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the grinch is a liberal

Two reminders: Entries are no longer being accepted for the Pro-War Jingle Contest. Judging will commence this weekend. Winner announced when I get around to it. Don't forget that my boobies have been moistened and bared for a good cause (not just the Statia thing, but breast cancer awareness as well).

the grinch is a liberal

I knew I could count on the lovely folks at Indymedia to give me something to write about tonight.

From the Chicago edition of Indy: They’re Back! The Marshall Field Holiday Windows Highlight Disparity

Former Citizens in a capitalist community have been relegated to members of the Shopping Class. Their fantasies and desires have been successfully documented and dissected by marketing moguls. Those desires are then recreated and mirrored back to them from behind the windows of stores like Marshall Fields…

Former citizens? I guess.Once we start Christmas shopping we give up our citizenship. And buddy, if my fantasies and desires have been documented by the marketing moguls and put into store windows, this I gotta see. I just hope the vice squad doesn't see it.

We, the Shopping Class, have the right to vicarious fulfillment of our deepest desires---all we have to do is LOOK and then live in longing… If we really want and deserve what we desire, we will WORK…and thus prove ourselves worthy. Bogus.

Well fuck me with a chainsaw! What the hell am I working for if not to fulfill my desires (housing and food are desires, you know).

Needless to say, I do not look upon the new holiday windows at Marshall Field with awe and longing...I passed the MF windows today, and while I kept my eyes averted from the ghastly glare of paned consumerism, I could not so easily avoid the music being pumped onto the heads of passers-by: “Look on the bright side of life!” A weathered homeless man kept time to the song with his shaking cup of change. Shake-shake. Shake-shake. Look on the bright side of life…!

Wait. I have to digest that "ghastly glare of paned consumerism." College freshman creative writing student? As for that weathered homeless man begging for change, there's probably three McDonald's within walking distance that would hire him to at least clean the bathrooms so he doesn't have to stand in the crowd of holiday shoppers and shake-shake his tin cup. Oh, I forgot. He has too much PRIDE to work at McDonald's.

Soon MF passers-by will have the opportunity to smugly avoid the spirited street drummers performing for spare change or warm clothing. They will have the opportunity to crowd the MF windows in clumps, collectively side-stepping those less fortunate who stand on the sidewalk, between the windows, in the empty grey solid concrete spaces. Look on the bright side of life!

You dumb fucknozzle. Just because I'm standing around looking at gaudy holiday decorations in a department store window doesn't mean I haven't dropped a hefty amount of my yearly salary on various charitable organizations. That's pretty presumptious and generalizing of you. And for the record, I hate when the damn homeless people make me step over them as I'm trying to get into a store to spend my hard earned money. Yea, I'm looking at the bright side of life. I have a roof over my head and food on my table because I work 40 hours a week, and even when I was so close to poor I had to look in the couch cushions to gather enough change to buy a quart of milk, you can bet your Ben and Jerry's t-shirt that I would have taken a job cleaning up elephant shit before I begged strangers to put pennies in a can so I can eat.

But November 29th, 2002 is Buy Nothing Day. A day I CAN dig!

And I'll be doing exactly what I was doing last Buy Nothing Day; shopping. Extravagant, impulsive, whimsical shopping.

On that day, we, as members of the Shopping Class can IGNORE our central purpose in capitalist society. We can choose to not shop. The day is utterly useless, however, if we shop heavily the day before in order to stock up for the next day....

Try some deodorant, a hairbrush and a bar of soap. Maybe a razor.

If you ask me, we have a major chance to send an economic statement on Buy Nothing Day. A statement of collective inactivity on the department store floors. A statement equivalent to forcing a single middle finger high into the air and smiling widely….

Well, I didn't ask you. But since you mentioned it, I'll add my two cents. Don't stand around and complain that the fucking economy is in ruins and then start some great movement to not buy anything. Economic statement? How is "let's not put any money into the economy" a statement of anything but idiocy? Just what are you protesting here? High prices? Materialism? Consumerism? Christmas? Do you people every fucking smile and enjoy life? I bet every time one of you tofu-breaths drops dead, your last thought is "Damn, I wish I bought more shit." As for your middle finger held high in the air, you can take it, stick it up your dirty ass and rotate it. In your name I will be buying my kids the most expensive, worthless crap I can find this Christmas. And I'm going to step over your homeless friends to get into the store when I do.

Grinches unite!

Bah humbug, you simplistic, idealistic twit.

*note: this post is not an invitation to start an argument about classism or any kind of ism. Bugger off if that's your intention. I'm not in the mood.

Comments

That made my toes tingle.I hope the CF is good to you tonite.

>>Try some deodorant, a hairbrush and a bar of soap. Maybe a razor.

Don't forget various forms of birth control devices. If these idiots would quit reproducing, the world would be a better place.

Yes for the CF, YES for the boobs picture (of course my mind is focused on the good cause), but please ease off on tofu, it's a staple here (but we do slather it with a lot of unhealthy stuff :))

Wait a minute. This clownpenis is saying they're playing "Look on the bright side of life" at Marshall Fields? The Monty Python song?

Life's a piece of shit,
When you look at it.
Life's a laugh and death's a joke. It's true.
You'll see it's all a show.
Keep 'em laughing as you go.
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistling]

I call bullshit. That fucktard hasn't even been down to Marshall Fields. He saw the story on TV. He probably hasn't left his Mom's basement in a week.

Marshall Fields is an awesome place to get seasonal work in Chicago. I remember loads of my "unemployable" punk rock friends getting jobs there doing everything from spraying perfume on unsuspecting customers to working the loading docks. And they got an employee discount.
Just go to the Human Resources office. Work for November/December then get back to writing your play/novel, acting auditions, recording your demo; whatever you think your true vocation is plus you now have work experience on your resume for your next job!

I think Michael Wagner is right. This guy does not go, perhaps has never been, to look at Marshall Field's windows. The drummers don't look homeless to me. They are kids making some money. The guy rattling the cup is not working at McDonald's because he makes too much money standing in front of Marshall Field's. The greater number of the windows do not even display goods for sale at Christmastime. A couple of years ago, they were very fancy dioramas of scenes from Harry Potter books. Not highbrow art, exactly, but you drag your kids down there, look at the windows, look at the lights, a good time is had by all.

All these knuckleheads have to be too hip for the room, or their existence seems worthless to them. Once his mom kicks him out of the basement, he'll get with the program.

Boy, I'm glad this got brought up. Now I know what day to do my shopping! Thanks, Michele!

"A statement equivalent to forcing a single middle finger high into the air and smiling widely"...he sums up very nicely what the left has become. It's all about showing contempt, for everything and everybody.

"A statement equivalent to forcing a single middle finger high into the air and smiling widely"...he sums up very nicely what the left has become. It's all about showing contempt, for everything and everybody.

Oh, cool. Thank you VERY much for saying it so VERY well. I'm sick to death of people trying to make me feel bad about buying things for ME instead of someone standing on the street corner with a "will work for food" sign. I like christmas decorations. I like spending money on them. I love window shopping. Once he crawls out from his geometric, shag-rug, anti-capitalist cave, he'll like it too. Even if the only opportunity he has to look in those windows is because he's standing on the street corner with his sign because he's too busy being 'superior' to actually work for a living. Little prick.

Oh, cool. Thank you VERY much for saying it so VERY well. I'm sick to death of people trying to make me feel bad about buying things for ME instead of someone standing on the street corner with a "will work for food" sign. I like christmas decorations. I like spending money on them. I love window shopping. Once he crawls out from his geometric, shag-rug, anti-capitalist cave, he'll like it too. Even if the only opportunity he has to look in those windows is because he's standing on the street corner with his sign because he's too busy being 'superior' to actually work for a living. Little prick.

ROFLMAO! I haven't read something so immature and lacking in reality since passing notes in Junior high on the best advice to get Chris in math to dump his slutty girlfriend and look at me...

The "writer" (term very loosely used) not only lives in mom and dad's basement, he's never held a job and didn't get the DVD player he begged for last Christmas.

Who does he think is in MF manning the counters he refuses to patronize so as not to be a member of the Shopping Class [sound of horses whinnying], robots?

Very reminiscent of the excuses of shoplifters...its not like they're stealing from PEOPLE you know.....

that "writer"...one meshugga schmok!

I'm so far down here, this will never be read-but what-ever. There's this neat game I like to play called "Devil's Advocate".

Hippie-"We, the Shopping Class, have the right to vicarious fulfillment of our deepest desires-"
ASV-"housing and food are desires, you know."
DA-Unless you don't have housing and food, they don't really qualify as "deepest desires".

H-"A weathered homeless man kept time to the song with his shaking cup of change. Shake-shake. Shake-shake. Look on the bright side of life"
ASV-"there's probably three McDonald's within walking distance that would hire him to at least clean the bathrooms so he doesn't have to stand in the crowd of holiday shoppers and shake-shake his tin cup."
DA- My guess is that you have never lived on the streets. I have, 4 years. McDonald's or any other example will not hire you without a permanent address and appropriate references.Took me those 4 years to go from truck stop dishwasher living in a phone booth to bartender with a modest apartment, so from one who knows, shaking a tin can is for most a lifestyle choice rather than neccessity. I never did it, maybe that's why it took me four years to get under a warm dry roof. But I am proof it can be done without panhandling.

ASV-"I hate when the damn homeless people make me step over them as I'm trying to get into a store to spend my hard earned money"
DA-Now....not all homeless don't want to work..let's not call all christians "Falwellians"...

ASV-"even when I was so close to poor I had to look in the couch cushions to gather enough change to buy a quart of milk"
DA- get back to me on that when you have nothing to eat but an onion and a ketchup packet for a week...I once tried to drown myself in a river next to a Burger King, the shit smelled so good

ASV-"I would have taken a job cleaning up elephant shit before I begged strangers to put pennies in a can so I can eat."
DA=Well Said. Me too.

ASV-"You dumb fucknozzle."
DA-better just go ahead and trademark that

ASV-"Try some deodorant, a hairbrush and a bar of soap. Maybe a razor."
DA-That would require a purchase.

H-"If you ask me, we have a major chance to send an economic statement on Buy Nothing Day."
ASV-"Well, I didn't ask you."
DA-You know you kinda did by going to the site in the first place.

ASV-"I bet every time one of you tofu-breaths drops dead, your last thought is 'Damn, I wish I bought more shit.'"
DA-funny, but untrue. Once you've had nothing, you don't worry much about going out with nothing. Besides, I hear in Heaven everything is free. What does "tofu-breath" mean?

ASV-"this post is not an invitation to start an argument about classism or any kind of ism"
DA-No-it's a poke at a hippie idiot while also poking at the homeless,all in good humor and well-taken.
Not allhomeless want to be homeless-I am an example, but I also dedicated myself to doing something about it. I know nothing about being a judicial clerk(I don't know what you really do) but I do know about living in a phone booth. I do know about having nothing but an onion to eat.
There's that old saying "walk a mile in another man's shoes- you're a mile away from him and you've got his shoes".
This was fun! MicheLe, I love this blog, and I spend waay to mcuh time here, speshally whin drinkin.I drank 3 beers during this compostition that will never be seen. Toodles!

Sylvain - I know you are playing DA so I won't get into my experiences of being piss poor.

Tofu-breath was the best insult I could come up with while under the influence.

I'd like to point out that saying you can't get hired for a job without a mailing address is a copout. Every major city, and many smaller ones, have a host of different agencies and organizations that are set up to help the homeless, and one of the things they provide is an address, even if temporary, for the person to use while looking for a job. But the homeless person has to want to get help first. That depends on the cause if his or her homeless condition.

For instance, there is a subset of homeless people aren't really "homeless" -- they are somewhat like some friends if mine, who spent a period of their lives living on the street and eating out of dumpsters, even though they had good relations with their family, plenty of friends to shack up with, and college degrees. But they were into "anarchy" or something, and being free of "the man's" influence. (Later one of these friends pulled his head out of his ass and came home, got a job, and finally his own apartment. but feckless and wacky as he had been at times, I never heard a word of blame towards "society" or "the republicans" or whoever.)

Then there is the subset of homeless people who are so because they are just too fucked up to pull their shit together, whether it's mental illness or drugs or alcohol. That leaves the remaining subset of homeless who are just people who are down on their luck, and will be the ones who will make use of the aid that does exist. Propagating the myth that it's hopeless even to try because "no one will hire you if you are homeless" does not help these people.

Well, since you've closed out the contest, I forbid you to use, sing or even think about this one, then:

Frenchmen in dunce caps and Democrats crying,
Squadrons of B-fifty-twos proudly flying,
A blindfolded sand crab at Gitmo that sings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

A scared shitless Schroder that chokes on his Strudel,
A pic of Saddam being shot in the noodle,
Missiles that streak from our jetfighters' wings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Arafat bleeding from deep painful gashes,
Splodeydopes sentenced to two hundred lashes,
Islamofucks dying while Freedom's bell rings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When my car stalls,
When my stock falls,
When my toothache's back.
I simply remember I'm one lucky fuck
To not wake up in Iraq!

Hah! ;)

"Not that I condone fascism, or any ism for that matter. Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism -- he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon: 'I don't believe in Beatles -- I just believe in me.' A good point there. After all, he was the Walrus. I could be the Walrus -- I'd still have to bum rides off of people."

erm. fuck me gently with a chainsaw. i know how you like to be correct at all times.

just a tip.

In your world, where every homeless just needs to walk into a Mc Donalds for a job and where for every depression there is enough alcohol or some nice coloured pills, one can't expect to read other stuff than what you write here.

Moni, can you please clarify what you mean? The meaning and stucture of your sentence is not clear to me. Thanks.

Damn! What a Scrooge! That was great, Michele. When I was a teenager, we lived in our camper, we lived in my grandmother's basement, even in a garage for awhile. I don't ever remember even once my parents, or me for that matter, being such a bitter killjoy.

I'm certainly not rich now, but I still get a lot of joy at looking in holiday decorated windows and planning what little things I can get my friends that will bring a smile to their face's. It's a part of what makes my life mine: childhood memories, dreams of the future, and how lucky I am right now.

"I'd like to point out that saying you can't get hired for a job without a mailing address is a copout."
Okay, point conceded, but this wasn't the case when I was living on the streets.
When one has been homeless for more than a few days, one can speak about homelessness with authority. Anyone else just doesn't know what it's like to actually live in a phone booth.
It's sure easy to say that they can help themselves, and in many cases it would be true.
But it never happens overnight, going from nothing to a little something.......