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?

Everyone knows who George Carlin was.  Not everyone liked his particular brand of humor, which was always sharp and punctuated with crisp four-letter words and divergent thoughts, but to me it wasn’t always about his humor.  What I liked about Carlin was how razor sharp his mind could be.  How he took everyday topics and shone a light down upon them, making them brighter and more defined, and forced you to look at them in ways you never thought about.  He was a master of logic and thought, and never let even the small details go unnoticed.  No one was safe.  Nothing was safe.  Everything and everybody was fair game.

And he was right. 

I’ll repeat that:  He was right.

No one pushed the envelope more than George.  No one had more balls.  The greatest comedian in my lifetime.  One of the greatest thinkers ever.  An inspiration to me most definitely, and many millions of others.  One of the smartest people who ever lived.  Ever.

The whole world is dimmer somehow…

Carlin on language.

Carlin on environmentalism.

Carlin on religion:

Carlin on voting:

Carlin on intelligence and fat people:

There are so many more moments.  Do yourself a favor and watch them all.

Bye George.  We miss you already.

I got to thinking about this.  Seems most people are afraid of snakes or spiders or some creepy crawly thing.  Others are afraid of bees or wasps or mice.  Still others are afraid of less tangible things.  More ideals or phobias, like heights or closed-in spaces.

I can’t say I’m afraid of any of those things.  I think snakes are pretty cool, and spiders even cooler.  Now, I’m not fond of being bitten or poisoned by one, but that’s not a reason to fear them in my opinion.

Here’s a fantastic picture of a friend of mine with a cool snake.  I got to hold this snake too, and it was sweet.  I looked and looked and didn’t find a picture of me with it, but my friend is  much prettier than I am anyway, so this was a better representation.  This particular snake was very friendly and well-behaved.  He was also quite strong and agile.  Snakes are creatures to be respected, for sure.  But not feared.

Heights don’t bother me.  Bees and wasps I just ignore for the most part.  Closed-in spaces, large open spaces, birds, mice, cats, bugs… no real concern.

I’m not particularly fond of some things.  Kids annoy me, but I don’t fear them.  Ideas, like drowning or falling off a cliff are not very appealing, but I can’t say I’m afraid of them.

My friend asked, "What about death?"

Again, nope.  I admit I’ve never been dead, so my frame of reference is minimal.  I’ve been in situations before where death was a real possibility, but there’s a certain awareness or clarity of thought or lucidity that happens in such times, and I don’t know that fear enters the mind until upon reflection afterward.

A quick, violent death — like being shot perhaps, doesn’t give you much time to fear.  The anticipation could be very fearful though, like if someone was coming after you to kill you, and I fully understand that.  I suppose I would be quite scared in that situation. 

A slow, painful death is more fearful to me.  But I think people in those situations come to a certain acceptance about it, and fear probably isn’t an issue.

After lots of thought, I decided what I’m afraid of though.  Yes — I have made up my mind.

I don’t want to leave without being remembered.  I want a legacy of some kind, and I want people to know who I am.  To me, the greatest thing in the world to fear is fading away without a trace.  To have never been recognized or noticed.

That’s what I’m afraid of.  What about you?