KCPD and Target Doing a Very Cool Thing Today

I had some time away from the office today and had to run some errands. One of those errands took me to the Target store at Ward Parkway Mall.  Those pesky vacuum cleaner bags, you know?

I pulled into the parking lot and, before getting parked, noticed a Kansas City, Missouri police department squad car, parked there but far out in the lot. It seemed odd. I never see that.

I got inside, of course, only to see an officer. "Ah, that's the one who parked there", I thought.

Then I saw another officer.

And another.

And sure, it's the holidays but the store seemed unusually busy for the middle of the week and middle of the day.

Pretty soon, I noticed there were police--and families with them, it seemed--all over the place.

I stopped this one young officer and asked him what was up.

He said that, yes, the KCPD did this, every year, I guess. Today there were going to be 152 kids go through with them, shopping, today alone. They call it their "Shop With a Cop" program, you guessed it, for the holidays.

I congratulated and thanked him and a few of the other officers there.

What a fantastic program. Seems Target sponsors it.

Shop With A COP Program‎

Seems it's quite the national program. Lee's Summit does it, as does Parkville and  Prairie Village, on the Kansas Side and lots of other cities and towns in the area. Unknown to me, it's been going on for years. This video, from KMBC News, is from 2014.



So kudos, KCPD, and to you, too, Target and really, all of Kansas City.

What a great thing. What a great, even beautiful thing to do.

It's enough to give a person hope.

Happy holidays, y'all.

Links:

shop with a cop

Shop with a Cop - City of Parkville

On shopping at Wal-Mart

For Christmas, I was given a gift card for Wal-Mart and while I certainly, absolutely appreciate the thought and gift, after having gone there this evening to get some mecessities (read:  commodities), I want to note some things that come to mind, having done so:

1)  I don't know how anyone can stand it.  I don't know how anyone can stand Wal-Mart and I don't know how anyone can stand the experience.  On being there, I feel not just cheap but downright dirty.  The place is beyond unattractive and, worse, I really do come away feeling as though I've sold out my fellow man and woman, all so I could get cheap stuff at cheap prices.  Ugh.  It just makes for a really vile experience;

2)  I don't know how people could then go back and do it again and again, only to save a buck;

3)  Target doesn't feel dirty.  Or cheap;

4)  Costco doesn't feel dirty or cheap either;

5)  Dollar General doesn't even feel dirty or cheap (and some things I purchased last evening were less expensive at Dollar General);

6)  If you're a Walton, wouldn't you feel dirty and/or cheap (hopefully both), if not already, then eventually and sooner than later?  Can you imagine being beholden to the company that is known for being the cheapest on the planet, even if it is for a fortune?  A huge fortune, at that?  How disgusting.

Added to it is the fact that 4--count 'em, four--of the top ten wealthiest Americans are Waltons, too.  (http://www.forbes.com/wealth/forbes-400--they are numbers 4, 7, 8 and 9 on the list).  I can't imagine being worth approximately 20 or more billion dollars, as each of those four are, and having my name tied to such a disgusting looking--and acting--company as Wal-Mart.  But that's me.  (I know I'm not alone in this, however).

By comparison, consider the Hall family that owns and runs Hallmark and all their affiliate companies.  While no one person, let alone family, is perfect, Hallmark, the company, is known for quality in virtually everything it does and a great deal of people have ended up making good livings--and retirements--from having worked their lives there.

Another example would be the Kempers who own and run Commerce Bank.  They've made sure they run a quality organization that also happens to pay a decent living wage to its employees.

The Waltons?  Not only do they sell the most cheap crap, made from wherever, on the planet, but their company has also earned a reputation--shown on national television, "60 Minutes", to be specific--that they exploited their employees so much that they had directions for their employees on company stationery on how to apply for government benefits because they were paid so little at their jobs at Wal-Mart.

I will give them some amount of credit here for a) going "green" with some of their new stores and b) trying, as I understand it, to clean up their image but they've really laid down a bad track record and have a long way to go to clean it up.

Finally, Wal-Mart is also the company whose executive owns one of the worst, cheapest and losingest baseball teams in all of Major League Baseball.

What, exactly then, is there to like about Wal-Mart, anyway?

Just because the Waltons don't have any self-respect, doesn't mean we can't.

From what I've read of the original founder, Sam Walton, he paid a living wage to his employees and absolutely would not have wanted the corporation he started, owned and run this way.

Link:  http://books.google.com/books?id=iUm_y4JZLvQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sam+walton&source=bll&ots=qtypWHSMxj&sig=JWVvJGg-h-ya7x3IlGAafo0arkk&hl=en&ei=lIEwTYTELYyugQf17dGqCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=19&ved=0CJ8BEOgBMBI#v=onepage&q&f=false

Government, the people and society today

MoveOn.org just put out a "flash mob" video that was apparently performed and shot yesterday at a Target store that protested the $150,000.00 their company's president gave to a right-wing, Republican candidate, rather infamously (or famously, if you're on that side). The organization is using it to raise people's awareness and fight the unlimited corporate donations that are allowed to go to campaigns and politicians since the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this year. The reason I bring this up is because it is showing, once again, the place of change we're in right now. This is mixing the "flash mob"/dance craze along with the old political protest. And while that's an okay idea, what's fascinating right now is the reaction by young people, mostly, I assume, at YouTube. It's bizarre. What's obvious from the responses to the video are 1) the fact that most people don't know what this protest is about and 2) the blatant hate, mostly against homosexuals. A sampling of some of the responses: if you don't want to be called a giant queer, don't dance around like fairy in the middle of target jackasses. i think thats a given...; and then this one: ok gays have gone to far again. I call this extremism. but then again straight people just dont care. Besides the inability to spell, it points out that there seems to be this whole generation that doesn't understand politics, government or what's going on in the country. In short, I fear for the future of this country and it's their future and their country but this is nothing but bad. Between the corporations buying the government and then not knowing what's going on, it can be nothing but bad. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FhMMmqzbD8