I have never been one of that crazy people who stands in line for hours at midnight at a store on Black Friday. It is the most ridiculous thing to me. I did it once with a friend and I will never do it again. Every year, I fuss about it, saying how stupid it is. This year, much to my dismay, stores opened on Thanksgiving Day at 6pm. I went off about this a few weeks ago in a Facebook post:
Me: Walmart's Black Friday sales start at 6pm on Thanksgiving. I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous. Has our country become so greedy and apathetic to the lower classes that we allow the corporate Nazis to force people into working on a holiday instead of being at home with their families just so people can stand in line for hours to get instant gratification? Black Friday is one thing, but keep it on Friday. Don't tear hardworking people away from one the very few days off they get.
It is pure American greed. If you shopped on Thanksgiving, you are part of the problem. I don't care how good the deal it, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I know that some companies ask for volunteers. Great, that is fine. Not everyone celebrates this holiday. But there are other, several, several, others that force their employees to work. (You know who you are and I am looking at you.) It was said to me, by a relative, that when people choose to work at these stores, they know what they are getting into and they have a choice to work or find another job. That is all well and good when we have an economy that will allow that choice, but right now, who can afford that? There are people who have been in the corporate world for years that are now fighting for the manual labor jobs at department stores so they can feed their families. That is what the big stores prey upon. They prey upon the workers that are trying like hell to make ends meet and feed their families. They prey upon the single mothers working two jobs, or the fathers trying like hell to provide for his kids. Yes, they have a choice. It is either work on the holiday, or lose their income. Not much of a choice. They get very few days to spend with their families and now they can't because of the greedy people. And how are they rewarded? With riots, arguments, fights, and shootings. Yes, I said shootings. Here are a few headlines:
1. Kohl's Shooting in Romeoville, Il.- Three men involved in a theft-and-get-away which involved at police officer being dragged across the parking lot.
2. In New Jersey a man was pepper sprayed after getting into an argument with a Walmart manager on Thanksgiving night. The man assaulted the manager and resisted arrest.
3.In Claypool, Va two men were arrested after getting into a stabbing fight over a parking spot at Walmart. A parking spot.
4. In Vegas, a man was shot in the leg while trying to take home a new TV.
5.In Southern California, two people were arrested after getting into a fight over alleged line cutting.
6. There is a video of a brawl over a television in a North Carolina Walmart making its rounds around the internet.
7. A woman decided to spit on another woman's child after an argument over baby clothing.
8. A bomb threat in a White Plains NY. Walmart. Really classy guys. Everyone had to be evacuated. It was a bogus threat, but people were bitching that it took an hour and a half off their shopping time.
9. And I do believe, I read somewhere, that a Walmart employee was trampled to death again this year. I can't find the article that made its rounds in my Facebook news feed to confirm.
So yeah, here we are celebrating a holiday where we are supposed to give thanks for what we already have, only to cut it short to stand in line and beat the hell out of other people for things we don't. What tweaked me off the most were the people on the news saying how they missed their dinners or how dinner was waiting for them back at home at 10pm at night. You people make me sick. It is nice to know how much value your family has to you. You can argue that you are standing in line for your family because you want to get them the best things for Christmas, but that is bullshit. The stuff you bought is just that, stuff. If your family puts more value on objects, than they do each other, then you seriously need to reevaluate your parenting. A child doesn't need an iPad to be happy. They need a good parent.
Me: Walmart's Black Friday sales start at 6pm on Thanksgiving. I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous. Has our country become so greedy and apathetic to the lower classes that we allow the corporate Nazis to force people into working on a holiday instead of being at home with their families just so people can stand in line for hours to get instant gratification? Black Friday is one thing, but keep it on Friday. Don't tear hardworking people away from one the very few days off they get.
It is pure American greed. If you shopped on Thanksgiving, you are part of the problem. I don't care how good the deal it, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I know that some companies ask for volunteers. Great, that is fine. Not everyone celebrates this holiday. But there are other, several, several, others that force their employees to work. (You know who you are and I am looking at you.) It was said to me, by a relative, that when people choose to work at these stores, they know what they are getting into and they have a choice to work or find another job. That is all well and good when we have an economy that will allow that choice, but right now, who can afford that? There are people who have been in the corporate world for years that are now fighting for the manual labor jobs at department stores so they can feed their families. That is what the big stores prey upon. They prey upon the workers that are trying like hell to make ends meet and feed their families. They prey upon the single mothers working two jobs, or the fathers trying like hell to provide for his kids. Yes, they have a choice. It is either work on the holiday, or lose their income. Not much of a choice. They get very few days to spend with their families and now they can't because of the greedy people. And how are they rewarded? With riots, arguments, fights, and shootings. Yes, I said shootings. Here are a few headlines:
1. Kohl's Shooting in Romeoville, Il.- Three men involved in a theft-and-get-away which involved at police officer being dragged across the parking lot.
2. In New Jersey a man was pepper sprayed after getting into an argument with a Walmart manager on Thanksgiving night. The man assaulted the manager and resisted arrest.
3.In Claypool, Va two men were arrested after getting into a stabbing fight over a parking spot at Walmart. A parking spot.
4. In Vegas, a man was shot in the leg while trying to take home a new TV.
5.In Southern California, two people were arrested after getting into a fight over alleged line cutting.
6. There is a video of a brawl over a television in a North Carolina Walmart making its rounds around the internet.
7. A woman decided to spit on another woman's child after an argument over baby clothing.
8. A bomb threat in a White Plains NY. Walmart. Really classy guys. Everyone had to be evacuated. It was a bogus threat, but people were bitching that it took an hour and a half off their shopping time.
9. And I do believe, I read somewhere, that a Walmart employee was trampled to death again this year. I can't find the article that made its rounds in my Facebook news feed to confirm.
So yeah, here we are celebrating a holiday where we are supposed to give thanks for what we already have, only to cut it short to stand in line and beat the hell out of other people for things we don't. What tweaked me off the most were the people on the news saying how they missed their dinners or how dinner was waiting for them back at home at 10pm at night. You people make me sick. It is nice to know how much value your family has to you. You can argue that you are standing in line for your family because you want to get them the best things for Christmas, but that is bullshit. The stuff you bought is just that, stuff. If your family puts more value on objects, than they do each other, then you seriously need to reevaluate your parenting. A child doesn't need an iPad to be happy. They need a good parent.
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