*hug* Sorry if I also came off a bit harshly. It just makes me so mad when
I am barely scraping by and I see people shoving each other over and
screaming to be first to get the newest sale item, just because it's a
deal. And to have a whole day dedicated to it (and really, more than one
day anymore) really grosses me out - it makes me think our culture is
going to a very selfish place that makes me really sad.

None of my rant was directed at you - it was more at the "culture of greed
and selfishness" that the whole day represents. I hope that makes more
sense now.

Aim

Aim

respond to me at: aimnews at comcastdotnet

Harv,

Did you see Houston news (channel 11, I think) last night about the
handicapped spaces?  They need to dig a little further.

Janet R

"Harvey R. Stone" <hrstone@swbell..net> wrote
<snipped>

Anyone who works at a restaurant has my gratitude.  I see how they get
treated by many customers and many of my college friends had to work
at those food establishments.  Eating out is luxury...but working
there isn't!

Janet R

that became an issue in my county in Florida after the hurricanes.  Teh
sherriff wanted the county commission to give monetary bonuses to the
deputies who worked during the storm instead of being home with their
families.  The commission and the public fully appreciate the sacrifices made
by these deputies, but the question became where would one stop with handing
out the bonuses once one began?  The firefighters who worked deserved equal
thanks as well as the utility workers and the hospital employees and the EMTs
and other emergency services personnel.  They simply do not have the money to
give all the deserving folks bonuses.  Last I heard they were talking about a
day of recognition and providing certificates to those departments that chose
to give them to employees.  Not as nice as a monetary bonus, but at least
something in the way of a public thanks.

in every day life, I figure it never hurts to say thanks.  You never know
when you might make someone's day!

It does, Gwen. On the other hand there are those who are really in need and I
don't begrudge them. People going hungry distresses me. They were collecting for
the food bank at the grocery store the other day and among other things I put in
a block of cheese. The collectors asked me if I really meant to include the
cheese. I didn't understand that. Are we only supposed to give them Kraft
Dinners? I don't give those, by the way. :-)
---
Joan

Ooh, for a little while... you would not be human if you did not.   Its all
about giving and getting in the spirit of things and it makes what we
teach,,,, the truth.
Harv

Most of you are old enough to know how good it feels on those rare occasions
when you find the right gift for someone at the right time.

The lady who lives across the street from me is old enough to be my mother,
but she is one of my closest friends.  She was born in Italy and came to the
US when very small, went back to Italy with her mother when she was about
five and then returned to New York in her teens.

She told a story about a doll she had before they returned to Italy.  And
that her father wouldn't let her take the doll with her.  That it would take
up too much room.  So heartbroken she returned to Italy without it.  Now
these are the recollections of a small child.  Maybe the doll really
belonged to the cousins she had to leave it with.  But from other stories
her dad really was an SOB and might have made her leave the doll out of pure
meanness.

Anyway, I was looking for a gift for her for her retirement party.  And got
her a really nice baby doll.  With brown hair and brown eyes.  No doll has
ever been treasured more.  Yes a doll or stuffed animal can be a necessity.

Jo

But they want only the latest, fastest computers with the
largest hard drives available.

I have 2 old computers gathering dust here because no
school or agency wants them.

Even a church which conducts genealogy work refuses
anything slower than 500MHz or 633MHz.  So my old
100Mhz Pentium computer is of no use to them.

I would have to say that a child can USE a doll or teddy bear.  I had
a Dressy Betsy that I slept with till I was a teenager.  My sister had
a Raggedy Ann.  My folks were the arguing type (good marriage, but
strong personalities)  and I was a very laid back child that didn't
like confrontation.  I could lay in bed and hear them arguing (usually
about stupid crap)....so I would talk to my doll and hug her.

When a child has a stressor in their life, a doll can give them a
sense of control.  They take care of their baby doll or teddy bear.
They control how well its cared for and loved.

Not sure what to think about the other items (TV, VCR, etc), but I
would have to guess they are a case-by-case decision.  I also know
that just because people LOOK wealthy...they aint!  My sister's
husband passed away and left her and a 2y/o son behind.  He was a
successful lawyer with a big firm.  She had the nice clothes and
Mercedes.

They were BROKE....she couldn't pay for his funeral!  If it had not
been for myself and my parents (her ONLY family)....I don't know what
she would have done.  I would hope that someone would have brought her
food, helped her sort out what needed to be sold and how to deal with
creditors.  When we arrived at her house the day he died...we had to
buy food right off because they only ate out.

I learned my lesson...If it looks too good, its usually a facade.

Janet R

this somehow, and i don't know exactly why, reminds me of when i was in the
8th grade, living in new brittain, connecticut, on whiting street.  the
entire neighborhood was leveled down to vacant lots, by the time i revisited
that street, in 1974.  i saw that leveling as a good thing, because tailed
vermin and insects vastly outnumbered the human population, in those houses,
in 1961, when we lived there.  our family of 5 lived in a badly run down 3
room flat, with a big screened in porch, on that street.  my kid sister was
2, my brother, 11 and i was 13.

i remember one week in december, our family ate from a huge old canning pot
filled with a thick gruel of potatoes, hot dog slices and black pepper, for
almost an entire week.   potatoes, water and hot dog slices were added to
the pot, as it depleted.  a bushel basket of potatoes and 3 packages of hot
dogs was all we had for groceries that week.  i'm not sure how my parents
even "acquired" those things, to feed us and maybe, i don't want to know.

the stove that pot sat on, my father retrieved from the city dump.  only one
burner and the oven (with by guessing and by goshing at the temperature)
worked.  our frig was also from the dump, had legs, ice cube tray freezer
and dad had to put a sliding bolt on the door to keep it closed.  they had
no way to put the "soup" in the frig, no tupperware and just enough dishes
for each of us.

my mother's sister came up from brooklyn, just for the day, that week just
before christmas, when we lived there.  we had no phone and i know my folks
didn't call her, nor could she call us.  mom had last called her from a pay
phone, "reverse the charges", in may, just to tell her where we were and to
give her our address.   that was soon after we first arrived from
california.

my parents were totally surprised when she arrived.  my aunt took a chance
we'd be home.  and i think because we didn't have a phone (when we'd always
had before), her instincts told her to just come.  she brought spectacular
toys for my baby sister and brother.   peddle fire-engine, tricycle, doll,
cap guns, sports stuff, and lots of other toys.---her chevy impala was a
jamb-packed, including the passenger seat and roof rack.   i don't know why,
exactly, but traditionally, in my mom's family, christmas was for younger
children.  thirteen was the cut-off for childhood.  i knew that for years
before i hit that age, so it didn't bother me.  actually, it was fun to
watch my baby sister try to play with everything at once.LOL

my aunt emptied the car, with our help, bringing the toys inside, mostly on
the porch and she stayed for a very short time to get warm.  i think she
noticed the pot on the stove.  then, my aunt left.  i remember after she
left that my mom was so mortified that couldn't even offer her sister a cup
of coffee.

about an hour or so later, my aunt returned.  her car was again jamb-packed
with stuff.  this time it was with groceries and i was thrilled, because
there were even goodies.  (i know my mom was very embarrassed, but
grateful.)  my aunt didn't come into the house or stay long enough to even
have a cup of the coffee she bought for them (that my folks didn't even have
a coffee pot to make it in--i remember they boiled it in a saucepan and
strained it in a dish towel).  now, knowing my aunt as i learned to, i think
it was because it hurt her heart too much to see her sister and the rest of
us being forced to live that way.

my aunt's unquestioning generosity somehow helped turn things around for us.
it wasn't long after that when my father finally found a job.  he kept the
job just long enough to save up enough money to move us back to california,
where things improved.

funny, when i think back upon it now.   we didn't have much in that flat,
mostly furnishings we made usable that came from the city dump.   all of
that stuff we left behind when we moved back to california.  but, we did
have two fairly new televisions, in that flat, that we brought out from
california with us.  one for us kids and a portable with a remote in my
parents' room, where my baby sister also slept.  not many homes, in those
days, had two, as i recall.  and as silly as it sounds, those two
televisions helped and meant a lot to us.  i'm not sure, to this day, what
they meant, but i know our lives would have been worse without them.
kate

I am fortunate in that my employer still closes for the major holidays and
we are only open until 6 p.m. on the weekends. However, *everybody* works
Black Friday. No exceptions. This was also the first year we've opened at 6
a.m., in order to compete with Wal-Mart.:o(

I'm too old for this crap.lol

Kelly C.;o)

I agree SO wholeheartedly with the concept of stores being open on
Thanksgiving and/or Christmas day.  The only time I have gone in one was when
I couldn't find my brace for the wrist that was killing me.  And I thanked
the clerk for being open when I was in great pain (she still didn't seem to
appreciate how valuable it was to me, but I can see how working that day
colored her response, and at least I tried!)

I've worked holidays A LOT because most of my work experience has been on
inptient units of hospitals.  I didn't begrudge working then because it was
obviously a great need and that's something we understood when we took the
jobs.  But retail is not a basic need on Thanksgiving and Christmas day and I
don't want to do anything to encourage the trend.

(and when I worked on the black Friday, I had to change my route to work.  
The usual route took me past a KMart/WalMart block and the traffic there was
SOOOOO bad on that day, even at 6:20 am).

I sooooo agree with that sentiment.  I even wonder why stores need to
be open on Sundays sometimes.

Janet R

"Carole" <SeattleCarole@hotmail.com> wrote
<snipped>
But