Why Bum Rush? by Lei

The recent tragedy at a Long Island Wal-Mart made me think about "Why do people bum rush things?"

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/11/28/black.friday.violence/index.html

Bum rushing is a frequent occurrence here in China. You see it on the subway, in stores, in cafeteria halls, etc. You don't see much of it in the US. The Long Island tragedy took most of us by surprise. Long Island is not China. Aren't Americans supposed to be more "civilized" than the Chinese? The Chinese's lack of "mannerism" was a hot topic prior to the 2008 Olympics. I heard many Westerners wondered if the Chinese culture and people was polite enough to host the Olympics games.

So why do people bum rush? It is because there is an issue SCARCITY. At the Long Island Wal-Mart, the scarcity was probably for something like a $20 DVD player or a $500 50'inch flat screen TV. That was enough to make people forget all manners and rush for the prize. We are blessed in the US to not have to experience much scarcity. In China the issue of scarcity is quite prevalent. For my parent's generation who experienced famine and hunger, it is understandable why they have developed a mentally of fighting for your own at all costs. Heck, if they didn't, they might not even be around.

I am not making excuses for the lack of mannerism of the Chinese, I hate it just as much as the next guy. Having grown up in China, I somewhat understand why things are the way they are. There is no difference between Americans and Chinese. We Americans are just more blessed to not have to fight for everyday living necessities. There will always be food at Stop&Shop...there will always be more books at Barnes & Noble or on Amazon. If we don't catch this subway train or bus, there will always be another one.

Think for a second how you would act if you knew there was only one bag of rice left at Stop & Shop or one TV left at BestBuy. Maybe that's how those Long Islanders felt when they bum rushed into Wal-Mart.