:: gordon gekko was wrong...

the last few days of november are on a national scale somewhat like what those few days here in new orleans during the february or march months are on a local scale.

mardi gras is largely considered a time where people get all the debauchery out. people generally perceive that during mardi gras you go to new orleans and get hammered and do crazy crap that you'd usually never do.

traditionally, thanksgiving is considered a time for family to come together and enjoy company and a great meal. but commercially, it has become a time where americans give themselves over to gluttony. i'm not trying to sound judgmental. i've been guilty of that too. it's true. we eat way too much food in one day. it's unjustifiable.

the day after, black friday, is a day where american's give themselves over to greed. given the economic woes of the past couple months, many thought that this day would be less insane than usual. but there were still people lined up early in the morning to fight for the right to buy things they don't need at a discounted price. we don't need the excess. it can be tempting, especially with the price cut. but a lot of times we don't need it.

and this morning, in an act of mystifying greed, someone died. i'm sure it's not the first time this has happened. but every time this happens, you've got to stop and think.

the people waiting to get into the wal-mart broke the doors off of their track to get in and trampled a man to death. he was 34 years old. he probably had a family, and he was probably working the insane thanksgiving shift to help support his family. and people in line to buy things they probably didn't need trampled over him in an attempt to be the first one to the xbox 360 or that cool new cell phone. people placed junk over that guy's life.

what the hell is wrong with us? dear god, what have we become?


*friend of the blog (and mine) corey phillips also weighed in on this topic over on his blog. check it out at http://attemptatfaithful.wordpress.com/