Tag Archives: Black Friday

business news

‘War on Christmas’ about to commence

Listen up, my fellow Americans. Many of you are less than a week away from going to war. Against Christmas. Yes, I’m talking about you Black Friday shoppers.

You’ve heard the refrain from conservative media talking heads about the “War on Christmas.” They blame the “liberal mainstream media” for the open warfare, suggesting that the “happy holiday” greeting subverts the Christmas meaning.

It doesn’t do any such thing.

No, the real war on Christmas will be “fought” on retail sales floors all across the United States of America. The first shot in the next big battle in that war will be fired around midnight next Thursday/Friday. That’s when department stores fling open their doors to allow thundering herds of shoppers to pour into their buildings to look for their kids and grandkids’ perfect toy.

Here’s the best — or the worst part: There might be violence inside those department stores. Someone will grab the last fashionable toy off the shelf just ahead of someone who had his or her eye on the same item; they might exchange words, with the individual who wasn’t quick enough accusing the quick-draw artist who grabbed the item of cheating. They might exchange four-letter words and then fists might start flying.

Well, that isn’t exactly the Christmas spirit, is it.

But the war will commence anyway. Shoppers will tell media representatives about how chaotic this Christmas season has been. Some of them will bitch about the crowds and the rudeness of their fellow shoppers.

This will go on for a few days after the start of the Christmas Shopping Season.

I’m not shopping on Black Friday. I have many reasons for staying away. One of them involves the potential scenario I’ve just described. A more important reason is that my wife and I are accelerating our plans to relocate to points southeast of Amarillo, Texas; we’ll be too busy to do any Black Friday shopping.

Look, I get that some folks actually enjoy the pandemonium that occurs on Black Friday. I’m just one of them.

I made a pact with myself years ago to never again let Christmas get the better of me. I intend to go with the flow again in 2017 — of course, when I’m not doing what my wife tells me to do as we continue our relocation prep.

As for conservatives’ belief there is a liberal-led “war on Christmas,” I’ll simply say that it’s a canard. It’s a talking point.

What’s more, I take zero offense when someone wishes me a “happy holiday” when I make a purchase between now and Christmas.

What does offend me is the sight of the mayhem that is going to erupt on Black Friday.

religious news

Right-wing media find a 'war on Easter'

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The right-wing mainstream media cannot get enough of these trumped-up “wars.”

Fox News annually declares there to be a secular “war on Christmas.” The only people waging war on Christmas are the retailers who keep pushing out the notion that it’s all right to camp out overnight waiting for the stores to open on Black Friday. Get in ahead of the rush … but please don’t punch out the shopper who cuts in ahead of you to get the toy you had targeted.

Now it’s a “war on Easter.”

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/03/29/foxs-week-long-war-on-easter/193352

Please. Stop.

There is no war on Christians’ holiest holiday. It’s a figment of the right-wing mainstream media marketing geniuses who look for ways to boost their ratings, allowing their on-air personalities to brag about how they’re kicking the stuffing out of the rest of the “mainstream media.”

Churches are still informing congregants about what Scripture says about Easter, about how Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified. Believers all over the world celebrate this holiday with all due reverence. My family and I do.

“War on Easter”? It ain’t happening.

Let’s knock it off, shall we?

 

business news, local news

Welcome to Black Friday

One of the many nice aspects of my part-time job at Street Toyota/Scion is the interaction I have with interesting customers.

Two of them came to our service department this morning. They are foreign-born. I asked them, “Where do you come from?”

“The Philippines,” the wife said.

We chatted a few moments. I asked them where they live; they reside in a small town north of Amarillo. She’s a medical professional, he is a contractor.

I asked them about the service we were doing for their vehicle. The gentleman told me they brought their truck in for a recall and some other maintenance. “Oh, do you think it will take some time?” I asked. He said “Yes, I think so.”

I told them we could transport them wherever they want to go if they didn’t want to wait.

Then the conversation got rather entertaining.

Husband: “Well, we were thinking about going to the mall, but it’s closed today, correct”?

Me: “Ohhh, no! It’s open. It’s been open for some time. Probably before the sun came up this morning.”

Husband: “Really? I thought today was a holiday.”

Me: “No, no, no. Yesterday was the holiday. We celebrate Thanksgiving every year at this time. Today is the start of the Christmas shopping season. (Westgate Mall) is quite crowded today.”

Husband: “Oh, OK. Well, I didn’t remember that.”

I then sought to explain to his wife the meaning of Black Friday. I believe she understood how I explained that businesses look to make a sizable profit today from sales of items. She asked if there would be “lots of price cuts.” I said, “Quite possibly, yes.”

With that, they walked across the street to a sporting goods store to do some shopping. They returned about an hour later, informed me that “It wasn’t too crowded over there,” then said they wanted to go to the mall.

I flagged down one of our drivers, Mark, and told him where they wanted to go. “Don’t tell me the mall,” Mark said, laughing loudly.

The couple stood up, walked out with the driver and the wife turned, smiling broadly, and waved good bye.

“What’d I tell ya?” I said. “Good luck.”

Welcome to Black Friday.

 

Uncategorized

Frenzied shoppers declare war on Christmas

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You almost can set your calendar to it. This time of year brings the usual phony contention that the “liberal media” have declared a “war on Christmas.” The charge comes from the conservative media, led by the Fox News Channel, which keeps harping on the bogus assertion.

They contend that liberals insist we should say “happy holidays” to be sensitive to our non-Christian citizens.

Whatever.

No, the real war on Christmas is being waged on another front.

Check out this link.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/28/walmart-fight-black-friday_n_4357939.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037&ir=Politics

Therein lie the actual combatants in this war on Christmas. They are the Black Friday shoppers — and the retailers who promote the daylights out of this event. The morons recorded in the attached videos have done more to sully the sanctity of this holiday than anything the so-called “liberal media” have done or ever will do.

My wife blurted out a suggestion yesterday when she saw some of this hideous behavior being played out. “Lock up anyone charged with a criminal act until after Christmas,” she said. By the looks of some of the videos shown around the world, that could fill our jails to the brim and beyond.

But I get her point.

Jesus Christ himself was known to have a temper. I suspect strongly that the Son of God is quite angry at what has happened to the holiday intended to honor His birth.

As for the conservative media, focus your anger on the real — not the phony — warriors against Christmas.