Normally I don't post on a weekend but I had to just try to put down some words. Please excuse me if they are incoherent.
Mumbai. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones. I think about the people I know who lived/worked there and cowardly acts like this infuriates me. Attacking a hospital? Killing a family because they are a different religion than you?
Mumbai has had several terrorist attacks before but never of this scale.
The last time I watched CNN International it said two of the killed suspects had British I.D.s on them. This along with other aspects of the attack are leading the Indian government to believe it's not the act of some random local group. It was too organized and the attackers were well trained.
The relationship between Pakistan and India is not good. Tensions between the two are rising as rumors circulate this was an Al Qaeda attack and they were trained in the camps in Pakistan. God help us all if this is true. Both of these countries have nuclear arms.
Shopping madness. The following is from The New York Times.
“When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, ‘I’ve been on line since yesterday morning,’ ” Ms. Cribbs told The Associated Press. “They kept shopping.”
I read that and was floored. What is going on our society? Where is the compassion? A man was trampled to death and all some folks can think about is shopping?!
People were standing on line since 9:00 a.m. Thanksgiving day. WTF? Is it that deep? Spend time with your freaking family and if you don't like them go volunteer at a shelter or something. When did Thanksgiving weekend turn into this shopping frenzy? Stores need to quit with this stupid Black Friday ritual.
I dislike Walmart. They pay and treat their employees like crap. The man who died, Mr. Damour, 34, was ran over by a mob who took the doors off the hinges. The crowd had been building from the day before. Walmart should've used better judgement and hired more security and staff.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
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16 comments:
All I have to say is amen...well written.
Indeed. These past few days have been one unbelievable news story after another...and unbelievably sad too.
There is a complete disconnect in the world today. It is that lack of 'real' social interaction. Forget the msn and the facebook. People need to reach out more to each other and forget about the Blackberry.
I work with the public and I'm amazed by the lack of respect others show. I cannot tell you how many times people interrupt me when I'm helping someone else or will answer their cell phone. I refuse to help them if they are chatting on the phone or listening to their iPod.
Walmart ... that is unspeakable but I did like what this guy had to say about dealing with the after-effects of Mumbai. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29mehta.html?ref=opinion
Yes, the world has gone mad.
We were watching BBC America tonight and what ad was on? Walmart... for CHRISTMAS specials. How tasteless is that? The day after this man was trampled.
What's happened in Mumbai and Long Island were both unspeakable, but for different reasons.
Great write up! Hard to believe what this Wold is coming to. My Godmother taught high school French in Valley Stream for decades and I've been by that walfart. I blame the retailers and the news media for all of the hype about Black Friday. Don't forget that the walfart mentality is having an impact on more and more communities and this alone is tragic.
God Bless this World.
jessica - thank you.
michelle - This morning I took a break from watching the news...so sad.
ms. violetta - I know it's ironic that I'm agreeing with you via a blog but you're right. I have a lot more personal interaction since I've moved to Italy and it's not like I know more people here I don't. I used to stop speaking when friends would start to use their Blackberrys during a conversation.
di mackey - I read that in the Times too.
jen - please Walmart could care less. They've had crowd control problems during Black Friday before. Damour was a temp, so who know if he had worker's comp. He was also 270 pounds so that tells you about the force of the crowd. He was a big guy and still got trampled to death.
gil - Their business practices are horrible. The largest class action lawsuit ever was filed against them for discrimination against female employees.
Someone on another blog brought up the point that so much of the American economy is driven by spending not by actually making anything. Those jobs have moved overseas. This is a problem.
completely coherent. the world is making less sense every day.
Yes -- well written and I agree. The last several days have been just overwhelming with the news. That Walmart story was, well, a face of America which I do not miss. All I could say was WTF. I have been dealing with massive snow problems here and still I prefer being buried under a meter of snow to being on the same continent with those individuals.
The Family of the young man killed at the Valley Stream, NY walfart is planning on suing. Per news on 880 Radio.
It's insane how folks still wanted to shop. How cold and callus some parts of our society truly are. It's sickening.
bigcnyc - I get that accidents happen but the media and stores have turned the Friday after Thanksgiving into craziness. Those rock bottom sales are hard to miss. I don't think there will be any changes unless more people stay away.
diana - good luck with dealing with that snow. I'm glad too I'm missing the barrage of commercials, surly salespeople (I understand why they are) and a holiday that actually has some kind of spiritual meaning being turned into a crass, shop till you drop time of excess.
gil - good. While I do think we are too litigious in the States, the store was very irresponsible. They saw the crowd building and getting restless. They should have called for more police. Maybe next year they won't advertise "door busting" sales.
los angelista - that is was tripped me out. Folks were actually angry that their shopping was interrupted by a man's death.
It's so awful. Both situations. When I saw the first inkling of the Wal-Mart incident in news brief, I couldn't believe it.
And Mumbai . . . my heart just goes out to those who lived those terrified hours, who lost their lives or lost loved ones or were injured. I find it hard to believe there were only 10 attackers. Whatever their plan was, they certainly succeeded in sowing terror. And I think of the little two-year-old boy of the Lubavitcher rabbi and his wife. They said he came out, his pants soaked in blood, with someone else a few hours into the siege. Who knows the horrors that little boy saw.
All very grim.
I don't know about how the international stations are talking about Walmart, or iff they still are, but here (tri-state area) they keep having psychologists on TV talking about 'groupthink' and other BS reasons why people aren't responsible for their own actions. As earlier stated 'they acted like savages' but Walmart should not be let off the hook. Their bottom line is 'maximize the profit' and that includes not spending money for adequate security or for anything else for that matter. A spokesman for Walmart said that they hired extra security guards and notified the police about the crowd size yet in all those videos of the crowd outside their doors I did not see a police barrier designed for crowd control or a security guard. It sounds like all they hired was temporary workers who had no idea how to do crowd control. They had a day to hire help too. I hope that guys family sues Walmart for all they have but it won't bring their 34 year old son back.
Very well said!
I have also been so disturbed by the horrible terrorist attacks in Mumbai. I just cannot understand the mind of a terrorist. What makes a person become a monster like this? It also bothered me hearing people talk only about how many Americans were killed. It made me cry watching the scenes on TV. It was heartbreaking for every person involved; those hiding in hotel rooms or being shot at in the train station or cafe, those witnessing friends or family killed or injured, those losing loved ones, everyone who was injured,and also for all the people of Mumbai.
The shopping madness has also gotten completely out of control! I was once in a situation during a regular sale in the springtime where 2 people blocked me in while they fought over my parking spot while I tried to leave. I finally had to go find security. I also can't believe that the shoppers at Walmart were more concerned about the sales and being able to shop then they were about the man that was killed.
kimb - I'm surprised too that so few people could cause so much chaos. I think about the Rabbi and his family. A neighbor across the street said he saw the attackers strapping explosives to the Rabbi's body. Awful.
j. doe - I agree with you. I think back to my days on line at the Comune and how if you are being shoved from the back there is nothing you can do but move forward. That said, Walmart saw how many people were on line, they've had problems in the past and they were grossly understaffed. The store should not be off the hook. The share the blame along with people who were so excited to get a deal they trampled a man to death.
girasoli - I don't understand it either. The form of religion I was brought up with taught respect for other people's beliefs. It seem like the extremists are getting more violent.
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