Dillon West is not someone to trifle with. Not many 11-year-olds get quoted in the business section of the newspaper and write a letter to the editor. Yet, that's what the precocious kid did because he doesn't understand why Target isn't letting the Salvation Army set up their donation kettles at the retail stores' doors.
Target has made themselves, in the words of the Indianapolis Star, "the Grinch who stole Christmas." They made the decision to enforce their no solicitation policy uniformly across the board, as they felt they were allowing the Salvation Army to unduly benefit when others could not ask for donations. Quietly, some may agree with this as it could be said the rules are the rules or that the Salvation Army gets their donations by extortion through annoying, high-pitched noise. Despite the perceived reasonableness of Target's move, folks are seeing red and Target's bullseye logo is alarmingly prescient.
Little Dillon West points out that letting the Army set up is "really not taking away any of (their) business" and "the Salvation Army needs the money to provide food and shelter for people." The boy's right on Target (pun intended), and their decision will result in an estimated loss of nearly $9 million in donations. Several interviewed individuals were upset and swore to miss Target's mark this year.
Thankfully, in a move liberals will cheer, some Target stores told the home office to "Shove it!" and let the bell-ringers ruin their clientele's hearing once again. Other companies are letting the Army bivouac in their stores, including Books-A-Million and Circuit City. But it still doesn't address how an organization that helps the poor got the shaft from a big, evil corporation. So, here's a way to remedy Target's slight: get the government to help out.
It shouldn't be too hard to convince Congress to pitch in. After all, they are in the holiday spirit and showed it by passing a $388 billion dollar spending appropriation that sends money hither and yon. When pressed on the massive size, Sen. Mitch McConnell attempted to defend the bill by saying they'd reduced "the rate of increase in spending." Swell; since this writer is from McConnell's home state, let me translate his Kentucky-speak: "We increased spending."
And increase it they did, using your tax dollars. Among the notables, our esteemed elected representatives sent $75,000 to Appleton, WI (the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame), $100,000 to Ottawa, KS (a municipal pool), $100,000 to Punxsutawney, PA (a weather museum) and $350,000 to Cleveland, OH (for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, presumably so we can all buy the life-size neoprene set of Mick Jagger's lips!).
So, it stands to reason that if Congress could find enough places to send $388 billion, finding $9 million to offset Target's slight to the Salvation Army should be a walk in the Mall. That way, the federal government could continue its funding of programs that benefit the poor and needy among us. After all, they are our nation's greatest charitable giver and they've shown they're not afraid to flash the cash.
But, somehow, one doubts that Congress will add that amount onto the omnibus bill despite its thousands of pages. Guess our senators and congressman can try out Target's new favorite quote: "Bah! Humbug!"
Write to Jeff at mannedarena@yahoo.com
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