The previous post regarding Thanksgiving and Black Friday sparked a number of emails wondering about my turkey day supper. Some feared I didn't get enough to eat or time to shop for "bargains". Rest assured I enjoyed plenty of food, thank you very much. The days of stuffing myself until I had to remove my belt are long over.As for shopping on Black Friday, I'd rather have a root canal.
To my mind, there are two kinds of people (both kinds are nuts) who shop at midnight on thanksgiving; the giddy groups who enjoy the fun of shopping together and have a good time - it's only a game for them; then there are the foaming at the mouth knuckledraggers (you know, the ones who trampled a Wal*Mart employee to death last year, remember?) who will stop at nothing to snag those 'door buster items' before anyone else.
True Story: a few years ago Wal*Mart offered a predawn door buster - a DVD player for $24.99 -and neglected to limit quantities. Well, a super fast dumbass filled his giant cart with all the units remaining on the pallet, paid for them and returned to his pickup truck. Unfortunately, an angry mob followed him, beat the crap out of him and tried to relieve him of his booty. They were stopped by Wallyworld security who held the crazies at bay until the police arrived. Dumbass was allowed to keep 10 of the cheap, no-brand DVD players made in China. Of course, a Merry Christmas was not had by all.
This year sets a dangerous precedent. Why wait for midnight? A number of stores decided to open at 11 pm to get a jump on the competition. This is dangerous because there are always people in parking lots 2 or 3 hours beforehand. My theory is that if this catches on, people will get up from the dining table and head directly to the Mall. If you think they can be angry at midnight, imagine their attitude skipping dessert and that after-dinner power nap. Not a pretty picture, is it?
Then there is this:
The great state of South Carolina is putting its own sick twist on Black Friday with a tax holiday on firearm purchases.Read more:
Not cars. Not clothes. Certainly not books. Just guns.
For the 48 hours following Thanksgiving, gun buyers will enjoy a break of up to 9% in state and local taxes.
Firearms traffickers are not expected to pass the savings on to New York criminals, but what is called "the extrava-gun-za" and "Second Amendment Weekend" is sure to help South Carolina stay among the top five states that provide 85% of the illegal handguns recovered in New York City.
One of the other top states is Florida, believed to be the source of at least 40 guns city undercover cops bought in the last three months, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes said.
The tax holiday for firearms in South Carolina was first tacked onto a 2008 bill that provided similar breaks for energy efficient appliances.
Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed the legislation, though not because he disapproves of guns. He recently repealed the state's one-gun-a-month restriction.
Sanford disapproves of tax holidays, though he subsequently slipped away on a holiday of another kind, this with his mistress in Argentina.
Imagine those SC shoppers packing heat as they wrestle for a X-box, or Barbie. Hey, why wrestle? Just blow the other guy away. Yeah, that's the ticket. Dear G*d, the stoopid burns. Mouth breathers of the world unite! Or, something like that.
Nice to have a real day off. I've been watching programs on Travel Channel suggesting cruise tips and travel do's and don't's. Now I have to find someone to travel with me and share expenses - I can't afford the cost of a cabin alone - who would like to see Alaska, too. Sigh.
Almost time for a cocktail; Sazerac tonight followed by a light supper and a movie. Back to work selling baubles tomorrow morning.
And so it goes.
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The tax holiday on guns - on a day that people are willing to kill for DVD's - is further proof that we have a drug problem in this country, because whatever politicians thought that one up had to be smoking something!
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