Afternoon Update

Good afternoon. Welcome back to Joey’s Jots and the start of a whole new week. I apologize for the lack of updates the past few days. I was busy with work. I will try to make a better effort this week to pound out more copy. Which leads me to this weeks…
Up Front and Center
Two things to lead off the week; Steroids in baseball and the Salvation Army bell ringer controversy with Target. I have a very interesting view on both.
The Target stores have come under attack in the past week by banning the Salvation Army from placing its bell ringers and kettles in front of Target stores. Target’s position is that it doesn’t allow any solicitation in front of any of its stores and wouldn’t make an exception for the Salvation Army. This has drawn fire from many people calling for bans of Target and calling Target Scrooges.
This may surprise some of you, but I’m going to side with Target on this one. The Salvation Army is one of the best charity organizations out there. I know people who work for the Salvation Army and belong to the Salvation Army church. I always give to the kettle when the holidays come around because I am a soft touch. I will try to give something to the charities that stand out in front of stores, often to the chagrin of the people that I am with. With that said, Target should do what they think is right. If they don’t allow solicitation, then they shouldn’t allow the Salvation Army. If you let one in then you have to allow all of them in. For every Salvation Army or Red Cross, you get those “charities” that no one has ever heard of that harass you all over the parking lot and can even get nasty if you don’t give something.
If you want to give to the Salvation Army, fine. Give to the Salvation Army. The kettles will be at countless other stores this holiday season. And if you don’t want to shop at Target, also fine. There are numerous other places that sell the same items as Target. If you want to hurt Target, then vote with your pocketbook or wallet.
Then there is steroids in baseball. This story got on my nerves about 45 seconds after it broke. If Jason Giambi or Mark Mcguire or Barry Bonds have done steroids, fine. It doesn’t bother me at all. Should they be playing baseball now? Of course not. But that is the responsibility of Major League Baseball to clean up this mess. If it bothers you as a fan, then again you have to vote with your money. Don’t watch the games and don’t go out to the parks. Send the league a message that they have to clean up their act. This is the way to go, not through some legislative way. If we are upset with something in the world of sports, then we can deal with it on our own. We don’t need the government to step in and try to clean up every little mess for us. More later.