Worst Thanksgiving Traditions

[TNT]

1. Turkey dinner at the Rescue Mission. Each year, members of the community come down to the Rescue Mission and put on a turkey dinner for the homeless, poor, psychotic and whatever. That's not my problem. My problem is the news cameras that come to the event. Invariably, they stick the camera in the faces of the most down and out people they can find and:

Newsman: How do you feel about this wonderful outpouring of generosity from the community?
Poor person: It's just great that people care so much.

I assume it takes many tries to find people that coherent. Sometime, I'd like to hear the poor person say, "Where are they the other 364 days of the year while I'm living in a cardboard box?"

(Of course I can't say much for myself... I consider the three and a half years I worked with the severely mentally ill to be my penance, but it's probably not enough.)

2. The appearance of the Helping Hands for Homeless collectors. Unlike the Salvation Army collectors, who pretty much keep to themselves, these guys stand in the streets with buckets and solicit -- nay, demand -- contributions from both cars and pedestrians. If you're lucky, and just passing through town, you can get hit up three times in one trip. You can have your car windows rolled up and a thousand yard stare straight ahead, and they're still going to bang on your windows until you acknowledge them. For those who drive downtown every day, of course, it's a daily event, both ways.

And it goes on from Thanksgiving until Christmas. Worst part is, I don't even know what Helping Hands for the Homeless does... even my former homeless friends weren't sure.

[Rapscallion]

I assume it takes many tries to find people that coherent. Sometime, I'd like to hear the poor person say, "Where are they the other 364 days of the year while I'm living in a cardboard box?"


I used to have a huge amount of sympathy for this argument until I saw a response from the Penny Arcade crew to similar accusations over their Childsplay appeal (they collect games from people and distribute them to children in hospital or something along those lines).

It ran along the lines of, "I can't physically do this all year round - I'd never keep up the main work that attracts the attention that allows it to be a success once a year. The other alternative is that I do nothing about it all year round, which is what many people do. If that's your preference, let me know."

Rapscallion

[Saydrah]

I'm particularly unfond of the Salvation Army folks myself, due to their backwards stance on gblt rights and their religious bigotry.

But the most annoying Thanksgiving tradition I can think of is a food drive on EVERY radio station I listen to, carefully staggered so just as soon as I've knuckled under and brought some canned goods to one station's drive, another one is having a food drive. FOR THE SAME FOOD BANK. Each radio station says that their food drive will provide food that will last a few months for the food bank- so how by now after years of this is the food bank not full of more food than they need? One of this year's drives either nearly surpassed or surpassed (I don't remember) the record for the largest single donation of food EVER. And they do this every year. Couldn't they at least choose different food banks? Anyone else running a food bank around here must feel really neglected this time of year.

[Knightmare]

Worst Thanksgiving Tradition?

Watching the Detroit Lions lose almost every year. :(

What happened to them? They were doing so well. Now they are 6-5. Bastards

[Retail Associate]

Worst Thanksgiving Tradition?

Watching the Detroit Lions lose almost every year. :(

I agree. I'm so very sick of that tradition.

What happened to them? They were doing so well. Now they are 6-5. Bastards

You can blame it on my son. He is a Lions fan but has been disappointed so much that he just didn't want to get his hopes up again this year, only to have them dashed again. He kept telling me their winning ways wouldn't last.

Me...I was saving some personal days for the play-offs and kept telling my son the Lions would finally make it to the Super Bowl.

Silly me. :cry:


.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

IMHO, probably the endless commercials advertising the early bird Black Friday sales.

I don't care that Kohl's will open at 4 a.m. . . . I'll be sound asleep dreaming of coffee and leftover cheesecake for breakfast.

WM starts at 5 . . . big deal. Target at 6 . . .

Personally, I'm not up for physical combat. *yawns and rolls over*

[blas87]

I'll tell you what's wrong with the Detroit Lions.

Bear in mind, as I type the rest of this, I am anti-Packer. I really can't stand them.

First of all, with the Lions, they have it backwards. All the chubby guys are on offense, and all the smaller guys are on defense. That always equals epic fail. You need only a few large guys on offense to block, but you need more bigger guys on defense.

Second of all...that Raoila guy. I can see him being the next Randy Moss, if he isn't already. Not necessarily with the drugs and trouble with the law, but just his attitude totally SUCKS. He may play well, but just from watching the game yesterday, you can see how he has a piss poor attitude about him that doesn't look like it's going away. He may end up becoming this super great player, but being notorious for being an asswipe just like Moss was and still is.

[Saydrah]

Okay, new holiday pet peeve.

KIDS ringing bells for the Salvation Army.

When an adult in a Santa costume, who presumably knows plenty about the charity he's pitching, accosts me and rings a bell in my face if I don't drop a buck in his cauldron, I feel no compunction about, in a civil indoor voice, telling him to please get the bell out of my face and that I only support charities whose record on giving equal treatment to GBLT people and people who don't share their religion satisfies me. I can't tell that to a ten year old with NO PARENTAL SUPERVISION standing out in twenty degree weather ringing a bell, obviously having been instructed to move towards every shopper and ring louder if they don't offer a handout.

That is just messed up. I'm all for teaching kids about volunteerism, but let them brush dogs at the animal shelter, package food for the needy, collect toys for disadvantaged children- don't make them stand outside unsupervised by any responsible adult with instructions to annoy shoppers into donating to a charity. It's not safe, and it's exploitative to use a child for that purpose before they are old enough to make an educated choice about that type of fundraising.

[blas87]

AMEN!!

:worship:

[crazylegs]

1. these guys stand in the streets with buckets and solicit -- nay, demand -- contributions from both cars and pedestrians. If you're lucky, and just passing through town, you can get hit up three times in one trip. You can have your car windows rolled up and a thousand yard stare straight ahead, and they're still going to bang on your windows until you acknowledge them.

Um, thats aggresive begging, which is an offence. Charity collecters in the UK must not approach people and ask for money, they may not shake their bucket, they may not use a device (banners, pictures, stalls ets excluded) to attract attention to themselves.

They have to obey the rules same as everyone else.