Paint It Black

'Tis the season. Black Friday they call it.

Reports of violence seem to be pouring in from all corners. I'm starting to wonder if the mania for Black Friday shopping is chiefly driven by the adrenaline rush. In Las Vegas a shopper who got a deal on a flat panel TV was shot as he tried to take his treasure home. In Romeoville (you gotta love that name) a shoplifting scheme resulted in the death of at least one man shot by a police officer. And at a Wal-Mart in Rialto, California, a melee broke out when the store manager decided to open the doors early. There were injuries. These stories and more will be making news throughout the day, I suspect. Isn't shopping fun?

If you like pictorials, here is a slide show of attention getting Black Friday happenings of recent years.

In honor of what seems to now have become a national holiday, I have composed some new lyrics to the tune Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones.

Paint It Black
(to the tune of Paint It Black)

I see a red store and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black

I see the girls walk by to purchase winter clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
All seeking special deals as if they won't  come back

I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Another fight broke out and I was in the way

I see full parking lots, it's making me feel blue
I could not foresee this thing happ'ning in Duluth.

I see my credit card debt and wish it were in the black
I s'pose my reputation never will come back

Why are we standing here beneath the midnight skies?
When the morning alarm goes off it'll be so hard to rise.

I see a red store and I want it painted black....

Oh well. It is what it is.