#BlackFriday:EmployeesFightBack

Turkey Day is approaching and the next biggest day is approaching as well, BLACK FRIDAY!  This day has been deemed as the biggest shopping day of the year.  This is a time when you can get iPads, flat screens TVs, laptops, etc. for the low low.  People camp outside starting at 10pm the night before to be first to get the lowest deals.  And depending what state you are in you could be camping outside in ice and snow.  As we study the sales paper and make detailed plans of which stores we want to hit at 3am to get that special deal, employees are fighting back about this year’s Black Friday Event.

Instead of opening at 3am or 4am in the morning, some stores have chosen to open at midnight.  There are even some stores opening at 9pm that Thanksgiving night.  Employees are outrage at these opening times.  As someone who has worked in retail before (Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret), Black Friday is no day at the theme park and I truly feel for these workers that will be working on Dooms Day as I prefer to call it.  A Target employee has started an online petition (change.org) urging other retail employees to sign it.   These workers feel as if their holiday is being shortened because of the early opening times. 

As far as I am concerned this whole Black Friday rip off is a mess.  A lot of new channels have done news specials on this particular event and have reported that you can get just as many good deals two weeks after Black Friday as you can on Black Friday.  Also, it’s funny how the people that make the decision about the opening times are not the ones who have to be there.  The Regional Mangers, CEOs, or whoever makes these decisions are really not considering their employees’ family time but thinking about their POCKETS.  As of November 16^th, 100,000 people have signed the petition that the Target employee created.  Not being pessimistic but I doubt that this petition is going to change the opening times.  But I hope those of you that read this blog that are planning to participate in Black Friday events will be sympathetic when go shopping.  If they are out of the item you want think twice before you pop off at the mouth at the sales associate; they have probably been there since 9pm the night before.   

#LadiesOfRealityTV

So the last post gave you substance (#thefoodstampchallenge) but now I want to discuss some of the madness that has been going on in this crazy cheap entertainment factory we call Reality TV.  Apparently, when it comes to Reality TV women are #winning (or maybe not).  Just about all the major reality television shows are made up of predominately women.  I guess we as women never shake that overly dramatic, “My life is coming to an end because the guy I’m in love with doesn’t want me” mindset we had as teens.  Whatever the reason, women in the last couple of years have made for good television. 

Just in case you have been living under a rock or, like me, just got cable in the last couple of months and have missed all the prime time drama,  let me update you on the Ladies of Reality TV (Disclaimer: there is not a great deal of lady-like behavior, unfortunately). 

Basketball Wives L.A. Season 1: I really don’t have much to say about this show other than Jackie is ratchet and I am mad that it took the ladies 10 episodes to realize it.  And once again we have another “Wives” show with no wives (now that I think about it there are only 2 wives of 6 on the Real Housewives of Atlanta).

Love and Hip Hop Season 2: I really don’t have much to say about this show other than Chrissy and Nene Leakes have the same requirements in their contracts (Fight.) and Nancy Jones (Rapper Jim Jones’ mother) should never rap again and she needs to stop shopping at Citi Trendz.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 4:  Out of Bravo’s slew of The Real Housewives… series, this one takes the cake, or peach, and rightfully so (Atlanta is the highest rating of The Real Housewives series if I’m not mistaken).  And the season opener did not leave thousands of fans disappointed.  Nene Leakes lets us know episode one that she is “rich” and that she just got done cashing a “Trump Check” (Nene was on last season’s Celebrity Apprentice).  She [Nene] also opens up the season with loudly getting into it, publicly like only Nene can, with Sheree over a business deal.  If you are a long time watcher of the show you know that Nene gets into it with one of the wives every season (I think it is in her contract to do so).  Some other highlights are Kandi Burgess is opening an adult toy line, Kim Zolciak is pregnant by Atlanta Falcon football player, Kory Something, and Phaedra Parks wants to open a funeral home.  And Cynthia is as far as I’m concerned Nene’s “Sweetie”.

Braxton Family Values Season 2: I am ecstatic.net that this show came back for another season and boy is it going to be a heck of a season.org.  We got a glimpse during season one of who Toni Braxton (Grammy award winner R&B singer) and her sisters were.  Last season ended with the question will there be an album with all the Braxton sisters on it.  It was obvious at the end of season one that Toni was not feeling it.  Traci (the second crunkest sister after Tamar) really wants to start her singing career with her sisters, going as far as to uproot her family in Maryland and move to Atlanta.  But her sisters have other ventures in mind: Towanda wants to start acting, Trina and Tamar are working on solo projects, and Toni wants to do what she’s been doing, being an award winning solo act.  Two other highlights are Mother Evelyn is going to “slap the piss” out of Tamar if she ever gets disrespectful with her again and Trina thought it was okay to move Towanda, her loud kids, and Towanda’s soon-to-be-trifling ex-husband in her house without consulting her [Trina] husband first.

I hope that I did not overload you with all the hot messness that is reality TV.  Stay tuned as the drama unfolds. 



#TakingTheFoodStampChallenge

I am so sorry to my loyal readers for not putting any posts out in awhile.  Things have been crazy! (Got a new truck and trying to think of a cute name for it. Any suggestions?).  But I want to come back with a post with some substance (then the next post will be about the hot messness that is going on in entertainment).  At the beginning of the year I was working with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program formerly known as Food Stamps) Outreach.  After working with this program for 8 months (and also being a participate in the program for a short while) it became an issue that was close to my heart.  So I became very irked at the possible cuts to be made to SNAP.   Just as a reminder I am not a political science major so when I speak about politics I keep it very simple.  So the short of it is that the super committee (a committee that was put together to figure out how to solve America’s huge debt problem) might consider cutting funding to SNAP to solve the debt problem.  Because that’s how you fix America’s debt, kick the neediest in the stomach (literally). 

news clip of me discussing the issue

Some Congressmen, student leader groups, and other groups around the country are participating in the SNAP Challenge to prove just how vital this program is to those that need it.  Some groups have even started Facebook groups and encouraged others to share their experience on the page.  The challenge is this: Spend $28 a week, which is about $4 a day for food (this is what some SNAP recipients have to do on a regular basis, maybe lower if these cuts happen).  Then share your experience in a blog, Facebook page, Twitter, etc.  I especially want people who think SNAP is wasteful spending to take this challenge and experience what someone who has recently lost job has to endure on a day to day basis. 

If you are willing to take this challenge please let me know.  I will be more than willing to let you use my blog to tell your story.