I have a hard time understanding some things.
For one thing, the other day a woman came into the store where I work (Lowe's) and among other things she rattled off was that her tile guy was no longer doing business at the Home Depot because they support the "Homosexual Agenda"... whatever that is. Evidently, I missed something. I know and I even work with a number of gay people and to date I have yet to discover that any of them have an agenda. Must be a big thing, because this morning I stumbled on to the tail end of a broadcast from some Christian Talk radio station and one of the items that the announcer mentioned in the credits was to remember not to shop at Home Depot.
Now, working at Lowe's I see Home Depot as a competitor. There are some things that the Depot has that we don't and vice-versa. I hold no emnity toward them. If you want to shop there or not shop there, go ahead. Yes, I would prefer it if you purchased your next appliance, flooring job, light fixture, toilet or whatever from Lowe's, but not if you're doing it to spite Home Depot or Menard's or the "Mom and Pop" down the street. Besides, the people who get hurt because of some phoney baloney boycott are not the "suits" who live in Atlanta (Home Depot's HQ), it's the little guy who is working to support his or her family.
It's like the supposed boycott of the Salvation Army. The lovely Miss Carol was telling me that we were supposed to be boycotting the Salvation Army for some silly reason or another. The Salvation Army is among the most efficient (if not THE most efficient) charities in the whole country. The lovely Miss Carol and I will continue to make donations to the Salvation Army, regardless.
Now, the Salvation Army doesn't have kettles in front of Target stores, therefore, there is a need in some people's minds that Target should be boycotted. But at the same time, Target donates a portion of their reciepts to local charities and/or local schools. At the same time, a different group of people want to boycott Target because they made political contributions to certain far-right candidates for public office (later withdrawn because of all the fooforaw). Does that make them some sort of an equal opportunity offender? I like Target. I still shop there.
There are other boycotts out there which make as little sense as those already mentioned. Name a retailer and you can probably come up with some stupid reason not to buy there. Name a product and the same thing can be said. Whatever happened to personal preference? If you don't want to shop somewhere or you don't want to buy a particular product because of a personal preference, why disguise that personal preference by masking it with a boycott or some other stupid reason. I prefer driving my Dodge over Carol's Chevrolet. It would be the height of lunacy for me to state that I don't like Chevrolet because Chevrolet was a French racing car driver and that the French are nothing but a bunch of wine-swilling, cheese-eating surrender monkeys!
Just remember, that businesses and products are collective works of people just like you and me who are attempting to make a decent living for ourselves. Boycotts, no matter the reason, do more harm to those like us than to those we think we are attempting to harm.
Happy Christmas!
Be Seeing You!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Initiative
On my first full day living in North Texas, I spent the day moving the family's personal belongings from the back of a rental truck into a storage locker in 100 degree heat. The dog was with me, happy to be in the shade with a bowl of ice water provided by the proprieter. When I was about a third of the way through, the fellow who was renting the locker next to mine appeared.
"Why don't you go downtown and hire you a couple of Mexicans to help you?" he asked.
Being new to the area, I had no idea what he was talking about, much less where I could find downtown. I politely declined.
Within about 6 months or so of my arrival, I deduced where downtown was and I had figured out how the system of day labor worked. It seems that there are several places where one could drive one's vehicle, hold up some fingers and instantly have the services of one or several anxious workers looking for a day's wage.
Putting aside the question of the legality or the illegality of the workers present at these places, I noted that these workers showed a certain amount of initiative which seems to be lacking in certain other areas. If I were wanting to expand my pool of unskilled or semi-skilled labor for my business, I would be taking a hard look at these men competing daily for the chance to work.
They show initiative and I find that admirable.
Those men know what's at stake. They most likely have families to support, mouths to feed and rent to pay. They deal with the hard realities of life on a day in and day out basis. They haven't rolled over to play dead nor have they queued up at the local social services offices to try to get a handout. They're out there every day, showing initiative despite handicaps of little or no education.
Poverty can either be opportunity or it can be a prison. Meet Juan Elenise, a strapping young lad living in southern Dallas county from a home of modest means. Juan is (as his name implies) of Hispanic descent, is part of a somewhat large and very close-knit family, and as of about a month and a half ago, became a father. Juan is fighting poverty by working. He has a regular job which doesn't pay a whole lot and has been known from time to time to find other jobs to supplement his income. That is, he works when he has the time. He is also putting himself through College in pursuit of a better life for him, for Juan Diego, and for Jacklyn... daughter of the lovely Miss Carol.
Juan is my step son-in-law. I am proud of him. I admire him. He has a sense of initiative.
I see the day in the not so distant future when life will get a bit easier for Juan, where he has a job which pays more as a result of the groundwork he is laying now. He will have more time to better enjoy his son and to teach him the most important of life's lessons... that eventually hard work and persistance will pay off. All it takes is a measure of initiative.
Be Seeing You!
"Why don't you go downtown and hire you a couple of Mexicans to help you?" he asked.
Being new to the area, I had no idea what he was talking about, much less where I could find downtown. I politely declined.
Within about 6 months or so of my arrival, I deduced where downtown was and I had figured out how the system of day labor worked. It seems that there are several places where one could drive one's vehicle, hold up some fingers and instantly have the services of one or several anxious workers looking for a day's wage.
Putting aside the question of the legality or the illegality of the workers present at these places, I noted that these workers showed a certain amount of initiative which seems to be lacking in certain other areas. If I were wanting to expand my pool of unskilled or semi-skilled labor for my business, I would be taking a hard look at these men competing daily for the chance to work.
They show initiative and I find that admirable.
Those men know what's at stake. They most likely have families to support, mouths to feed and rent to pay. They deal with the hard realities of life on a day in and day out basis. They haven't rolled over to play dead nor have they queued up at the local social services offices to try to get a handout. They're out there every day, showing initiative despite handicaps of little or no education.
Poverty can either be opportunity or it can be a prison. Meet Juan Elenise, a strapping young lad living in southern Dallas county from a home of modest means. Juan is (as his name implies) of Hispanic descent, is part of a somewhat large and very close-knit family, and as of about a month and a half ago, became a father. Juan is fighting poverty by working. He has a regular job which doesn't pay a whole lot and has been known from time to time to find other jobs to supplement his income. That is, he works when he has the time. He is also putting himself through College in pursuit of a better life for him, for Juan Diego, and for Jacklyn... daughter of the lovely Miss Carol.
Juan is my step son-in-law. I am proud of him. I admire him. He has a sense of initiative.
I see the day in the not so distant future when life will get a bit easier for Juan, where he has a job which pays more as a result of the groundwork he is laying now. He will have more time to better enjoy his son and to teach him the most important of life's lessons... that eventually hard work and persistance will pay off. All it takes is a measure of initiative.
Be Seeing You!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Admiration
I don't think I'll be ranting and raving too long this evening. I am just a little bit spent regarding the death of Elizabeth Edwards.
Now, there was a class act. Her husband was a first-class schmuck, yet, she persisted and had her head held high until the end. She did not deserve the indignity which John Edwards had saddled her with.
Damn. There was a fine woman who should have had the support of her husband.
I admire strong women and I admire the men who stand with them (if they are able). I encounter them all of the time on Facebook... former classmates, my sisters, my mother, my cousins and my wife.
Before I go to bed here in a minute or two, I will be saying a special prayer for Elizabeth and for a number of other women I know, admire, and am proud to be friends with. I feel myself priveleged to be able to walk among some fine human beings!
Seasoned Greetings!
Now, there was a class act. Her husband was a first-class schmuck, yet, she persisted and had her head held high until the end. She did not deserve the indignity which John Edwards had saddled her with.
Damn. There was a fine woman who should have had the support of her husband.
I admire strong women and I admire the men who stand with them (if they are able). I encounter them all of the time on Facebook... former classmates, my sisters, my mother, my cousins and my wife.
Before I go to bed here in a minute or two, I will be saying a special prayer for Elizabeth and for a number of other women I know, admire, and am proud to be friends with. I feel myself priveleged to be able to walk among some fine human beings!
Seasoned Greetings!
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