Gratitude

Hat tip to flash. No commentary necessary. It speaks for itself.

Via The Lonely Libertarian

I have mixed feelings about this post. But I’m just going to report the facts as I observed them.

Every year, the local Kiwanis Clubs team together with the Salvation Army and Walmart to host a Back to School fair for underprivileged kids in the area. There’s snacks and bouncy houses, a vaccination booth (don’t get me started here), and each child receives a backpack, lunch box (don’t know why since they all get free lunches), and all the recommended supplies. This year, they prepared 5000 backpacks. 5000. Backpacks. Full of stuff. Free. And they ran out with a considerable number of kids still left. So they issued vouchers to Walmart for the same items that were being offered at the fair. One $10 backpack, one $5 lunch box, paper, pens, pencils, RoseArt markers and crayons, binders and notebooks. Probably about $70 total. Not a bad deal, especially when you consider most of the recipient families have two or more (many more) kids. Take my next door neighbors, four kids all anchor babies, mom and dad don’t speak English, would have received $280 worth of free school supplies.

Now, I’m extremely charitable, I’ll give the shirt off my back and the last buck in my pocket to someone who really needs it. And I don’t expect drippy gratitude, a “Hey, thanks!” is good enough. But when I give someone something, the last thing I expect is hostility. And that’s just a small fraction of what I witnessed at Walmart this morning.

First, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. You know how they have the school supplies all together in 4 or 5 very organized aisles? You couldn’t get down them. They were packed with carts pushed by adult women tapping away on iPhones with ghetto nails while their unsupervised young’uns battled it out over the supplies. Grabbing, shoving, pushing, rude, snotty little turds. It looked like a plague of locusts had descended on those aisles and nothing was left but some broken boxes of Crayons and scattered sheets of notebook paper. I’d been there about 5 minutes when three Walmart workers finally showed up to stop the three kids who were opening packages of notebook paper and throwing them at each other. I decided the girls could take their old lunch boxes for the first day, and I’d get new ones Monday in the peace and calm.

Moving away from that section towards the food half of the store, I went by the registers. First, I’ve NEVER seen more than 5 registers open at a time. There were 9 lanes open and devoted to vouchers, 9 to 10 carts deep. And I’m telling you, these carts were overflowing with shit. There were two normal lanes open for non-voucher shoppers and of course the self-checkout lanes. I’ll get back to this in a bit, still trying to process. I made it to the back of the store for a quick pit stop before getting the grocery items and getting the hell out of dodge. Walking into the bathroom was one of the saddest and most disgusting things I’ve ever seen. It was trashed, stank, and there were feminine products and feces clogging all the toilets. There was one woman standing at the sinks, crying, dressed in Salvation Army gear. She wasn’t talking to me, but I could hear her saying, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, they’re so ugly, it’s just so wrong.” I gave her an apologetic smile and left. Got my groceries in record time, practically no one on that side of the store, and scored two lunch boxes from a lonely little display in the seasonal aisle.

I got in one of the two regular lanes, about 5 or 6 back, and started observing the circus. And that’s all I could think, “Not my monkeys, not my circus.” Let’s go back to the beginning of this post, remember the list of items? $10 backpack and $5 lunchbox? These people were trying to ram through $25-35 backpacks and $10-15 Igloo lunch boxes, tennis shoes, pushup bras and thongs, meat items, and one very belligerent woman had 4 12-packs of Bud Light. “Ma’am, only school items on the list.” “But my chirrins need them for they lunches.” “What?!” “My chirrins, they be needing them for they lunches! Bitch didn’t you hear me?” “Ma’am, beer is not allowed in schools…” “Not these chirrin, my older chirrin! They needs these for they lunches!” “Manager to Register 3…” The Hispanic mamas didn’t speak English and were relying on kids to translate. Try telling an 8-year-old they can’t have the $12 Frozen lunch box because it isn’t on the list. Then the whole RoseArt versus Crayola battle. The kids at the Salvation Army fair got RoseArt, almost half the cost of Crayola, and that’s what the vouchers covered. But the RoseArt supplies were hardly touched and the Crayola was wiped out. At the registers, the fights started over, “My kids don’t want none of that RoseArt shit, are you saying they ain’t good enough for the good stuff? Only white kids get the good stuff?”

I was in line for 45 minutes. I got to see and hear more than I ever wanted. The “shoppers” were rude, angry, smug, and beyond ungracious. They attacked the cashiers, the managers, the poor old guy greeting at the door, and any shopper who didn’t look like them. My fellow non-voucher shoppers were looking grimmer, angrier, and a little sick. I watched one brave/stupid older woman approach a very large woman with six kids hanging off her cart ($420+ of free stuff), and tell her “I know gratitude is beyond you, the least you could do is be polite.” The oldest of the boys, about 12ish, menaced her, got in her face and said, “Fuck you, bitch! You owe us!”, while momma smirked in approval. Two gentleman took her and her cart, hopefully all the way out to her car. I finally got checked out, and like all the non-voucher shoppers before me, exited the store by the doors closest to avoid having to walk the gauntlet. It hadn’t taken long for the voucher shoppers to hone in on us. By the time I left, security guards had been placed in the alleyway between the registers and the little businesses (bank, eyeglasses, customer service,etc.)

So this was probably the first time I truly got a taste of how bad it’s gotten, how far society has slipped, how poisoned the populace has become with entitlements. Some people, out of the goodness of their hearts, tried to do something nice for some people who didn’t appreciate it in the least. Things are rapidly getting worse, but I’m ready.

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Monger
Monger

Btw, where was this at ?

Mr Chen
Mr Chen

Hispanic blacks don’t ‘act’ black. There’s the difference. American blacks have this attitude that I encountered in one who called me a ‘little’ Mexican.

What did I know? we grew up with the term ‘negrito’ which was, as I understood it, a way of softening the term negro. But my friend told me it was patronizing to call them ‘little blacks’. So I suppose this guy was paying off a debt calling me a little Mexican. Still, his attitude was one of superiority. That attitude will get him shot in LA.

Mr Chen
Mr Chen

My brother in law said his friend was assaulted coming out of a bar in LA, a black dude tried to rob him. The friend shot him dead and stepped over him going out the door.

One time, two black dudes robbed an obviously illegal male, they banged his head on the curb to rob him. The fellow died, they went to the local breakfast joint where they pulled out his wallet with a Virgen of Guadalupe cut into the wallet leather. The fuckers got caught.

During the Rodney King riots, one unlucky hispanic male was assaulted, battered, stripped and had his genitals spray painted by a black mob.

IndenturedServant

flash says:
“I/S . wouldn’t never even pretend bear AWD’s mantle , much less attempt to fill the void he left on all things obese…that was his turf ,and I’ll leave it at that…. ”

10,000 Thank yous!

card802
card802

This is a website that tracks charities, how much of the donations go to administrative costs, how much of the donations reach their intended charities, and so on.

The link will provide you with their top ten worst charities: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=topten.detail&listid=164

Bostonbob

My daughter and I still volunteer, you can’t let the people with the ingrained taker mentality leave you soulless. We have made several trips to Mississippi to help rebuild homes, these poor people are endlessly thankful. There are good people in need that still can use help, and I feel I always get out of it more than I have put in. Once a month I give platelets at the Red Cross. Each month I receive an email about someone who was helped from these types of donations and once a year a breakdown of how many people received the product from my platelets. In some small way I hope this helps someone and their family.
Bob.

Maddie's Mom
Maddie's Mom

WalMart?

Let the FSA have it.

I hope I never have to step inside those doors again.

It has a taint about it.

Maddie's Mom
Maddie's Mom
overthecliff

FSA has ruined any charitable feelings I ever had. Local TV reports of back to school charity events or Christmas charity events feature black gimmedats every time. I will not be a voluntary enabler of those people.

GilbertS
GilbertS

BTW-you want to know one charity that makes me sick? Wounded Warrior. I support the troops, feel for the wounded warriors, and I’m glad I’m not one. But this group sucks. For all their high-minded mission and glitzy ads, the board rakes in a fortune from their “noble” mission every year. The last time I checked, their chairman makes over 600,000 a year. Why should charity profit you? I’m going to start a charity for strippers and ex-strippers and pay myself 250,000 entirely in 1 dollar bills.

Oh, and in the past they’ve turned down donations from churches, firearms manufacturers, knife manufacturers, tobacco, and alcohol manufacturers. If you’re anti-gun, anti-knife, anti-booze, anti-tobacco, what do you leave for the wounded warrior to enjoy? Screw them.

Tucci78

At 11:41 AM on 27 August, GilbertS writes of Wounded Warrior (apparently yet another false “charity” tub-thumping for donations and paying boatloads of bucks to the officers thereof):

Oh, and in the past they’ve turned down donations from churches, firearms manufacturers, knife manufacturers, tobacco, and alcohol manufacturers. If you’re anti-gun, anti-knife, anti-booze, anti-tobacco, what do you leave for the wounded warrior to enjoy? Screw them.

Now, that’s something I hadn’t heard, and would like to circulate ‘mongst friends and other correspondents. Anybody got some kind of reliable sources upon which I can draw for verification?

TeresaE
TeresaE

@Susan says: “My mother used to be a teacher for a famous school for the homeless here in Arizona. She was utterly appalled by what she saw there, to the point that she became suicidally depressed and had to take a leave from her job…”

That brought back some memories, my mom went to work for the sheriff’s office, around month 6 she had a total mental breakdown and we had to have her forcibly committed before she stroked out. So freaking terrifying, hugs to you and your mom!

@Maddie’s Mom says: “WalMart?…It has a taint about it. ..”

Thank you, thank you, for the giggle! That it does. I think I know why, when I walk in I am usually assaulted by the morbidly obese and terminally stupid, and I guess having my eyes assaulted makes my nose smell/imagine stink. That is my story and I’m sticking to it, “taint” is exactly what I perceive 🙂

GilbertS
GilbertS

Wounded Warrior Project In Not So Many Words Admits It Is Anti Gun
Published on Monday, November 26, 2012
Tags:Anti Gun Sympathizers|Gun Talk Radio|Tom Gresham|Wounded Warrior Project

Shooting Wire Editor’s Note: Over the past week, we’ve followed the discussion and controversy surrounding the Wounded Warrior Project following their taking a pass to appear on Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk. Today, Tom Gresham brings us his complete take on the WWP controversy.

Wounded Warrior Project In So Many Words Admits it is Anti Gun

Gun Talk Radio

MANDEVILLE, LA –(Ammoland.com)- Does the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) have a bias against guns and gun makers?

Two weeks ago that would have sounded crazy, but this week many shooters are convinced that it’s true. Hundreds of hunts and shoots are held as fundraisers for the WWP, and gun companies donate to WWP for its projects. How could it be that this $185 million (2013 projected revenue) outfit could be anti-gun?

It started with a simple invitation — I wanted someone from the Wounded Warrior Project to join me for the Veteran’s Day episode of my national radio show, Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk. I had no idea it would turn into a national dustup which now has the gun rights community in a turmoil — so much so that people are burning their Wounded Warrior Project shirts.

We were disappointed when the Leslie Coleman, PR director for WWP, said they couldn’t come on the show, but that happens. Schedules don’t mesh, things happen, but that’s not uncommon. No big deal. Except that Ms. Coleman said they were declining because we “are related to firearms.”

“While we appreciate the interest in having a WWP representative on your show on Veterans Day we are not able to participate in interviews or activities with media/organizations that are related to firearms,” said Ms. Coleman in her email.

That really rocked us because we knew of all the firearms-related activities used to raise money for WWP. I asked for clarification, and Coleman reconfirmed their position. That Sunday I talked about it on the air and sent out a tweet (@guntalk) with the information. Some doubted that I had reported it correctly, so we posted the entire email exchange on our Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/notes/gun-talk/wounded-warrior-project-email-exchange/10151354082553313

That lit the fuse, and hundreds (if not thousands) of gun rights supporters contacted WWP for clarification. The response was . . . a bit bland. Mostly it was along the lines of “We support the Second Amendment . . .,” but the WWP web site specifically called out the firearms industry as one it would not “co-brand” with. That is, it would not allow the use of its logo on guns (and it turns out, on knives, either.)

The other industries it won’t co-brand with? Alcohol and sex.

Coleman’s explanation that guns are used in suicides, and suicide is a big issue for returning vets, set off a firestorm of response. WWP quietly started making changes to its web site, removing mention of firearms, or changing it to “weapons.” Online firearms boards documented the changes, posting the before and after. The pressure mounted on WWP.

By midweek, with the help of the Professional Outdoor Media Association, WWP offered to put its CEO, Steve Nardizzi, on Gun Talk Radio to explain what they now called a big misunderstanding that had been blown out of proportion. I welcomed the chance to clear up this mess, which no one wanted. I hoped that Nardizzi would announce a change in the policy.

He didn’t. Once on the air, he said they support the Second Amendment (which really did remind me of when President Obama starts a sentence that way), and that they participate in hunts and shoots as fund raisers. Yes, we knew that. But what of the policy blocking the use of the WWP logo on guns? In fact, the policy prohibits the use of the logo at fundraisers where there is shooting, though that seems to be flexible.

No, he said, they would not “co-brand” with firearms or knives. The return on investment just wasn’t there, he explained. I asked why they would turn down the money from such a program when it didn’t interfere with their larger projects (ketchup, clothing, etc.), and he explained that co-branding requires much internal coordination with lawyers, PR people, and others to manage it, and that I wouldn’t understand it. Hmmm.?

What if we offered to cover all their internal expenses, and then co-brand (use their logo on guns and knives) as a way to contribute to WWP, I asked. Would that be okay? I never got a straight answer to that.

There was much back and forth, with it quickly taking on the feeling of dealing with a politician who has to be there, but who doesn’t really want to answer the questions. To get the full flavor of the interview, you can download it or listen online. http://tinyurl.com/cugy6ft

Nardizzi even went on the offensive, saying he can’t believe we would withhold donations from wounded vets because we don’t get anything out of it (use of the logo). This feigned indignation didn’t fly. I explained that we have many avenues for donating to our veterans – WWP is only one of many – and that just because someone decides not to support a group which he thinks has taken an anti-gun stand doesn’t mean that person isn’t going to continue to contribute — just to other groups.

Having been in the gun rights fight since before the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, I’ve seen a lot of changes. For decades I’ve said this fight really is a struggle for public opinion. We have made great strides. Forty years ago a majority of the U.S. population thought that handguns should be severely restricted. That’s not the case now. Through education and exposure the public recognize gun owners as “normal” people just like them. This is huge.

On the other hand, there is a major push to demonize and marginalize gun owners, gun makers, and the shooting sports. It is in this light that I see the WWP policy of prohibiting gun and knife makers from using the WWP logo. What are they telling the world?

Take the longer view. Ebay blocked firearms from being listed. Paypal blocks the use of its service for buying guns. Google blocks guns, dealers and makers from searches in its shopping service. We have reports of banks closing the accounts of gun makers simply on the basis that they won’t do business with the firearms industry.

Each of these is a very public way of saying “We don’t do business with ‘those people’.” Each is a way of saying that reasonable and responsible people should have nothing to do with the firearms business. We are being put into the same box as pornography.

Sure, the Wounded Warrior Project is only too happy to take our money. They “allow” shoots and hunts as fundraisers, but they don’t want their logo associated with us. They are saying in a very public way that they refuse to be associated with us.

Some have suggested that there is pressure from the board, from big donors, or from elsewhere, to prevent the use of the WWP logo on “weapons.” Honestly, I don’t know and don’t care. I just know it to be a continuation of the demonization of firearms, the firearms industry, and those who use guns responsibly.

There is no doubt that the WWP does good work. That’s why I’m left disgusted and sad at this whole affair. But I know that we never win when we shrug and put up with this kind of treatment.

Throughout last week we continued to hear from people and groups which have been rebuffed by WWP because the groups were involved in firearms. One significant donation from a company in our industry was returned because it came though a faith-based foundation.

One element of this rather sad tale has been gratifying. The firearms community responded instantly to this with questions and pressure — so much so that WWP recognized they had to go public to answer the charges. The connectivity of the gun rights movement through the internet made that possible. It has changed the game.

I had hoped that WWP would come to its senses. Once it became clear that the policy would not change, many identified and donated to other groups which help vets, and which are only too happy to be associated with guns, hunting and shooting. Last Sunday I had someone from marineparents.com on the radio show. Each week for the rest of the year, we’ll have various groups which help wounded veterans on the radio to help them get additional exposure.

On Gun Talk Radio I created a “No Shrug” policy. We will always speak up. No longer will we just shrug when faced with a distorted media report about guns. No longer will we just go about our business when a politician makes outrageous claims about gun owners.

No longer will we continue to give money to, or do business with, any outfit which in any way labels us as “undesirables.” To shrug and just go on is to not just accept the demonetization but it actually agrees with it and supports it.

No longer.

–Tom Gresham

SSS

“I still use a flip phone.”
—-Admin

Me, too.

A couple of weeks ago, my grandson and I went to the driving range to hit some golf balls. While there, I showed him the free 60-degree wedge I got for just shipping and handling ($20) and walked over to the practice green to do some chipping and putting. About 2 minutes later, he looked at me and said he just ordered one. Damn i-gadgets are amazing.

Mr Chen
Mr Chen

WalMart? Let the FSA have it. I hope I never have to step inside those doors again. It has a taint about it.

Say it ain’t so. I just got a Walmart card, I is officially one of the FSA now. Gimme free shit. Actually I don’t care to go there because it is too crowded. I stopped shopping at Costco because there aisles are too narrow, I don’t like much contact with people. Navigating down the main exit aisle past the freezers is a nightmare, it is one-way. Now, I like Sam’s. Who cares if it is lower quality as someone pointed out, the aisles are people-free.

I is a born hermit. Next time I will tell you all about going to the movies during the week when the whole theater is empty, did you hear JLo paid, PAID to have the theater all to her self and her kids? Dumbass. I also had an easement on the most deserted side-streets until idiots discovered them and now I no longer own the road.

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