Toys have become commodities instead of playthings. – Beth Copeland Vargo
I’ve mentioned my partiality for Marines before, so it probably won’t surprise you to hear that my favorite charity is the USMC Reserve’s Toys for Tots program, which collects toys for needy children. As I said in last year’s “Yuletide” column:
It’s bad enough being a needy adult at this time of year, but children lack our mature understanding of economics and it’s heartbreaking for them to think they have been forgotten by Santa Claus. I urge all of my American readers who are financially comfortable to please donate at least one toy this year; even bargain stores such as Big Lots and Dollar Tree have donation bins, so for only a few dollars you can send a little bit of Christmas cheer to those less fortunate, and so experience a little of the joy of giving and help to make a Merry Christmas for some child who cannot control the conditions in which he lives. Those who prefer not to go near shopping malls during this season can even donate money directly on the website via credit card, donate in memory of a loved one or specify that toys go to American Indian children, many of whom live in some of the most shamefully poor conditions in this country. Also, if any of my readers chooses to send me a gift from my Amazon wishlist this season, I will make a donation of equal monetary value to the Toys for Tots foundation in your name. My international readers might also inquire if there is some similar program to benefit needy children in your country.
Giving to a program like Toys for Tots is more important now than ever because it helps us to remember the true meaning of this time of year. Despite the increasing tendency of retailers to push it back to November 1st, today is the traditional beginning of the Yuletide season in the United States, and has long been among the busiest shopping days of the year. It’s also the day on which many U.S. retailers finally go “into the black” after running in the red for the previous eleven months; this is one possible origin of the name “Black Friday”, an in-joke among retail managers in Philadelphia since the 1960s which slowly spread across the country in the 1980s and became known to the general public by the late 1990s. By the turn of the century retailers were referring to their after-Thanksgiving sales as “Black Friday sales” instead, and since then marketing experts have inexorably worked to replace Thanksgiving (a day to give thanks for what we already have) in the public consciousness with the artificial “Black Friday” (a day to go out and buy more). A few years ago I noticed that much of both spam and legitimate email advertising alike now refer to Thanksgiving Week as “Black Friday Week”, and this year many retailers are beginning their “Black Friday sales” at midnight (and Wal-Mart at 10 PM Thursday), essentially ruining Thanksgiving for those employees who are drafted for the graveyard shift. Since 2002, the violence associated with the day has also increased, especially at so-called “big box” retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy; this hearkens back to another possible origin of the term “Black Friday”, a negative reference to the massive traffic jams and rude, pushy crowds which characterize it.
Do I need to point out that this is not only insane, but totally contrary to what the Yuletide season is supposed to be about? I haven’t set foot in a store on the day after Thanksgiving since the late ‘80s; it was the day my family always decorated our Christmas tree, and I’ve continued that tradition. This afternoon my husband and I will go out into our woods, find a suitable tree and bring it back here to decorate; we’ll play Christmas music and have Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner, and tonight we’ll watch one of our favorite Christmas shows. Readers, why don’t you do the same? Instead of battling pathetic, deluded “consumers” for a marked-down big-screen TV you don’t really need, stay at home and do your holiday shopping next weekend or even online. But whenever and however you do it, spare a thought and a little cash for an unfortunate small person, and consider giving a toy or donation to Toys for Tots.
One Year Ago Yesterday
Last year, Thanksgiving fell on the 25th so I noted the column from last Thanksgiving yesterday, thus pushing the column from last November 24th to today. It’s called “Lying Down With Dogs” and it calls attention to the fact that besides the U.S. and a couple of its client states, every country in which prostitution is criminal is a “totalitarian state, a country only recently emerged from totalitarianism, a theocracy or near-theocracy, a postage stamp, a third-world shithole or some combination of two or more of those categories.”
Well the Marines always hit me up for TFT when I was active and, my last duty station prior to retiring was in the same building with MARFORES HQ down in New Orleans – those guys were ALL OVER TFT! Now, I work on a Government facility for the Navy – but there’s no Marines here though we definitely have TFT pickup points and a healthy toy drive going on here. Marines – they are even where you can’t see them!
This is a great charity … and, it’s one of those “pure” charities because the Marines do this for the right reasons – and every bit of what you give goes to these kids – which isn’t the case with a lot of charitable organizations out there today.
Maggie … also – I think women are the only ones still shopping in the malls on Black Friday. Most REAL MEN shop online!
OT:
Well, Maggie, sorry to serve up the nasty taste of lies on your festive weekend, but the beat goes on:
http://tinyurl.com/NYT-trafficking-lies
Here’s a little “Black Friday” gift for you:
Maggie– Have you seen the UK libertarian website Spiked today? They have their monthly collection of book reviews, and one of them is Honey Money by Catherine Hakim. It appears that she is mostly saying all the things you’ve been saying in your blog here, about prostitution and sexual relations in general.
I can’t always afford to donate to Toys For Tots every year, but I would definitely pick them as the best Christmas charity whenever I can give something.
I wrote about it when it first came out; Dr. Hakim asked that I refer to it by its more professional-sounding American title, Erotic Capital.
Ok, I read the article posted above about the pimp and his whores. I don’t deny that this stuff happens. But every time I hear about this sort of thing, I have to ask the women, really? WTF?
There is absolutely no reason to have a pimp.
Protection? Is he going to be with you, there in the car or motel room when the date goes bad? No? How is he protecting you then? You must protect yourself. Some of the services I worked for before going independent had drivers, who waited outside while I did my job. Did I consider them protection? No. When you’re working, it’s you and the client. You have to manage the situation, be constantly aware when the situation is going bad, and once in a while run for it.
Is the pimp going to protect you from the cops, who rip you off, rape and beat you? No. He probably won’t even pay your bail. Once you’re not working, you’re out of his concern.
Does he give you drugs? If you’re hooked, there are other dealers, and you’ll pay less of a price.
Love? Please. Love’s a rare thing in this world and you are never going to find it with a pimp.
He’s keeping you broke, while you’re earning, scared, and beaten. He IS NOT WORTH it.
Look, as a whore, society will consider you the lowest, rubbish. A pimp pushes your self esteem down even more. You don’t need that at all.
There is simply no reason to have a pimp.
Now, having ranted on that, let me say- I’ve never met, and only read of or heard of the classic “pimp”, with a stable of ho’s. What I have met are “suitcase pimps.” These are guys who only have one girl. They’re often married to her, or are her boyfriend. The suitcase bit comes in because they’re always traveling or dependent on her.
They don’t usually beat, or force the girl to work. What I have seen though is that often they encourage the woman to get into things over her head, scenes she’s not ready to handle. I’ve seen this a lot. also, they play the whole “Oh, but bay we’ve got bills, what are we going to do” bit when the woman wants to quit.
Really, there is no reason to have a pimp, to hand your money over to someone else.
Well, there are men who are so introverted, yet talented, that they’ll seek out someone more gregarious to “front” their talents. Offhand Steve Wozniac comes to my mind. Perhaps he’s particularly introverted – but he was smart enough on his own to design and build computers – yet he had Steve Jobs around to inspire his ideas and be the PR front for Apple. IMO – Jobs did little more than “pimp out” Woz in those early years.
I suspect some women look to pimps for the same reason. The pimps lift the burden off their shoulders of finding customers and arranging terms, etc. They just simply have to show up.
Also – some people just don’t have the professional discipline to run a business on their own – and they know that.
Seems you and Maggie are cut from a different mold though.
Running a business isn’t easy, that’s for sure. But hundreds of thousands do it.
Even if one doesn’t want to run things themselves, work for a service. True, some would say that a service is a pimp. but there are huge differences.
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, but my check doesn’t come in ’till the first of December. No Black Friday for me.
I worked retail for many, many years and so I have a special hate in my heart for Black Friday (Mall of America and North Michigan Avenue- Chicago). Nothing brings out the savage in modern-day consumers more than that day. I don’t work retail any more and so I definitely avoid even stepping out of my house on that day. Not even to the grocery store. When I do shop for the holidays, it is during the week and during the day when most people are at work and the stores are less deep-fried crazy.
What I did on Black Friday:
Slept in ’till 2pm, and stayed home all day after that.
I’m really sick of this “Black Friday” nonsense pushing it’s way into a day to give thanks.
And I really do feel for retail workers in this country.