Gratitude vs Greed

There's been a lot of churn recently over how soon people and businesses should be promoting Christmas. I for one like to celebrate my holidays in order. Each has its own merits and they should be celebrated without feeling pressured or getting muscled out by another holiday that's riding its heals.

Back when I was a kid you never saw anything related to Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving.  Halloween stuff didn't appear until the beginning of October.  Thanksgiving ads didn't show up until the first of November.  This year ads and displays for Christmas started to appear in September. WTH?!

Seems ironic, or actually sad, that the season for acknowledging and celebrating gratitude is being nearly wiped out by the season of greed.  Now don't get me wrong I love Christmas for it's the celebration of the birth of Christ but let's be real, friends. As far as our society is concerned Christmas is all about consumption and I don't mean food and booze.  We are pressured for months into going out and spending beyond our means, to get all those "perfect" gifts everyone is entitled to. Gift giving has become more of an obligation rather than a loving gesture because of the over-nurtured sense of expectation many people have.  Cars, jewelry, electronics, power tools and expensive clothing seem to be the norm.  Clever marketing has created a need for all these toys and the pressure to buy comes sooner and more intense each year.  Hence, this year some stores are planning on opening Thanksgiving day.

I've heard some folks on local radio and TV stations say they''ll refuse to shop at any store that opens on Thanksgiving.  Doesn't matter what deals they're offering, for the remainder of the holiday season they won't spend one dime in any of those establishments.  I applaud that commitment.  Hey, I know life is all about choices and we live in a country where our freedoms of expression (or in this case, spending) are joyfully exercised.  So why not exercise the "freedom" to open stores on Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving isn't a religious holiday so it seems odd to hear some people say, as a justification for opening stores on Thanksgiving day, "not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving."  Hmmm,  so not everyone feels compelled to say "thank you" for all the wonderful things life has provided them?  Really?  Can't spend just ONE day in 365 to stop and say "thank you"?  Wow, that's tragic.  You know there are stores in my neighborhood that are intentionally closed on Sundays because according to the owners they want everyone, customers and employees alike, to spend the day with their families.  They're placing a value on family and encouraging others to put aside one day of their week to slow down and enjoy life.  This whole issue of stores opening on Thanksgiving isn't about religious freedom or the right to spend money.  It's about being the kind of people, the kind of community we want to be.

These stores may say there's a demand.  Not really sure how they've determined that, but sure, "if you open, they will come."  But if you close, will they riot?  Hey I get it.  You put a glass of wine in front of me and I'll drink it (assuming it's good).  But if you don't, that doesn't mean I'm going to throw a fit over it.  We bitch, piss, moan and complain over how selfish and self-centered our society has become and yet we turn around and promote just the kind of behavior we seem to think is so reprehensible.

You know if you want to shop then shop.  Knock yourself out, I'm not one to judge.  I personally choose to hang out with family and friends.  But just keep in mind that our actions, whatever they may be, are a reflection of who we really are and our collective actions are a reflection of how the rest of the world sees us.  

No more Kool-Aid...

Un-f'ing-believeable!  A quarterback gets drilled in the chest by a linebacker, he fumbles the ball, it's recovered by the defense and the officials throw a flag for "unnecessary roughness".  Are you kidding me!?  At what point did the NFL forget the fact that football is a contact sport?  I know this all sounds like the rants of a frustrated fan who saw his team lose for the second week in a row and it pretty much is, but this goes much deeper than the bitching over a horrible call on the field.

For the officiating committee and the zebras on the field to say the hit on Drew Brees was "unnecessary roughness" galls me to no end.  The justification for this so-called rule is to better protect players from the violence that IS football.  My questions is "why"?  Football is a violent, contact sport.  It's meant to be.  Any football player who frets over how rough the game is should consider playing baseball or curling.  Millionaires are playing the game and they are more concerned about their checkbooks rather than their performance.  The threat of season or career ending injuries would threaten their lucrative salaries.  Seems ironic that back in the day when players had to get second jobs in the off season to pay the bills, the amount of violence was far greater than it is today.  Other than the deception created by the NFL regarding the severity of concussions, for the most part everyone knew the risks and dangers of playing the game and it was accepted.  If you ask me, I think the larger the salaries, the greater the violence.  Give me $10 million dollars and I'll be anyone's punching bag for a few months out of the year.

The lie has grown to such proportions that many are starting to believe it to be true.  This has nothing to do with the protection of the players.  Chop blocks on defensive linemen is not only legal but encouraged.  The simple fact of the matter is that the NFL is not about competition, it's about revenue.  It's all about ticket and merchandise sales, marketing revenues and profit margins.  Men like Ronnie Lott and Lawrence Taylor could never compete in today's NFL for the simple fact they couldn't afford to pay all the fines levied by the NFL bean counters.  Superstars such as Drew Brees and Tom Brady, who've amassed insane statistics over the past several years, are under greater protection by the NFL than a person who's under the witness protection plan.  I'm of the mind that these superstars wouldn't have the statistics they have if they didn't have the luxury of the no-touch rules that they currently enjoy today.  Hell, just two weeks ago his royal highness Peyton Manning had his ankle rolled up on and immediately the talk switched to modifying the rules to provide even MORE protection for the quarterback.  Oh, and the NFL was considering fining the guy who committed this HORRIBLE crime of trying to tackle the quarterback.  

There's a saying that defenses win championships and offenses sell tickets.  That is very much true.  The constant rule changes that restrict the defenses from actually defending gives the offense such a lopsided advantage that scores are soaring and offensive records are dropping at an incredible rate.  Americans want to see points on the board, or so we have been conditioned to believe so.  It's no wonder soccer has never really taken off in this country.  Low scoring games are just another yawn festival.  It's also true that without all the great stars of the game, who's really going to watch?  Stars get hurt and ticket sales drop, it's a known fact.  Who wants to pay a week's wage to watch a sloppy game of football by a bunch of understudies?  But hey, injuries heal and the stars re-emerged.  But with every booboo suffered by a quarterback the NFL takes even greater steps to protect their cash cows.

It's embarrassing for me to realize I've gotten so upset over the success or failure of a bunch of millionaires who "play" for a living.  Like movie celebrities that get paid stupid amounts of money to play make believe, much like we did as kids.  But don't get me started on that group.  I'm sad that the teams and heroes I admired as a child no longer exist.  These days the NFL, along with most other professional sports, is all big business.  A Super Bowl ring is merely a byproduct of what really matters to the players, coaches, owners and stakeholders…. money!

I can't bring myself to watch the games any more.  It's not the football I grew to know and love.  I'll always be a devoted 49er fan and I'll maintain hopes that common sense might some day prevail, but I'm not holding my breath.  Football is heading down the path of professional wrestling.  It's a just show, manipulated and modified in order to entice the mob to spend money they don't have in order to make rich people richer.

Drink up, people.  I'm done here.

Measure of a man...

The shit some men say to women!

"So honey do you prefer your men in briefs or tighty whities?"

"Do you like having big boobs?  I mean look at those things?"

"You are SOOO f-ing hot!  Do you like older guys?"

Yes, those are all actual quotes uttered by local knuckle-draggers at this sports bar near my hotel. About the only thing that made listening to those morons tolerable was the way the young waitress bitch slapped them back to reality.  

"You can't keep your wife happy, what makes you think you could do anything for me?"

BAM!!!  Sit down a-hole!

I get that alcohol plays a part in all this and of course flirting for tips is part of the job but what happened to playful and classy banter?  A well placed compliment, a very slightly off-colored innuendo, or just a little wink-n-nod, all lost arts among the losers that frequent the local watering holes these days.  "Sure, I'll have another beer.  And NICE ass!"

I know these girls are mostly good sports about the crassness but deep down inside I know it's hurtful and it only goes to reinforce their perception that all men are pigs.  Granted many of us are hogs but the lengths these young women go to earn a little more than a 10% tip is disheartening and down right degrading.  

I blame the parents for much of this.  For most of their lives these punks are encouraged to be the tough guy in the classroom and on the playing field and they are not expected to be held accountable for their personal actions.  "Hey, my son just got a free ride to Nebraska, so what if he put your kid in a trash can."  

Guys, neither the length of your penis nor the width of your wallet is a true measure of a man.  Your respect and compassion towards others and your willingness to stand up for what's right in the face of adversity is the difference between being a man and a man-child.  Grow the hell up and get a REAL pair.  Be the person women adore and men respect.  Anybody can be a punk. It takes personal strength and courage to be a real man.