Hypocrisy, the lie, is the true sister of evil, intolerance, and cruelty…Raisa Gorbachev

Hypocrisy – Saying we believe in the power of  Thanksgiving – Practicing the force of Black Friday. 

   It is 6 am on Saturday morning and I am recording the events of the last 36 hours using paper and pen due to my traveling notebook computer deciding to take a “break” on Thanksgiving Day. 

  Immediately following a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner prepared by my son-in-law Jarod (acknowledgement!) as the guys and kids went off to watch TV, I was invited by my daughters, Jenn and Jessi,  into the office for a Black Friday organizational meeting.

  Watching the pure intelligence flow between my daughters was awesome.  Jenn laid out the advertisements that she had been collecting and studying for a few days.  She already had her prioritized treasure list prepared with a cover sheet threatening bodily harm to anyone touching it… (Frightened Me).  Jenn quickly summarized loot available, locations and store opening times for her sister.  Jessi made her desired list and then went into her area of expertise…coordination of schedule, store location, priority route, and travel between stores and cities. With Jessi, driving her truck; 3:00 am was the designated time of departure.  

 I sat back and watched their organization and planning; thinking I would be at home on Nana duty.   My girls had other plans…it was decided that this would be a Mother-Daughter bonding time.   For me, the opportunity to go first-hand into an area that I had read and heard about for years was too good to pass up.

Jenn gave me instructions before we went to bed that we would get up at 2:45 and be dressed appropriately to move fast – no heels, jewelry or make-up required – sweats and sneakers preferred.  I laid out black jeans, sweater and boots (yes, boots had a 3 inch heel) and already had make-up applied when Jessi gave the wake-up call.  At 3:00 am we were standing on the curb when Jessi arrived.  Both my daughters, besides being dressed for movement, were wearing beanies covering their hair and ears.

During the twenty minute drive into the next city where the starting destination stores were in a cluster, the air was brisk with excitement.   I, of course, was kept on a need to know basis and told that being in foreign territory, my main responsibility was to get in lines, be a place holder, package carrier and help maneuver through crowds.

  The first destination was the big “W” where we were herded into different isles depending on priority items.  It was quickly decided that the safest place for me was standing in line holding a ticket for this year’s model of the “video game” which every child must have because last year’s hot game is obsolete.  I was told which colors to get and stood in line for an hour and a half.  This was a very nice line up front because we had tickets and knew we were guaranteed to get the game therefore we smiled and talked about our kids and grandkids.  This is my area of expertise…smiling and talking.

I was standing next to a lady who said that she and her mother enjoy my writings.  We looked up and down the aisle which happened to have cooking oils among the artificial chemical foods.  The only healthy food that we could find on the entire isle was virgin olive oil.  We had a discussion about the shelf-life of the artificial foods and how the shelf-life of the chemicals continued in our bodies displayed in our “muffin tops.”

The peaceful interlude waiting-in-line ended and we were out in “no man’s land” where the anger and hostility was rampant.  We were told to hold on to our carts as people where snatching items from other carts inside the stores.   The open warfare and sniping continued into the check-out lines and parking lots.  I kept thinking “Give me a dark parking lot in Las Vegas feeding street people over this anytime!”

   Our seven hour Black Friday spree went through nine stores in two cities with a drive-through for a caffeine jolt between cities.  Admittedly I stayed in the truck drinking coffee during some of the fast “hit and run” stores with either one or both the girls making the run.

  By 9:00 am, the big ticket items were gone but people were still caught up in the money spending frenzy.    And then we hit the last store…the major Toy store.  I was truly amazed…what happened to toys made of wood, metal, glass or paper or any material meant to last more than a few months?   There were isles and isles of expensive plastic…a virtual deposable junkyard dedicated to violence…animation…vampires and monsters of all types…video games… and all manner of destruction.   Where is the “R” rating for violence and negativity?  Nowhere in this store for children did I see one positive influence of the basic goodness of human beings. 

Now I know why it is called Black Friday.  I saw this country’s enormous display of weapons of mass destruction.  Between the artificial food supply that we are eating and the toys that our children are given, we are insuring the destruction of body and mind.  How can the message we are sending in purchasing these items not be called child abuse.   How does this stimulate the country’s economy?  Spending billions of dollars on food that insures the battle of health care will continue and on toys that instill violence, destruction and disregard of life will continue.

It took me many hours of quiet time to be able to release the mental image of the experience of Black Friday and just because we were not out on the front-line contributing does that release us of the social responsibility for the impact it makes on our culture and our children.

   How can we celebrate Thanksgiving on one day and Black Friday the next day?  Which is the culture and values that we have in this country…if you really want the answer…go shopping.  

Rather than my usual closing of “Love, Light and Lots of Laughter”  I want to add “Peace.”   

Joa