ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

I'm cheering for the Walmart employees that decided to strike during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday shopping extravaganza. Black Friday shopping has gotten so out of hand it's beyond ridiculous. For those of us that work in retail, we have already given up our weekends and evenings. Meaning that we miss family events, graduations, birthdays cookouts, sports events and the list goes on and on. Most retail businesses are closed 2 days out of the year, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day giving us a chance to be with our families but still making it difficult to travel too far, if you're unlucky enough not to have vacation time. As Black Friday shopping has become a bigger and bigger deal stores are opening earlier and earlier, cutting in to the time it's employees get to spend with their families on Thanksgiving. Store opening Thanksgiving evening or at midnight. The holidays have become so commercial with the focus being on the almighty dollar it's hard to even look forward to them. Especially when you've been looking at Christmas decorations since the first of October. We all just want it to be over with. My girlfriend sent me a picture of people camped out at Best Buy on Monday to be first in line for Black Friday. What the hell for?? People dragging their kids out at midnight or the middle of the night in these masses of people drinking coffee drinks in their pajamas looking for a bargain. There's nothing like seeing 2 fat women fight over the last $40 Shop Vac to get you in to the Christmas spirit. I refuse to buy anything on Black Friday-I know it has no effect on anybody's bottom line but it gives me a little holiday joy and I'm going to need some kind of joy since I have to get up at 1:00 am on Black Friday so I can be to work by 3:00 am.