Shoppers "Black Friday"

Not "Stock Market Crash"

I very much dislike belaboring a point even though some of our elected officials, if not already there, are fast approaching the point of no return when the subject turns to the financial state of Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, therefore my intention is to turn this posting to a less controversial topic if that be possible.

Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas will be here before we, at least most adults, are really ready for it. The day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday because it is thought to be the biggest shopping day of the year and probably dictates whether or not a business will make a profit or suffer a loss for the year. Thus black ink as opposed to red. But in this age of computers and shopping on line, some believe that tomorrow, "Cyber Monday" will be even larger.

Our philosophy, for about the past fifty years, has been to stay as far away from places such as Wal-Mart as possible. If we are forced, by circumstances beyond our control, to go to those establishments we always go as early as possible and stay no longer than necessary. According to what few reports that I have heard or read this year's "Black Friday" was somewhat of a success. Spending was up some but not as much as some businesses had anticipated or hoped for. If you look on the bright side, if that is the right choice of words, anything is better than nothing. I don't know what that says about the state of our economy especially after reading that almost twenty percent of people polled still had credit card debt from last Christmas' shopping. Maybe it means that "if China makes it America will buy it."

The following story probably isn't altogether true but does, in my opinion, reflect on the state of affairs in this hi-tech world today. It is titled "Joker's Wild",

"Off down the road a mile or two / in a run down shack that the wind blows through / once lived a man that we all knew as Joker / he lived alone with his dog and cat / wore patched overalls and an old straw hat / with a rag tied around his neck like a choker / well living alone must have affected his brain / or maybe it was the feel of the snow and rain / that came in through the holes he never mended / for he took to the woods with his old hound dog / built them a nest in a hollow log / and left his run down shack there untended / now Joker's gone, Joker's gone / he left his shack and he ain't coming back / and now Joker's gone - old Joker's gone.

He was taking his living from the land / roots and berries all gathered by hand / and it seemed that Mother Nature was singing his tune / for he's lived out there more than a year / and if you listened at night you could hear / him calling to his dog that was howling at the moon / but then last week in the dead of night / with the North Star shining cold and bright / old Joker started acting kind of strange / I ask him twice what had gone wrong / why Mother Nature had changed her song / but both times he was already out of range / now Joker's wild, Joker's wild / he lived alone, made the woods his home / and now Joker's wild - old Joker's wild."

For me, it is getting harder and harder to make sense out of today's state of affairs. I guess that is the way it is meant to be. Thanks for you time and imput, stay tuned. - William