Thoughts on “My 49 Hours at Wal-Mart”

Rumor has it that you can get anything at Wal-Mart. That is one of the many reasons to avoid it. But on the day after Thanksgiving, 2001, I endeavored to submit entirely to the world of Wal-Mart. My intention was to hyper-accept the offers of consumer culture—health, happiness, fulfillment, comfort, etc.—as though they were made in earnest. On the day after Thanksgiving I entered a Super Wal-Mart planning to stay continuously for seventy-two hours or until I was thrown out.
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My 49 Hours at Wal-Mart: an announcement of possibility

Letters to the outside:

Hi drew,

Believe it or not, I am writing you from Wal-Mart. I am now well into my thirty-seventh hour of continuous occupation. My plan was to stay for seventy-two hours but I have had absolutely no luck finding a suitable place to sleep—go figure! Actually I just got busted trying to bed down. I guess the camping section manager saw the rack of orange camo cover-alls wiggling as I tried to get comfortable below. Just as I settled down I saw a pair of feet approaching. “What are you doing under there?” she asked. I assumed that I’d be escorted out the front door (or worse) so I didn’t bother with an elaborate excuse. “Hiding,” I said as I climbed out and waited, like a good criminal, for the firing squad. But the strangest thing happened! She just stood there looking at me. I know she wanted to open the application but she didn’t have the right program. After a few seconds I just walked away. I took off my wig and spent the next few hours hiding in the magazine section. Now the “Radio Diner” is open again and I’m back in the booth where my “refill” cup hides… I think the whole thing’s blown over.

Always Wal-Mart tm
Always
Mark
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South Bend Catholic Worker loses zoning battle

The South Bend Common Council has denied a zoning change to the Catholic Worker community there. WNDU-TV:

“We are looking forward to finding another house that’s properly zoned and continuing our work,” said [Margie] Pfeil. “We are hopeful that we can get a good price on our house and invest our money elsewhere.”
[…]
Starting Tuesday the Catholic Workers plan to move their five guests and three staff members south two streets to a house that the diocese gave to the organization years ago.

South Bend Tribune:

A last-minute effort to prolong the Catholic Worker house issue failed in a 5-4 vote. This was followed by an emotional 7-2 vote to deny the group’s overall rezoning petition.
[…]
There are no plans to pursue a lawsuit against the city, [Mike] Griffin said.

“Many have said we have a good case,” Griffin said. “But it’s also a Christian tradition at times to simply shake the dust from your sandals and move on.”

Twenty-five years without Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day was an American anarchist, pacifist, and devout Roman Catholic. She dedicated her life to serving the poor of Manhattan, eating and living with them. She refused to pay federal taxes, to accept government aid, and to be complicit in injustice. From time to time, her stands landed her in jail.

Her great accomplishment was to integrate these usually unrelated things into the seamless whole that was her daily life. With Peter Maurin, she founded the newspaper The Catholic Worker, which gave its name to what we call the Catholic Worker movement.

Each Catholic Worker community is independent and unique, but all take inspiration from the model she developed.

Dorothy died twenty-five years ago today. In accordance with her wishes, her family correspondence and diaries, held in the Marquette University Archives, will now be unsealed and available to researchers.

Thanksgiving and other items

Let’s eat

Thanksgiving is one day when America not only makes a point of feeding the hungry, but feeding them in style.

There was a big crowd at St. John’s Free Meal for Thanksgiving Breakfast. Lots of hugs and smiles.

The St. John’s High School football team stopped by with a donation. (Later that day, they beat St. Peter-Marian 28-7.)

The breakfast conversation was sparkling, as always.

Mike: Why are they showing “Night of the Living Dead” on Thanksgiving?

Bruce: The dead gotta eat too, Mike!
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Mother Jones on Catholics and the Death Penalty

Here’s a good article from Mother Jones about how some otherwise politically conservative Catholics are getting involved in anti-capital punishment activism. I think there’s a tendency amongst leftists to think of the Church as being far too conservative and a tendency among right-wingers to think of the Church as being far too liberal. Continue reading “Mother Jones on Catholics and the Death Penalty”

Bazelon reactions and non-reactions

Last week the press reacted to a memo from Bazelon that said the recommendations of the (Worcester) Mayor’s Task Force on social service siting might violate federal law. (This even made it into a Daily Kos diary, which allows you to vote on whether “The Task Force on Social Services are Fucks.”)

Worcester Magazine ran a disappointing editorial on this issue. It began:

The inflammatory issue of social service siting received a kick recently when a Washington, D.C.-based agency weighed in on local politics, saying that a recent city report potentially discriminates against people with disabilities.

The national legal advocate for people with mental disabilities [Bazelon] issued its statement at the behest of a Cambridge-based social service agency, defending the position that such agencies have a constitutional right to locate programs wherever they choose. We realize that these people have to protect their turf, but the recommendations of the Mayor’s Task Force on Social Service Siting were eminently reasonable — and voluntary in nature. This response fans a fire that really doesn’t need additional fuel. Their position may well be supported by the courts in many instances, but it doesn’t advance the laudable and civilized objective of staying out of the courts in the first place.

(Bazelon argues that the recommendations are not voluntary in a footnote.)

The editorial doesn’t mention the charges again till the final sentence:

This recent salvo from Washington represents a half step in the wrong direction.

It’s odd that this editorial defending the Task Force report from the Bazelon memo never engages the charges in the memo.
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