Thanksgiving 2013

Well, of course, I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

So I was cruising FB and I ran across this: http://www.upworthy.com/the-problem-isnt-racial-profiling-in-stores-its-just-that-people-dont-know-how-to-shop?c=ufb1.  In my opinion, it's very funny.


Yes, you're supposed to watch it now and then come back.

The subject, however, isn't funny.  I had my own shopping moment when I was at Manny's (a local appliance store). I was going to buy an electric dryer from them and Emily asked if they had an interest free charge account.  They did, for one year (as long as you make monthly payments).

The sales man said, "You know it's a credit card and you have to be approved?" I told him that, yes, I did know that.  (I've been using this method of conserving my funds for years.)  He kind of fussed around a bit and finally said, "Well, we can try to see if you'll be approved."  I think I put down that I wanted to finance $500 even though the dryer was about $300.

"This will take a while for the approval," he said.

As soon as he finished that sentence, the approval came back.  "Well, look at that!" he exclaimed, "and they approved you for $1,000! You must have a good credit rating."  Knowing full well that I have an excellent credit rating, and that my then credit card balance was next to zero, I wasn't surprised.

Why did he have those doubts? I have no idea.  No, I did not go there after having painted a wall and still wearing paint stained clothing.  (I was wearing business casual.) I can only guess.  But I get that feeling that black people must go through constantly.  And it's not fun to have someone automatically assume you can't pay for something.
******************************************************************************

So I went to Jazzercize today.  That's my little secret: I've been going for a couple of months now.  I can move a lot better. I still have problems with my back (like today after hefting a huge turkey into the oven).  And, no, I haven't lost an ounce.  But I do move better.

Anyway, I thought it was so nice that they had a class (at 9 a.m.) on Thanksgiving, that I brought them a little treat of three kinds of seedless grapes.  The class was jam packed with 30 to 35 people so it got really HOT in the studio.  The grapes were still cool after an hour and were quite refreshing.

There were 5 instructors! The sixth one had to work (elsewhere).  They took turns leading two or three songs each.  One young girl got so into leading that she mixed up her words and said, 'Now right knee up," as she raised her right arm.  We laughed because we were following her movements so we did the right thing.

But it made a Saturday Night Live type of skit pop into my head.  You would have a big class of Jazzercise clients closely following every move of the instructor.  When she gets warmed up and hot, it becomes apparent that the instructor is smashed with too much holiday cheer.  She proceeds to give them instructions which leaves the class looking like Twister gone wrong with everyone tangled up in arms and legs!
********************************************************************************
Speaking of the aforementioned turkey.  I cooked it for the dinner at the Senior Center.  It was 26.5 pounds!  Nancy put it into my car for me last night and I was so proud of myself that I got it into the fridge.  And this morning I managed to get the stuffed bird into the oven.  But I knew I could never get it out of the oven -- and drain the juices for gravy -- on my own.  Larry, bless him, came to my house and picked up the turkey.  He delivered it too!  I followed later with a big pot of gravy to add to their (groan warning) stock
at the Senior Center.

Nancy is amazing! This year, she will have fed 150 people.  "My" turkey was number six.  90 guests will be fed in house, the rest received delivered meals.  In fact, I took mine to go -- it's big ibuprophen time.

*********************************************************************************
It's almost a ghost town in the center of Amherst.  It was really nice.  I am really angry at the big stores who are making their employees work today.  They claim, "Our customers want that."  Black Friday isn't enough? Online shopping isn't enough?  No, your customers want you to recognize that your employees should be with their families or going to a community Thanksgiving dinner.

*********************************************************************************
O.k.  I'm outta here.  The tryptophan has made me stupid and in need of SLEEP NOW.  Happy Thanksgiving.