Saturday, October 18, 2014

everyday stupefaction

Are we really this dumb? Have we really become a society of unthinking, illogical idiots? 

The graphic above is part of the latest online outrage (of undetermined origin). This one instructs a nation of blind followers to emblazon their Facebook pages with the promise not to shop on Thanksgiving, obviously newly-designated as the holiest and most sacred of all holidays. People who silently stand up for an ill-conceived "cause" such as this one are selfish and inconsiderate.

Shit like this infuriates me. (In all fairness, a lot of things infuriate me. I am not the barometer upon which anger for the actions of my fellow man should be measured.) If you don't want to shop on Thanksgiving, then don't. Just plain "don't!" But, if you do wish to shop on Thanksgiving, by all means, shop! And don't let anyone guilt you into feeling that you are doing something wrong. The country (this one, the one that you love and will defend to the ends of the earth) is slowly recovering from a crippling recession, in case you have been under a rock for the past six years. Getting the population to spend money increases production of goods and strengthens the economy on many levels.

It costs a lot of money to operate a store. Heat, electricity, refrigeration, cleaning staff - it all costs. If stores didn't think customers would show up, they wouldn't bother to open. Also, retail businesses do not force anyone to work when they don't want to. No one threatens anyone. As a matter of fact, a lot of retail stores offer extra pay incentives to employees who wish to work on Thanksgiving. Some stores even treat their employees to a full Thanksgiving dinner as a bonus.

There are a lot of people who need their jobs to support a family and survive. They choose to work whenever they can. Perhaps they are the only one in their household who has a job. Perhaps they are trying to better themselves and need the money to pay for education or student loans. Holiday hours offer double or even triple time and that money is very important to some people.

There are some people who do not have families. The closest thing they have is their co-workers. A job is the only social life that some folks have. There are even some people — believe it or not — that don't celebrate Thanksgiving. That's right, you narrow-minded, self-righteous, insensitive bastard, Thanksgiving is just another Thursday to go to work for some people. Maybe not you, but it's not all about you... is it?

So, let those who want to shop shop and let those who want to spend time with their families make their own decisions. And you can get back to your yearly complaining about retailers displaying Christmas decorations three weeks before Halloween. That's always a good fight.

* * * * * UPDATE * * * * *
This is bullshit and K-Mart should be ashamed of themselves. Between the ridiculously cheap prices at Walmart and the clever marketing of Target, there is no room for K-Mart in the retail business. I hope this is their last holiday season.

1 comment:

  1. I saw this on facebook and silently agreed with it. We don't really need another day of shopping, we need people to connect with each other more. My dad often had to work Christmas and I felt ripped off by that as a kid. But to each his own? I didn't repost the art because I just don't like being told what to do in general, but even so, you make a few good points :)

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