My sympathies to any family and friends of the deceased.

I would have thought that the pain would be too great to reject help while you're on fire, even if you did it on purpose.

I'd guess it has something to do with being 58 years old and working at Wal-Mart. When your life is that much in the shitter, I certainly can't blame someone for suicidal tendencies.

How sad for his family.

Poor man. Depression is a terrible disease -- probably one we can't blame on Wal*Mart.

@menty666: Too soon.

I would think working at Walmart at 58, probably not having any retirement saved up, and the stress of trying to live on less than a living wage just all piled on the guy. Too many factors of our culture are really abusive to people for not having enough money.

If you can't pay your medical bills it is your fault for not being rich enough. Second job to try to pay those bills and still can't come up with 1/4 mil? Too bad that is still your fault and your considered a bad person.

Didn't save up for retirement because you spent your entire life working a series of low paying jobs that lacked any benefits you could bank on? Your fault too. People are told they are bad people for not planning their retirement. Never mind that people working at Walmart are barely able to meet their basic day to day needs.

Housing is expensive, food is expensive, transit is difficult in many areas. Medical is beyond the reach of many people. Instead of trying to fix these things, people get randomly blamed personally for the crappy situation in the country.

I sympathize with this man and his family. And as a former walmart employee of just over 3 years, I can understand completely why he went into that state of a deep depression.

Man, what a way to go. Sorta slow and probably the most painful way to commit suicide.

I'd bet it'd be a mix between financial problems and work.

It's not fun working retail. In fact, it's my version of hell.

Not sure about anyone else, but it get's tiring hearing people yell at you over something you have no control over. It will drive you over the edge, just have to find that breaking point.

This is why I say everyone should work at retail, so you don't get the college graduates (no joke) that go, "What do you mean your sold out!?!?!?!?!"

"Well, sir, that sale started on sunday, it's now Friday... we've sold the stock that we received"

"THAT'S REDICULOUS! HOW COULD YOU SELL OUT!?"

*facepalm* apparently college education does not transfer to common sense. Sale... = selling products in stock = no more product in stock.

Anyway, I feel bad for this guy. Sigh.

@chris_l: I'd guess it has to do with issues far beyond his employer but, hey, why pass on the chance to take a jab at Wal-Mart, what with their rounding people up and forcing them to work there and all.

I can't believe he threw the coats off of him while being in that much pain. His will to die seems to have been much greater than many of us can fathom.

Sympathies to him, friends and family.

@ElizabethD: No, can't blame Wal-Mart. Depression is a horrible problem and he might have done the same if he was a CEO. But his working there may be a bit symbolic of how many workers are treated in this country and that it does impact your psychological state over time.

Retail is an INCREDIBLY abusive job field. I'd imagine Wall-Mart is probably worse than most.

So dealing with a workplace that doesn't care about you and doesn't pay jack, customers that are jerks, the possibility of no retirement and no end in sight... yeah I can see it.

This is sickening, but really has nothing to do with Wal-Mart that we know of.

My uncle works at a Wal-Mart as a greeter. He owned over 50 convenience stores and probably has $5 million in the bank. But he lives in a small town, is widowed, and got lonely. So don't assume everyone's life is in the shitter. Besides, you might be sporting one of those orange and blue blazers sooner than you know it. Starbuck's doesn't need that many baristas.

@johnfrombrooklyn: Your uncle sounds like a cool guy!

@Courteous_Gentleman: Exactly. This is a clear cut case of biased reporting - the blog post author is trying to create a much deeper connection than any facts would actually point to.

@Yossarian: That's not (entirely) it. It could have been Target, Home Depot, etc. It's the concept that people in low paying jobs struggle to get by and it can have profound affects on them over time. Simply, getting a better job isn't always an option or even possible if you have to work multiple jobs to just get by. Combine that with the increasing attitude that wealth= self-worth and you can expect to see this more. Maybe not in such a spectacular fashion, but in quiet desperation, where newspapers and TV's may never reach.

@menty666: MUCH too soon. As in, "you're a huge D-bag," too soon.

There is no humor here.
Tragedy
He was making a point.
The problem with suicide is you cant explain what you meant.
Leave a note. Who reads it. Not your boss.

@ARP: Where do you find the evidence that this was about his job? Supposition =/= evidence.

wallmart,,suicide made in china!

I did have a joke ("did they ask to see the receipt of the matches he used?") but in all seriousness, I really don't see how this is a consumer issue. The man was obviously depressed, and unless there's more to this story that the working conditions at Walmart led to him doing this, I'm not sure how I see the consumerist connection.

I'd expect this from Carey, but not from Ben. Slow news day?

I think this post is a bit inappropriate. Clearly this person had severe emotional/psychiatric issues, and a death in this manner must be absolutely horrific for both the deceased and his family.

It does not seem appropriate to use this tragedy as the basis for a joke or as a platform for discussion of working conditions at Wal-Mart.

Considering that he did this in front of Wal Mart and that immolation is used as a form of protest (like the monks demanding Tibet's religious freedom), perhaps he was trying to make a socio-economic statement?

@chris_l: For all we know, the guy could have been a manager or something. Not everyone who works at Walmart is a 7.50/hr greeter.

@chris_l: I know a few people who are around that age and, as they are out of work, are worse off vis-a-vis the context of your comments. I wouldn't say their life is in the "shitter", and I wouldn't expect them to kill themselves.

Self immolation is an extreme way to make a statement.

The man must have been in terrible pain physically, mentally, and spiritually.

My sympathies go to his family.

@Yossarian: Exactly. It's fun to say, "the guy obviously killed himself because working at wal-mart sucks so much and he'd had it with all the corporate BS and stupid customers" but him saying he couldn't take it anymore seems to me to indicate a far more serious problem.

Maybe he has a pending divorce, perhaps he's about to lose his home, maybe he has suffered through some personal tragedies (death of a loved one), etc.

I know from experience working at Wal-mart does suck, but there's plenty of older people who work there and, despite the stress, never become suicidal.

@pb5000: He's a cool guy because he is working at a job he doesn't need, thus preventing someone who does need that highly-desirable Wal-Mart job from getting it?

@ARP: If he was burning to the point that it was life threatening, it was likely bad enough that he didn't feel much pain at all. Whatever despair (or perhaps mania) he was feeling could have overrided any sense of pain or fear. That's... not exactly comforting, but better to know that it's possible he didn't suffer much from the burns.

@johnfrombrooklyn:

That reminds me of a guy at work. He doesn't actually work for our company, but he comes by and does small projects...changes out light bulbs, air filters, etc. Reminds me of Jonathan Winters...always going around telling jokes, doing impersonations and throwing his voice. Very ingenious guy that is definitely a jack of all trades. Also turns out he is a retired millionaire.

@Courteous_Gentleman: You're right. There's no connection that a Wal-Mart worker self-immolated himself in front of the store he worked at. I mean, it's not like it was pre-meditated or anything.
I'm sure he was having another great day at work, but when he was checking out saw that Lindsy Lohan is hanging out with a crazy people again, and decided that even though he was happy with everything else, this was just too much. As he walked outside despondent, he came across one of those gas cans you always find full just sitting around everywhere. So he only THEN decided to pour it over himself, and light it using the lighters/matches that are always attached to the full gas cans that the gnomes leave around. Damn you US Weekly!

Further, Ben I think you really should think about whether you should continue to make posts like this now that you're part of Consumers Union. An edgy style is one thing, but I'm not sure you want to associate Consumers Union - which has had a pretty good reputation for a long time - with low blows like this.

If you want to make a point about Wal-Mart, there are much more relevant and appropriate ways to do it. It's not like there are any shortage of stories and anecdotes about Wal-Mart, so why dwell on this?

@FuryOfFirestorm:

That would be my guess. Unless he left a note, we may never know what his message was though.

@Everyone. I don't pretend to know much about suicide, but normally when you commit suicide/make a "statement"/do something crazy, you do it at or around the place that is troubling you. People rarely go on a killing spree at the Supermarket, when they have a real problem w/the Post Office. I'm just saying. There has to be a "tipping" point, and I'm guessing being at the place that is troubling you focuses you on that trouble, and "tips" you.

"When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire"

@perruptor: He's a cool guy because he was and still is an active and productive member of society. Everyone, regardless of need, deserves an equal chance to seek what they want in life.

@menty666: So tomorrow would have been better? He's dead. I don't think he's going to care. He's 1 out of the ~146,000 people that die every single. 1 out of the 6 billion on the planet, and daily there are approximately 340,000 births to replace him.

I don't feel bad for him. I feel good for someone else that can now get a job and feed themselves, their kids, and maybe hold their heads up just a little bit higher for being a contributing member to society.

I'm sorry guys, but I think this entire post is in incredibly bad taste. It has nothing to do with the central theme of this site. And it allows people to make ridiculous comments such as "Soooo, there's a job opening at that Wal-mart?"

Woah. This is america, we don't normally have people immolating themselves in the street. That's pretty.. wow, he must've been REALLY upset.

@johnfrombrooklyn:

Thank you. Maybe he really liked his job and wasn't dirt poor with no retirement like the conclusion everyone is jumping too. It could have have been any number of things that set him off and people need to quit assuming things.

How nice of Consumerist to take the sad event of a man's suicide as an opportunity to take jabs at Walmart.

@Saboth:

But he made it to the news. It could make a little difference. Maybe the "Land of Rape and Honey" will finally introduce some modern social discoveries, such as obligatory retirement plan and health care.

Wish you good luck with that.

@truthie: I feel for the guy but he clearly wanted to make a point by setting himself on fire outside this Walmart. Not looking into the issue of WHY he set himself on fire, and why he choose to do it at his workplace would be inappropriate. This needs to be investigated.

@perruptor: That's like me telling you, "you make too much money so you should find a lower paying job. That money could go to someone unemployed."

@truthie: Right... nothing to see here, move along. Give me a break. What are you trying to hide truthie?

Holy crap, I work a half mile from that Wal-Mart in Carol Stream.

And here is a picture of it,

@NotStimulated_GitEmSteveDave: This happened to me once (except for the working at Walmart part, I was just shopping), but thankfully the fellow that left the gas by the door forgot to leave a lighter, so I had to drive home soaked in gas.