The Salvation Army vs Target

By now, I am certain that everyone has an opinion on Target banning the Salvation Army Bell Ringers. When I heard the racket from various protesters, I thought 'this does not seem like a new story. Where have I heard it before?' It occured to me that I heard of it during the late summer or early fall, probably in the Star Tribune. But, I couldn't find the article; so I thought that I had just been over exposed to the protest. But, a voice in my head said, 'No, Liz, you did hear this story at least six weeks, if not a couple of months ago. Perhaps you can find it elsewhere.' I did my little search at the Target web-site, the Salvation Army web site, and finally, I searched Yahoo News. I did not hit pay dirt, but I did find this. The Salvation Army was infromed in JANUARY! (Some justification that I had probably heard of this earlier.)

I think both Dr. Banaian and James Lileks (who has taken away the link from his own site) have good perspective on the issue.

Since the policy is not new as of November, we, the discontent, have had 11 months to do something about it. The Salvation Army has had 11 months to encourage their patrons to write letters to Target insisting that The Salvation Army be given permission to ring bells outside Target stores. The mature thing to do would be to give Target a break this Christmas and, come January 1, 2005, start a letter writing campaign stating in intelligent and polite words that people disaprove of the Target policy regarding the Salvation Army and ask that it be reconsidered.

We are acting like the uneducated, ill-informed brats that the media makes conservatives out to be. Do not blame the people working at a store and do not blame the receptionist answering the phone at Target HQ. In fact, this mess makes the Salvation Army look bad considering they've had 11 months to do something about it. Be responsible and polite citizens. If you cannot do that, stay away from Target and do not voice your opinion to Target exectutives or the media. Let us, as conservatives, show a good example by acknowledging the media was late in reporting the story, save face, and not make any rash actions until after the holidays.