Baby, it's cold outside! Winter has never been my favorite season. I can remember watching my little brother and sister drag their sleds up hills just so they could fly down and scream at the tops of their lungs. They had a ball. Their coats would be unzipped, scarves around their necks dangling and their stocking caps half-cocked and you could just see the joy in their eyes, hear it in their screams.
All I could think about was that I knew my mom was making hot chocolate and would be calling us in for a break to warm up and I suspect, from the distance of many years, check to make sure we weren't suffering from the ill effects of the cold. It never crossed my mind that this wasn't the normal way to behave. You watched out for those who might be suffering or needed help.
Yesterday, I read that Wal-Mart, instead of donating unsold merchandise like coats and hats and gloves to homeless shelters, cuts them up. It made me sick. They are behaving like predators in the wild. In the animal world you expect savage behavior, tearing apart those weaker so that your species survives. Is Wal-Mart so afraid that someone else may benefit financially, they're willing to ignore the plight of those less fortunate? Seems pretty cold-blooded to me.
At this time, I haven't seen any statements from Wal-Mart, either to defend their actions or amend their policy. I've seen plenty of outrage from others. If corporations as big as Wal-Mart behave this way and don't feel the need to explain or change their ways, what does that say about where our civilization is headed?
