"...And along came a mighty wind that
blew in the nastiest blizzard these parts had ever seen. A steady cascade of Walmart gift cards fell at the feet of local townspeople as a Christmas gift from the heavens above...and then the guy behind the faux "snow machine" was arrested by the cops!" That's how it went down at a Philly area Walmart this past weekend when a "Secret Santa" was arrested for disrupting the steady flow of Christmas shoppers filing in for last minute purchases. The generous guy who seemingly defied the odds as being the only person in a billion to actually make money on Wall Street this year, had decided to spread his wealth with the locals. In doing what he thought was a good deed, he legally purchased the entire inventory of Walmart gift cards a day earlier and had them activated each for $20. He would return the next day and stand at the store's main entrance as a "gift" to shoppers. A true testament of holiday cheer that was perfectly legal. In an ironic twist, Walmart management called the cops to have the man removed from the property (even though by the time word spread and police arrived, store traffic had doubled) because he was disrupting business by handing out their own cards! It didn't make sense to anyone involved either. After consideration, Walmart dropped the charges however, asked the guy to hand out the gift cards so long as he did it off their property, go figure.
If you're like me and get rattled just stepping foot into an airport in this post 9/11 era of travel and get stuck in security lines forced to take your shoes and socks off and get the once over with electronic hand held devices held inches away from your private parts, the last thing you want to have to deal with are panhandlers tugging at your heartstrings by playing Christmas songs on their saxaphones for your loose pocket change. The struggling airlines used to hire people to entertain the long lines and people stuck for hours on end due to bad weather conditions. Like everything else they once gave us as gratis, they have cut the paid holiday entertainment and passed the t
orch to traveller himself. Many airline terminals are simply placing microphones in the waiting area and encouraging people to entertain one another with their gift of karaoke. I thought this import from China was only a fad confined to hole in the wall bars and taverns. No thanks to some major software companies and video games such as "Rock Star" and others, Karaoke is enjoying it's second life. The whole idea of an airport is to get someone from point "A" to point "B". If you're looking for a Las Vegas style show, see it in Vegas. If you want to make an ass of yourself by pretending you know the words to an old Journey song from the 1980's and sing off key, you can even do it in the privacy of your own home while pretending to be Eddie Van Halen with a fake guitar too. An airport is one of those places I simply choose to pass through. I make it a point to walk through the front door, find where my flight boards, and stare at my watch until takeoff. Karaoke is a bad thing, ESPECIALLY in a place as confined as an airport. The last time I flew Southwest Airlines out of Chicago Midway and first encountered a trio of Peter, Paul and Mary wannabees, I returned to the ticket agent to inquire how much it would cost for a one way ticket from Midway Airport to the bottom of Lake Michigan. Enough said. Ho! Ho! Ho!
