Black Friday

I’ve never really been much of a shopper.  For my whole life, my mom would go to the store and bring home a bunch clothes for me.  It was pretty hard to find clothes I liked, so when my mom did she would buy more of them with slight differences such as color. 

            Friday, November 28, 2008, my mom woke me up at noon. She told me that my dad, grandpa, uncle, and cousins had woken up early to go to the shooting range and that I had to go shopping.  (I tried arguing, but my mom was set on me shopping)  Those people I just listed were all the guys in my family staying at our house for Thanksgiving, so I was stuck with four girls in a mall all day.  I soon came to learn that this special day was called “Black Friday”.

            After 30 minutes, I was ready to leave.  After an hour I wanted to kill myself.  We had been in countless stores and bought nothing.  I didn’t understand.  The girls could spend hours just browsing, not even looking for anything in particular.  It was like they thought if they looked long enough they would come across gold and they were having fun doing it.  After spending 6 hours in 3 different malls, I came to the conclusion that I hate shopping. 

            While the women were in one store in the 3^rd mall, I snuck away and found a tv.  The news was on and I heard a story of a man getting trampled to death when Wal-Mart opened at 5a.m. that morning.  Story   My first thought was if only that was me, but then I started thinking.  These people are crazy.  Shoppers spend all day doing practically nothing.  It’s one thing to go to a store searching for something specific, but looking for nothing.  It’s pretty weird.  And killing someone to do it is insane.  There aren’t many things I would wake up at 5a.m. to do.  I mean I like doing a lot of things besides sleeping, but they can wait until at least 8 or 9.  The fact that people are camping outside of Wal-Mart and trampling the greeter to death for just a few sales is ludicrous.  I truly believe police should look at the security cameras and arrest the first 30 or 40 people through that door.  Something needs to be done and I don’t know that I’m ever going “shopping” again.

Thanksgiving: Relaxing or Stressful?

When I thought about thanksgiving break, I was excited.  It would be my first time going home.  I would get to see my family and friends, sleep in my own bed, and eat tons of good food.  It was going to be the most relaxing week since coming to school. 

A couple days before my plane flight, I discovered my grandparents were coming in town and using m room.  So I wasn’t going to sleep in my own bed.  It wasn’t the end of the world.  Our sofa bed wasn’t too bad. 

My thanksgiving break was fun, but it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.  There was too much to do in too short of time.  I went into the break thinking I would catch up on sleep, but it turned out that I fell farther behind.  Everyday I felt obligated to spend time with my mom, dad, sister, grandparents, and cousins, but I also wanted to see my friends.  I hadn’t seen any of these people since I left for school.  I would spend time with my family until they went to bed at 10 or 11 then I would head to friend’s houses and stay up late into the am’s.  My parents would wake me up at noon the next day telling me everybody had been waiting hours for me to get up.  I’d scramble out of bed, tired as hell and the same thing would happen that day. 

I got so tired and run down that I was having trouble enjoying myself.  I also got sick.  Who comes home from college to get run down and sick?  While I had a lot of fun seeing my family and friends, it was a little more stressful than I would have liked. Hopefully winter break will be a little more relaxing.  Luckily it’s right around the corner.

What stems Middleton's criticism

When I first read Heat-Moon's experience with Alice Middleton, my initial response was to agree with all of the points she made.  As I continue to think about her statements, I'm starting to question some of her ideas.  Does Miz Alice dislike all the change, because she can't adjust to the change.

While Miz Alice makes some good points about the deterioration of her island, I don't think things are as bad off as she makes them seem.  Miz Alice doesn't like any of the change, because she can't bring herself to change.  She points out all the problems with technology, but never thinks to mention any of the benefits that it brings not only to the island, but the entire world.  Miz Alice and her beliefs are stuck in the world she grew up in.  Her inability to adjust and keep up with the constantly changing world leads her to criticize the change, even though in many cases the change is good.