers go out to the family of the man who lost his life. I imagine they will never look at Thanksgiving or Christmas in the same way.

David and me at the park

I know that retailers and the media use Black Friday as an indicator of how holiday spending will go. But, with their limited time and limited available items at the great prices the stores are in part responsible for the situations. They must start taking measures to insure crowd control. Two years ago we went to a local store and the crowds were kept in a line. When the opening time came, the security would only allow a certain amount of people in at a time. At no time was there an unsafe or out-of-control feeling. Shoppers must also start using common sense that when a situation begins to look unsafe, it's not worth the risk.

So, for many, I guess the answer is nothing is worth more then a good buy. I was glad that we spent Black Friday not in a store, but in bed followed by a family trip to the park. We returned home to hot turkey sandwiches and a movie while cuddling in the livingroom.