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Saturday, November 29. 2008

Black Friday

Hard to imagine: a temp worker employed at a Long Island, NY Wal-Mart was killed when the mob waiting to get in and shop pushed down the doors to get in before the 6 a.m. opening time. They killed a man for low prices. This is the face of America.

There will be those who say this just isn’t true, but we see it every year, the day after Thanksgiving mobs of people rush through doors without any concern for their fellow humans for what? A low price on a video game player or a flat screen TV?

Americans, by and large, are some of the most selfish, self-centered inconsiderate people on this planet. Or at least it appears so from the news. Most of my friends — no, none of my friends — take part in these early shopping horrors. We consider it insanity made all the more shocking when put in the context of these people shopping for Christmas gifts.

Most people in the country claim Christianity as their religion, but from where I sit, the real religion for many of those people is greed and consumerism. Certainly not all. None of my family members have turned Christmas into materialistic excess and very few, if any, of my friends, but consumerism, greed and selfishness is big business, greed in particular, otherwise the stores wouldn’t have “Black Friday” and advertise so heavily for it.

Closer to home, in Palm Desert, California, two men shot each other to death in a Toys-r-Us. The retail giant says it isn’t related to Black Friday events … really? It happened on Black Friday in their store. Blame it on anything but the greedy frenzy created by Black Friday. Who brings a loaded weapon to a Toys-r-Us? To any store for that matter!

No one wants to admit that glorifying the greed behind Black Friday is wrong, or even a bad thing; the retailers depend so much on the day for their yearly sales, they can’t afford to diminish the avaricious root of Black Friday, regardless of what happens.

As much as I disagree with their religious beliefs, it’s gratifying to know my loved ones have much different ideas on the Holidays. They keep it simple; gift giving isn’t the central focus of the family and that was so apparent on Thanksgiving when we spoke by phone; for us, it’s about love for one another. For some, beliefs in the tenets of Christianity as well, but they often express their beliefs in their actions, not just their words. Makes me proud of my family and my friends.

Of course, all the news outlets, after getting the violent news out of the way, gave glowing and approving coverage of Black Friday, complete with the opinions of the shoppers who stopped at nothing to get everything they wanted, bragging about how much they spent.

And it is an American abomination. Just saw on the news; Canadians organize bus trips to the U.S. just for today. Their retailers apparently haven’t grasped the philosophy of greed at any cost. Makes me wonder about my Canadian neighbors. Will the trips south of their border change the Canadian zeitgeist? My friend Lisa was just giving me the lowdown on the insanity of Canada … but that’s a blog for another day.

Black Friday did provide some entertainment though. On the way to and from work everyday I change from the bus to the trolley and vise versa. So, after work, after getting off the trolley to catch the bus, I watched the never-ending line of cars entering the Fashion Valley Mall at about two miles per hour.

Across from the transit station is a dirt lot — A DIRT LOT — that, like the official parking lots, was full. Never saw it with more than a couple cars before. So, a car pulled out of a space and as it was backing out, away from the street, a newer model Lincoln Town Car that had been idling in the line of cars waiting to get in the mall drove up over the curb, over the sidewalk to grab the spot. Unfortunately for the Town Car, a Lincoln Navigator had been waiting in the lot for that space and forcefully backed the Town Car back over the curb — with the under carriage scraping loudly — stopping traffic that was nearly stopped anyway … it was quite the show!

Greed: the American Dream.
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And just to get in the Holiday Spirit, A little greeting from Robyn Marie! I’ve been naughty by the way!

Posted by Tim Forkes in HOLIDAYS at 00:01 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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