So I was busy chasing wild geese on Friday (it involved a electric company, a new residential building site, a current commercial building site, 1 check, 3 building permits, a trip back to the office for another check) and had time on the road to listen to the news and formulate opinions.
The story about the Columbus, OH Burlington Coat Factory episode came up. We are supposedly one of the most “most civilized” countries of the world but an incident like this just goes to show that civilized or not, the human nature is often uncivil toward fellow humans.
In case you haven’t read the story, a lady entered the story, claimed to have just won the lottery and offered a $500 per person shopping spree. People went wild trying to get stuff to buy, plus they called their friends and family and another boatload of people tried to get into the store to take part in the shopping spree. After they found out the lady didn’t win the lottery and had no money to pay for the shopping spree, they left the store in shambles.
“Everybody was like, ‘I still want my free stuff,’ and that started the riot,” he (police detective Steven Nace) said. “It looks like (Hurricane) Katrina went through the store.”
What is it about greed that makes people lose civility? Remember the Black Friday episode where a security man was killed in NY because of people trying to enter a Wal*mart for sales?
And what would you do if you were in a store and a legitimate announcement was made for a $500 shopping spree by someone who won the lottery? Would you participate? I think the first thing I would do is head out the door, taking the above story in consideration.
And the lottery … now there’s another topic for discussion. Or not. Mostly not. Lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math. Or like a t-shirt I just saw: Play the Lottery. Learn Statistics.
A GM salesman stopped in at the office today. He was talking about how many people are scratching for work these days. We spoke of some of the benefits of the economy taking a downturn, most which tie into evaluating what’s really important in our lives and what we can live without. He said that it’s been good for him and his wife to take a look at things. “I have 9 televisions in my house,” he said, “and there are only three of us living there. We really don’t need that many. My son is in high school so he’s not home much. We cut out cable since we get our news on the internet and rarely watch tv anyway. But we have 5 computers in our house. That’s one for each of us plus 2 extra.”
You know, there are times when being rendered speechless is a good thing.
About the “shopping spree”, all I can say is, “Why are people so gullible?” And the excess techy-toys of the GM salesman…wow.
The devil clearly has most people tricked into thinking that some”thing” will bring happiness, fulfillment, contentment, or completeness to life! It’s sooo not true!! I’m so thankful to know the Real source for happiness, etc!! …..and it’s “free”!!!
Have a great day!
Mary Lou, I loved how you think and how you wrote this. My jaw dropped when I read that next to last paragraph!
I am speechless with shock. What I want to know and have asked myself (and others) many times is HOW do they do that? When you look at the national averages in income, we’re not supposed to feel so tight. So how do other people manage to buy so many things, go out to eat all the time, take an annual vacation, own 9 TV sets ……???????????
I love, love that phrase about the lottery being a tax on people who are bad at Math!
i couldn’t agree with you more – underscore the part about the lottery! i really liked your comment about “a tax on people who are bad at math”!!! among many other things, the lottery is also bad for the economy. i’ve heard in the past of a town going bankrupt because of all the gambling, and now it’s so widespread, i wonder how much it plays a role in consumer spending. things are supposed to get “better” for cities when they legalize the lottery. they are getting worse all across the country. guess it’s not expedient for the news or politicians to connect the dots! (BTW, i always hate things like “moonlight madness” or black fri! i’m with you! i would have headed for the door!!!)
Unbelievable. All of the above. I had not heard that story about the BCF – but my word, would you even believe such a thing? Hardly! Sadness in this world. It reminds me of a quote that I’m not going to be able to repeat word for word but something along the lines of…”Jesus risked giving his life, knowing not all would accept”.
And it makes me wonder if his Living Water is flowing from me so that others around me can see and want something other than consumerism??
Gracious. What a story! Both of them! I hadn’t heard that Columbus story… And the stuff the man was telling you?! I was quite wide-eyed reading it, and then got to your ending sentence and just had to burst out laughing! I can just imagine how a.m.a.z.e.d. you must have felt at all his excessive toys! I sure was just reading about it! I like how you think and process stuff like this!