I'm sure our founding fathers had grand plans for the little chunk of land they called America. A freedom they'd probably never known, a new start. I don't imagine the first Americans had much to speak of, but they got by just fine. We became a very powerful and rich country, based on things like God, family values, perhaps even morals.
Fast forward to today. Wal*Mart. My morning started off with a thought; "Have I gone completely insane?" Here I am waking my sleeping babies up long before the sun is expected to make an appearance. "It'll be quick, no one will be crazy enough to actually get up for this.."
As I turned into the parking lot, I saw the mob of chilly people waiting for the doors to open. The crowd overflowed the entryway and spilled out in a thick line all the way back to the garden center. Other drivers were actually passing me as I waited for the car in front of me to let a load of eager shoppers out. They got out, the car started driving, and people were still passing us. I got inside the door (the food center door wasn't nearly as crowded) and only had to wait a minute or two for the 'doors' to open.
I went for bath towels. I could hardly get to them until someone kindly let me through (after about 5 minutes of me trying to get across the aisle.) I then ventured to the Christmas section to get new ornaments. On the way I got ran into twice, had two or three close calls and had to wait for about 10 people to move out of the center of the aisles so I could even get passed them. I was cut off by a few impatient customers but finally got the items I was there for and made it through the check out in record time.
My point: people are totally ridiculous! I cannot even imagine the crowds at places like Macy's or Old Navy or Target! People get up at (or stay up till) the wee hours of the morning so they can pack into the electronics/home/holiday department like sardines all the while pushing, fighting and in my case, ramming (note slight exaggeration for dramatic purposes) others in order to make sure they get the biggest and the best for the lowest prices. They are rude, impatient, greedy (people stuffing everything they see into the cart just incase they want it, if not they stuff it on a random shelf later) and this is what defines us as Americans. It's sad, but very true. We like stuff. We love to spend money (even when we don't have money to spend) on things we do not need. The guy in front of me at the check stand had what he wanted and was talking to a friend, saw a calendar and the friend said 'its only $7.88' and the guy in line replied 'ah why the hell not' and got it.
I cannot understand how all these companies are going under, how our country is in trillion dollar debt when all we do is buy, buy, buy! There is something wrong with this equation.
Off to bed, I must rest up so I can go eat waaay too much turkey..again..ahh, America the beautiful!
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