Why?

I know this has been published and commentated on by many more eloquent than myself, but the story of the Wal-Mart employee being trampled to death in a Long Island, New York store hit me very close to home.  My wife works at a local Wal-mart here in Memphis to give the family some extra funds to cover expenses.  She works as a greeter and cashier and if this had happened at her store, she would have most likely been at the center of the accident.  That chilling thought as well as looking at the pictures and video from the linked story above has made me question what we have become over the years.

I like "stuff" just like the next guy, but have we reached a point in society where the desire for more "stuff" at the lowest possible price causes us to act in irresponsible and reprehensible ways?  While the above story is the worst event of the day, my wife told me of actions taken by grown men and women that make me cringe, both in disbelief and belief at what we do when we think we are not getting what we "deserve."  When did we become a society that is so centered on what "we" want that we don't even see the man we are stepping on as we run to claim what is rightly ours?  Fist fights over toys and TVs that will be restocked tomorrow and go on sale again before Christmas are insane.  Taking things out of other people's carts because they aren't looking and you want it borders on psychotic in my book.

I will not pretend I am above the fray on this as I struggle everyday with the desire to get more "stuff," to have the biggest, fastest, most advanced piece of hardware/software/gadget imaginable.  I would spend myself into the poor house if it were not for my loving wife gently reminding me what is really important.  In the end what value are all of these things if a life is lost in the process of getting them?  What is so high of a value at a Wal-Mart store, or any store for that matter, that would make you ignorant of the fact you are stepping on a human body and not a concrete floor?

The saddest part of this entire story is looking at the pictures and watching the video of people still trying to get into the store even as the paramedics were trying in vain to save the man who had been trampled.  Throughout all of this, one question continues to ring out....Why?