Mean People Stink

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

I am too sensitive …

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Each of the last few Thanksgiving weeks I have shared on Facebook whichever article I can find (this year it was from NBC News) that provides a list of retail store chains that will be open on Thanksgiving Day. (The article usually identifies those chains that will be closed on that holiday.)

This is of some importance to me as I used to work in retail (a major department store chain, now extinct; an independent bookseller, now a memory; an electronics retailer, now going out of business, too.) I worked many “Black Fridays,” that day when the Christmas sales season is launched—a couple of those Black Fridays, I was behind the counter ringing sales with live (barely awake) customers at 5:00 a.m. I never worked on Thanksgiving Day itself, though, as the phenomenon of opening stores for customers on a national holiday had not quite started when my life as an employee ended in 2010.

I am glad for that, because I would not have much liked working on Thanksgiving.
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Today in History: Nov. 21

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Rocky, a film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and directed by John Avildsen, opened in theaters 40 years ago today. Made for $1 million, it has officially grossed more than $225 million.

At the following year’s Academy Awards, Stallone was nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Actor, and the film won Best Picture and Avildsen won Best Director. Six sequels have followed, including four that were directed by Stallone.
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Today in History: Nov. 20

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The double CD Beatles Anthology 1 was released 21 years ago today. It included the first new single, “Free as a Bird,” created by The Beatles since “The Long and Winding Road” in 1970. “Free as a Bird” is credited to the four Beatles and producer Jeff Lynne.

On November 19 that year, the first of three parts of a documentary about the group aired on ABC and concluded with a new music video for the new single:
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