In The Grip of Grief

"Nick's gift was under the tree, but he wasn't there.  He was with us in our hearts. But it was the first Christmas that Nick was not sitting there with us exchanging gifts. It was a tough time."
Claude Vachon

What could be more dreadful for parents than to lose a child?  At any age, whether an infant or a mature adult, a child is simply to its parents, their child.  The pain of that child's absence from life, from the life of the family, from the rituals that the family treasures, can rarely be transcended.  It becomes muted over time, but the ache is there and will remain there forever.

People can become irrational, resentful, ready to blame others in various ways for the anguish they suffer.  And in the instance of the tragic and untimely death of 31-year-old Nicholas Vachon - who was a pillar in his community as a volunteer firefighter in Clarence-Rockland, who lost his life while walking home from a holiday party in mid-December - his father has chosen to cite an interaction with a stranger as part of his pain.

The stranger is the owner of a small business in Orleans.  And that business owner, Luc Simard, is discovering what character assassination feels like.  Claude Vachon made the decision, in a state of high dudgeon over this small business owner's refusal to alter his firm policy of no-return, to contact the news media.  So he could inform a reporter of his deep disappointment that a refund would not be forthcoming.

Nicholas Vachon's mother had purchased a pair of steel-toed boots for their son for Christmas.  The Regional Shoe Repair shop which operates out of a little nook in the basement of a strip mall, also sells a small selection of quality-grade boots.  There is a prominent sign that states there are no returns on purchases; even the receipts inform customers that returns are not permitted. 

This is, after all, a small shop-owner's livelihood.

Mr. Vachon decided he would return the boots.  The owner cited his shop's refund policy.  Mr. Simard also suggested Mr. Vachon might wish to exchange the boots meant for his son for a pair that he could himself use.  When that suggestion failed to impress Mr. Vachon, Mr. Simard offered an in-store voucher representing the $271.12 price of the boots.

"We were polite and gave our sympathies", Mr. Simard said to a reporter who came calling.

Mr. Vachon has a different take: "After humiliating and insulting me, I will never spend a penny of that note in his shop. Going to his cash register one more time, it would be humiliating myself. I spoke peacefully to this man -- intelligently -- and he is what he is.  Cold. No empathy at all. This is just profit-oriented."

Correct.  Profit-oriented.  All business are; that is, after all, why there is a business, the owner wishing to earn a living, just like anyone else.  Profit-oriented?  The shop owner made every effort to be accommodating; the disgruntled mourner is obviously deep in the process of grief entitlement. 

It is clear enough to any fair-minded person who the victim is in this unfortunate encounter.