"Blinded By The Light..."

At this time of year, there are many stories of caring and giving and good will towards men.

And over the next few weeks, I promise to share some of them with you.

Not today.

(CNN) -- A temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in a rush of thousands of early morning shoppers as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m., police said.

The Wal-Mart worker, whom authorities did not identify, was 34 and lived in Queens, said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming.

"This was utter chaos as these men tried to open the door this morning," Fleming said.

Video showed as many as a dozen people knocked to the floor in the stampede of people trying to get into the Wal-Mart store, Fleming said.

The employee was "stepped on by hundreds of people" as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, Fleming said.

"Several minutes" passed before others were able to clear space around the man and attempt to render aid. Police arrived, and "as they were giving first aid, those police officers were also jostled and pushed," he said.

"Shoppers ... were on a full-out run into the store," he said.

The crowd had begun forming outside the store by 9 p.m. Thursday, Fleming said. By 5 a.m. Friday, when the doors were unlocked, there were 2,000 or so shoppers, many of whom "surged forward," breaking the doors, he said.

The man was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Others in the crowd sustained minor injuries such as sprained ankles, Fleming said.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, but "the baby is going to be OK,"

Fleming said. She was to be released later in the day, he said.

Asked about the possibility of criminal charges in the Wal-Mart death, Fleming said he would not rule it out but noted that charges would be "very difficult," as it would be "almost impossible" to identify people in the crowd from the video, and those in the front of the crowd were pushed by those behind them.

Hundreds of people may have lined up in an orderly fashion but got caught up in the rush, he said.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kelly Cheeseman issued a statement saying, "We are saddened to report that a gentleman who was working for a temporary agency on our behalf died at the store and a few other customers were injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families at this difficult time."

The company is investigating the incident, the statement said.

Officers patrolling the shopping center overnight had had concerns about the size of the crowd, Fleming said, and had tried to get those in line better organized. Wal-Mart security officers were also present overnight, but he said he did not know how many.

"I don't know what it's worth to Wal-Mart or to any of these stores that run these sales events," Fleming said, "but it has become common knowledge that large crowds do gather on the Friday after Thanksgiving in response to these sales and in an effort to do their holiday shopping at the cheapest prices.

"I think it is incumbent upon the commercial establishments to recognize that this has the potential to occur at any store. Today, it happened to be Wal-Mart. It could have been any other store where hundreds and hundreds of people gather."

Asked whether the security had been adequate, Fleming said, "In light of the outcome, in hindsight, the answer is obviously no. ... This crowd was out of control."

This is one of those stories that, obviously, appalls and/or offends any decent soul.

A young man is dead because people would have knocked down their own grandmothers to save two hundred bucks on a flat screen.

And it would be easy and obvious to launch into the diatribe about the “price lust” that turned a crowd into a mob that killed someone.

It really isn’t price lust that killed this guy.

Anybody who has ever seen grown people shove little children to the ground in order to snatch up three-cent doubloons during Mardi Gras parades will testify to how easily madness can overtake maturity.

What killed this guy was blindness.

Retailers blinded by the light at the end of the long tunnel of quarterly loss.

Shoppers rushing hysterically forward in the blinding blaze of the blue light specials.

In this season of lights, it was the brightest of lights that blinded the masses and cost one family a loved one.

The official cause of this young man’s death was heart failure.

But he died of blindness.

The blinding light of a Wal Mart sign outshining a star from the east.

"Oh...and World Peace....I Forgot World Peace...."

G says that everything is a tradeoff.

Indeed.

For example, the tradeoff for the privilege of filling mouth and tummy with the caloric confections of this day is dealing with that moment at the dinner table when you have to come up with something.

You know.

That “let’s all tell what we’re thankful for” thing.

There are usually two main types of tablemates.

The ones who have no problem rattling off the list of things they are thankful for, from good friends and family to the way that fungus has finally cleared up on the family spaniel.

And those you just know are making shit up so they can eat without guilt.

Historically, I fall somewhere in the middle.

Which is ironic, I’d offer, given that one of my primary motivations in life seems to be going after and/or relishing being the center of attention.

It might have something to do with the fact that there are really only two ways to go with the ritual.

You either simultaneously show sincerity and vulnerability which are tough rows to hoe under the best of circumstances, let alone while sitting at a table surrounded by relatives whose reactions to your sharing could easily influence your status in their last will and testaments.

Or you play the smart-ass card, which never plays well in that moment.

And pretty much makes your getting cut out of the will a lock.

Actually, my problem is that I’ve spent a lifetime creating a persona of smart ass.

So turning into heartfelt sharing boy at the dinner table just feels disingenuous.

Having said all that…

Healthy kids, grandkids, loved ones and healing spaniels duly noted, I offer this thought up as my way of saying thanks today.


People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.

When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.

They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.

Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.

Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done.

The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.

They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.

They may teach you something you have never done.

They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.

Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.

Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or whether you are a lifetime.


Pass the gravy, please.