'Twas the Year Twenty-Sixteen

Before you continue reading, I feel I should give fair warning that this is not a "happy" post.  While based on "A Visit from St. Nicholas", (aka " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas"),  by Clement Clarke Moore, this post is filled with darker undertones, and is a bit abstract at times.

Also, I try to give equal time to all, though sometimes it's not possible.  So while I've named a few names in the lines of this verse, please note that I wanted to include more; it just didn't work to my advantage in some cases.

With all that said, the following is my skewed look back at the year 2016.

'TWAS THE YEAR TWENTY-SIXTEEN

Of the year twenty-sixteen there's plenty to grouse,

Including a new president for the White House.

Supporters were happy; the rest in despair,

Of the man with orange skin and really bad hair.

Trump wasn't the only thing there was to dread;

So much violence, people ending up dead.

Shootings, bombings and all kinds of scary crap;

All this, and more, the nightly news had on tap.

Protesters protesting for things they felt mattered.

Marching through the streets, creating quite a clatter.

Though most wanted peace, some with police clashed.

So much tension, no wonder their tempers flashed.

Yet that still wasn't the end, wouldn't you know;

Intolerance and hatred among us did grow.

Always underlying, it rose up this year,

Rearing its ugly head, and making itself clear.

Choose any minority, go on, take your pick;

All came under attack, making others feel sick.

The bigotry of some, made others feel shame.

Yet those causing the problem would not take the blame.

All the emotions, the good and bad were mixin'.

The only sure thing was problems needed fixin'.

Our country had stumbled, had taken a great fall.

The year seemed destined to destroy one and all.

If that wasn't enough to make one cry,

So many icons in twenty-sixteen did die.

Bowie, Michael, Fisher and Prince were a few.

Beloved Willy Wonka, Gene Wilder, left us too.

Talk of Abe Vigoda's death was always a goof;

But twenty-sixteen dealt us all the stark truth.

Best known as "Fish", Abe is no longer around.

Only in reruns of "Barney Miller" he's found.

Glenn Frey with The Eagles was always very good.

Florence Henderson and Doris Roberts both would,

Leave this world for heaven, and never come back.

No longer moms for Raymond, or the Brady Bunch pack.

Seems for the most part twenty-sixteen's been quite hairy.

Maybe what this world needs is a good dose of fairy

Magic to put a halt to this mad, mad show.

What?  You don't believe? Come on, just give it a go.

Maybe, just maybe, if there's enough belief,

We can come together, and start healing the grief,

That's deeper than the underside of a snake's belly.

From corporations to the neighborhood deli,

Let's rally together; take our pride off the shelf.

Plant seeds of happiness and start spreading the wealth.

Twenty-seventeen is a rough road to tread;

Let's lead with kindness, and hope for less bloodshed.

It won't be easy; it's a lot of hard work.

But for all who try, the world has one less jerk.

So now that you're done reading my bit of prose,

Think good thoughts, but stay alert, on your toes.

'Cause next year may come with a nuclear missile,

Eradicating us all, clean as a whistle.

If this little ditty has given you a fright,

There IS hope for next year, when this one's out of sight.

.

Sale Away on Gray Thursday

I'll be the first to admit, I love a great sale as much as the next person. Who doesn't love getting something they want, or need, at a lower price than what they'd normally pay?

Granted, stores are still making a profit, even at sale prices, but hey, *I'm* paying less than retail, so it's a good feeling knowing that.

No matter the type of store, or where it's located, all of them have sales on a regular basis, whether it's daily, weekly, or monthly; there's always someone offering something for less than retail price.

Then there are the special sales, in addition to the regular ones.  The special ones usually revolve around holidays, or special events.  President's Day, Memorial Day, the Super Bowl, etc.; all are cause for retailers to have blowout prices on items consumers are wanting, or needing.

One of the biggest special sale days is the Friday after Thanksgiving, otherwise known as "Black Friday".

Ah yes, "Black Friday", the day people are up before the sun, and out standing in endless lines for a chance at getting that great bargain.  When did all this craziness become the norm?

Actually, upon research, "Black Friday" was a term used in Philadelphia in the early sixties to describe the throngs of people out and about the day after Thanksgiving.  By 1975, the term had been adopted across the country, and adapted to describe shoppers.

For nearly three decades stores catered to shoppers on this infamous Friday, opening their stores as early as 6:00 am, allowing those early birds an opportunity at big savings.  Then after a few years, the times got earlier.  Some stores began opening at 5 am, in hopes of garnering more customers eager to start their holiday shopping.

The beginning of a new century though, brought a new tradition: stores not opening early on Friday morning, but instead, late on Thanksgiving evening.  At first stores, like Wal-Mart, and Best Buy, advertised they'd be opening at 10 pm Thanksgiving for "Black Friday" savings.

At the time, I didn't see a problem with this.  Yes, there were employees that probably weren't happy about having to work on a holiday, I understand that.  For the most part though, the "traditions" of Thanksgiving usually wrap up in the early evening.  Friends and family have spent time together, then gone their separate ways, so why not go stand in a line for a store to open at 10 pm, especially if there's something you want, at a great price?

More recently however, things have been getting out of hand.  No longer are shoppers getting in the "holiday spirit".  Instead, they're trying to one up other shoppers to get what they want.  Every year there are stories from across the nation of fights, shootings, stabbings, you name it, all because people just have to have something others want also.  This makes one wonder if it really is worth standing in line for any kind of a deal.  After all, is it really worth the possibility of getting hurt, or possibly even killed, just for a bargain?

One would also think that retailers would be concerned about these incidences, and want to curtail them if possible.  Yet, every year, the retailers seem to start their sales just that much earlier than the year before.  Anymore, it's really not a "Black Friday" sale, as much as it's become a "Gray Thursday" sale.

This year, there are stores that are actually opening early on Thanksgiving morning, then again Thanksgiving evening. Instead of opening at 5 am on Friday, some stores will be opening at 5pm Thursday evening, to get a jump on the holiday rush.

As I stated earlier, I understand that there are those who don't celebrate the holidays, so for them, it's nice to have stores open, especially if they're offering exceptional savings.  Really though, are retailers actually gaining that much more by opening so early?  If they're so concerned about sales, why don't they just stay open their normal hours, and still offer the great savings?

Several stores have bypassed the actual Black Friday sale completely, opting instead to offer sales for a week, or more, before Thanksgiving. I've heard commercials describing "Blue Friday", "White Wednesday", and other names, that are really just different ways to get around having a sale for only one day.

You've probably noticed that I'm not a big fan of all these crazy hours and days that are being set for after, (and nowadays before), Thanksgiving sales; it's true.  While the bargains may be good, the whole idea of Black Friday has become so diluted, and so competitive, for me at least, it just isn't fun anymore. What I like even less however are the policies some stores have adopted in conjunction with their Black Friday sales.

We've all seen signs at stores stating, "no loitering", "no parking", etc.; as an attempt to keep people from just hanging out at the store and not buying anything.  Yet, there are retailers, most notably Best Buy, who, despite not allowing this behavior normally, have no problem with letting people camp out in front of their stores, sometimes as early as before Halloween, just for their Black Friday sale.  Why?!

Not only does that seem very extreme, it questions whether these people actually have lives. One man in Florida, his wife, and a friend are currently camped out at a Best Buy, and have been for at least a couple weeks now.  They work, so they've been taking turns camping out at the Best Buy, so they can go to their jobs.

I think what bothers me the most about this however, is the double standard tone this sets.  Obviously if someone is just hanging around a store, or if someone is homeless, and tries to camp out even in the parking lot, they're told it's not allowed, and there's signs posted to prove it.  But someone does the same thing, because they want to spend money at the store, it's okay for them to camp out for days and days.  In other words, spend money, you can stay, don't, you can't be there.

Yes, as much as I like great sales and bargains, I have my limits. It seems weird to say that commercialism is getting even more commercialized, but it's true.  Black Friday is a great example of this.  What started as a one day event, has been blown into something that's dragged out for days on end, before and after Thanksgiving.  In some cases it seems Black Friday has become more of an anticipated "holiday" than Thanksgiving itself.

Just my opinion, but it would be nice to just get back to the basics of Black Friday.  It happens on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and only that day.  If retailers want to get crazy with their sales, why not open your doors from midnight that Friday, to 11:59 pm that same day?  And with today's technology, these same retailers can do the same thing on the internet, for those who can't, or don't want to actually go to a store.  Seems logical to me, shoppers still get great deals, and retailers are still making huge revenues.

Again, just my take on this subject.  I'll end this post with a wish for a Happy Thanksgiving to all; as well as safety for all those braving the "Gray Thursday", "Black Friday", mayhem that's sure to happen somewhere.

GANGS & VIOLENCE

Saw a post from Earthquake Jake today on KUPL’s Facebook page. 

So there's been a lot of talk in the news about gang shootings. They're on the rise, I guess? Honestly, I don't put that much thought into it. But SHOULD I worry about it? Is it the media making a big deal of it, or are we all actually in danger? ~Jake

I also read several of the responses.  Over all, it sounds like, yes, most people do think it’s something to worry about; myself included.  At the same time, I also see where maybe the media IS making a big deal of it. 

With that said, the rest of this post is purely how *I* feel about this whole situation.  I guess you can say I’m too wordy to post on Facebook.

As I stated, I do worry about all the shootings, gang related or otherwise.  I worry about the rise in crime in general.  I worry because, as one person posted, there are a lot of innocent people, including children; that sometimes get caught in the middle of these shootings

While I believe these crimes should be reported by the media, I’m not sure it should be blown out of proportion.  That means, yes, report about shootings; just don’t make a big deal about it.  To me, that would cover both sides of the debate.  People would know the shootings are happening; yet, if the stories are buried among others, and not standing out, those doing the crimes won’t get the attention they may be looking for.  One person mentioned in a post, they thought that’s why there’s been a rise in shootings recently, people looking for attention.

I’d like to be able to say it’s because of how kids are raised these days; though that really wouldn’t be a fair statement.  While it's probable that there are those who are a product of how they were raised, it's not true of every child.  You can have a child raised "properly", (by society's standards), and they could still turn out to be a criminal.  Likewise, you could have a child with everything against them growing up; yet they turn out to be an upstanding citizen.

Yes, things have changed a lot since “the good old days”.  Those days when you knew your neighbors, people got along, etc.  We don’t live in “simpler times” anymore. Then again, the world has never been a perfect place.  There's always been crime; the difference is, you just hear about it more now.  It could be a rise in crime, or it could just be news spreads quicker in this era of electronics. It could even possibly be a bit of both.

As far as whether gang related shootings are up, I honestly don't know.  I do know that gangs have been around for eons though.  Why do we hear more about it now?  I'd have to give the same answers I've given earlier in this post; news spreads quicker, there are more people sharing space in the world, possibly how a person was raised; the list could go on and on.

I guess my whole point to all this rambling is:  Yes, there's a problem with gang shootings going on.  Is it on the rise?  Possibly.  Should people be concerned?  Yes, because if we aren't things will only get worse.  As one post mentioned, we can't just sit back and watch it happen.  While we may not be able to fight back literally, we can take precautions to protect ourselves and those around us, and we should.  If everyone opposed to gang violence stood together to help end it, that would be a great start.  There really is force in numbers; if there wasn't the gangs wouldn't be getting such a strong hold on things like they are.  

Do I think it will ever totally end?  Probably not.  That's not to be negative, just realistic.  There are always going to be those people in this world who are no good; it's part of life.  Since it will never totally go away, the best we can do is put up a resistance to what's already going on; try to keep it from getting worse.

As I said, this post is just my two cents' worth on the subject of gang shootings.  I don't claim to be right about what I feel or think, and I don't claim to be wrong; I've simply chosen to post my thoughts here.