We all know the economy is bad this year; we're even more painfully aware of it now that the holiday shopping season has officially kicked off. But the death of a WalMart employee on Friday makes me wonder how far people will go this year for a bargain.

Shoppers at a WalMart in Valley Stream, N.Y. had been lining up outside the store all night, waiting to get a great deal on a bunch of crap no one really needed (oh come on you know it's true). By 4:55 on Friday morning, the crowd of nearly 2,000 people decided they were tired of waiting for the store to open (at 5:00 am) and busted in the front doors, trampling 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour to death. Four other people, including a 28-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant, were treated for injuries.

And the shoppers? Just kept right on shopping. Kimberly Cribbs, who was in the store when the incident occured, was shocked by the behavior she saw. "When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since yesterday morning,' " Ms. Cribbs told The Associated Press. "They kept shopping."

I don't mean to sound all cynical and Grinchy, but what is wrong with people? What do you need that badly from the WalMart that you have to camp out overnight in a parking lot and batter down the doors five minutes before the store opens?

Bah humbug.