A 34 year-old man, working in a temporary position in a Wal Mart for the holidays, probably looking for a little extra cash to give his family something nice this year, was trampled to death during a Black Friday rush early this morning.

Having worked numerous Black Fridays in retail, I know all too well what that scene might have looked like.  I’ve spent many an hour in a store during the morning hours on the day after Thanksgiving, dutifully setting up displays and attending to last minute details, all the while staring at voracious masses just outside the front door waiting with no patience to get in.  These people are sometimes completely unruly, riotous  and without regard for others.  They’ll stop for nothing or no one to reach their objective.

Have you ever seen a zombie movie?  In every one, there’s always a point where the heroes are trapped in a building or structure of some kind, while outside the undead masses — completely void of higher brain functions and of single-minded determination — scratch and claw and group in huge bunches in an attempt to seize their prey.  This is exactly what Black Friday feels like from a retail worker’s perspective.  Unwashed masses by the thousands hungering for what you have with no thought to you or your person.

Even so, I blame Wal Mart for this.  Yes, I understand the initial crush of customers that come through in the beginning, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  You need people to go out beforehand and organize the crowds.  You have to have strong, direct people to stand up and tell the crowds how things are going to be.  You need organization, you have to have discipline and order, or else someone really can get hurt.

There was absolutely NO excuse for a mad dash through the doors.  None whatsoever.  Any managers working that early morning shift deserve immediate termination for failing to contain that situation.  What’s more, I hope the family of the victim sues the ass off Wal Mart and wins millions and millions of dollars.  No, this won’t bring the victim back, but it will help Wal Mart to see the big picture here.  Someone screwed up, and someone needs to pay.

And what if you were one of those shoppers?  What if you were one of those people who literally stepped on a helpless man in a Wal Mart isle early Friday morning in an attempt to buy some stupid, pointless toy or piece of junk DVD player or a crappy TV made in Korea?  How do you live with yourself knowing you took an innocent person’s life away in your greed and your insolence?  How do you sleep, knowing that when your kids open their shitty DVD player on Christmas, you paid for it with blood?  What about that man’s kids?  Just think of how their Christmas morning will play out, murderer.  You should be ashamed at the price of your foolishness.

What is it all really worth?

It’s that time of year again.  The time where shoppers descend upon stores in a frenzied rage, clogging parking lots, standing in long lines, being rude and disrespectful, purchasing carts full of whatever this year’s Big Thing might be, and reveling in the holiday spirit.  What a wonderful time.  But that’s tomorrow.

Today is Thanksgiving.

So with that in mind, here’s my annual list of Things I’m Thankful For.

1.  I’d like to thank the Academy and its members.  It’s truly an honor just to be nominated.

2.  I’d like to thank Best Buy for having the foresight to fire me last January, so that I may NOT have to work the hellish nightmare that is Black Friday for first time in over a decade.

3.  I’d like to thank OPEC; all of the greedy oil companies, and foremost, the wonderful United States economy for the giant spike in gas prices over the summer and the massive recession we’re in currently, thereby causing the airlines to raise their rates astronomically to the point where I couldn’t afford to fly home and be with my family and friends during this holiday season.  Because without that, I wouldn’t get to sit here entirely by myself today with nothing whatsoever to do.

4.  I’d like to thank Al Gore for inventing the Internet, so that I may have at least this one thing to keep my mind occupied on such a wonderful holiday.

5.  I’d like to thank General Mills for inventing Cheerios, because what’s Thanksgiving dinner without a bowl of cereal?

6.  I’d like to thank whoever invented the Redbox.  You are truly a god among men.

7.  I’d like to thank the psychological affliction known as depression, without which I probably could have taken up one of a couple of offers to actually enjoy this holiday instead of sitting here writing a blog dripping with angst.

8.  I’d like to thank the germ rhinovirus, without which I couldn’t have spent the first half of this week in a zombified, clogged-up, feverish state of misery. (I’m all better now)

9.  I’d like to thank the Salt Lake County public library system, for providing me with wonderful paperback friends with which to spend this holiday.

10.  And finally, I’d like to thank the concept of sarcasm itself, for allowing me to vent my frustrations in a non-destructive way.  Bless you wonderful sarcasm, for making me the person I am today.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 

I’ve recently decided to axe my Flickr page.  I’ll still maintain the account though, but any pictures that appear there will be random shots or cell phone pictures of things I may happen across.  All of my “art”, as it were, will be available on my new photo blog.

I’ve owned the worldsindigital.com domain for a long time; going on a decade now.  I suppose it’s about time I actually did something with it, right?  I would like to invite all of my friends and thoughtful readers to add the following to their RSS readers:

http://worldsindigital.com/index.php?x=rss

You can also access the blog through the domain, http://www.worldsindigital.com.  Right now there are a few pictures up, all of which you will recognize from before.  I’m working on uploading more each day, so I’ll soon have a pretty decent portfolio online.

The reason I’m doing this is for a more professional look.  I like the idea of a photo blog, and sending any possible clients to a Flickr page just isn’t quite the same to me.  This will give me more of an opportunity to display the shots the way I want.  I’ve also got some upgrades in mind, including a way to purchase prints (should anyone want to do such a thing.)  I’ll have more control over the presentation of the images.  Don’t worry if you hate the current layout, because it will change soon.

The down side, right now at least, is that the server I’m hosting the page on is slower than hell at certain times.  The contract with the hosting company expires in March, so I’ll likely be looking to move the site soon.  I’ll let you know.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.  And if you do like my pictures, be sure and leave comments, so I can better my skills further.  Also, look for an announcement referring to my photographs soon!

EDIT:  Is anyone else having this virus alert issue when clicking the links?  Please please let me know!

Ugh.  Ugh I say!  I nab a hed-cold.

It’s my first one since the beginning of the year, so I guess I can’t complain too much.  Oh wait, yes I can.  I can complain all I want, because I think colds are ridiculous.  It’s the 21st century, and we should have cured simple little things like head colds long ago.  It’s bad enough that I suffer from major allergies.  I’m sniffy year-round for the most part, and I look forward to the wintertime when all the sneezy trees and plants are dead, so I can get a little relief.  So what happens then?  I get a bloody cold.  A disease that should have been wiped out decades ago.

It came to me last night.  You know how you can sometimes feel them coming on?  You get this sort of twinge.  It’s not exactly in your nose.  It’s somehow behind your nose, but not quite in your throat either.  It’s back in your head somewhere.  Just this little inkling of something not being quite right.  You kind of dismiss it at first.  Maybe some dust or something… but no.  The sensation grows.  Suddenly you just know.

My first reaction is to hit the fridge, hoping some sort of orange juicy substance will be available.  I use that to wash down a vitamin C tablet.  Alas, it is to no avail.  The disease wins every time.

Today I’m simultaneously Stuffy and Drippy.  Like two of the seven dwarves.  I’m gonna hit the store here in a few and pick up some NyQuil (God bless ByQuil), and then I’ll be Drowsy and Tipsy.  Tack on two more dwarves.  Tomorrow I’ll be Tired and Irritable, so now we’re up to six.

By Thursday I just want to be the dwarf named Better.