Stuffing It

Well, I trust you all survived what many have termed, "the busiest shopping weekend of the year." Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that I truly look forward to and enjoy. I think it's the feastivities of the day. I also like the concept of taking time to count one's blessings, to feel appreciation for the things that you might otherwise take for granted, and which you really should be thankful. This Thanksgiving was no exception.


After I finished working on my Harvey Keitel body, I parked myself on the couch and listened to the conversations. One of the them that caught my ear was of the recent crimes being committed in the northern and western suburbs: A series of robberies accompanied by arson. These were hideous crimes, robbing families of their possessions, of memories and memorabilia, of the things a lifetime of work allowed them to accumulate seemed a cruel and tortuous act of terror. To also rob them of their sense of security, to violate their private worlds and to top it off by robbing them of their homes, was horrific. I asked my father if he had heard of any progress made towards a conclusion of the crimes. No, he hadn't. Someone mentioned arson is one of the most difficult crimes to solve. How do you gain any insight from leftover ashes?


So, as I sat down to put this week's newsletter together, and had the evening news on, it was of great pleasure that I heard the fine folks at our Fridley store helped facilitate the capture of some suspects in the crimes. The news people reported that three suspects were apprehended after they tried to sell some "allegedly stolen merchandise" and some "alert sales clerks" at Cheapo used some information distributed by the "Arson Task Force" to call the police.


WOO! Week after week, I read in these pages of employees who execute a difficult part of their job, and use their observational skills to remain alert to suspicious behavior. This is a hard thing to do. It's easy to dismiss a problem, or the appearance of a problem, look away and try and let someone else deal with it. It takes dedication and effort to make sure people adhere to rules and laws.


Community service is the duty of all of us. It's an obligation that sadly, most of the time goes unrecognized. So it says volumes about the quality of our employees when our Fridley store helps its community in such a substantial and newsworthy way. It is something for which we should all feel proud to be a part of. I know I for one, will be sure to proudly mention the efforts of our employees to any family member or friend I engage in a conversation. Yes, damn it, I WORK for that company...


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Every once in a while, a song will hit the airwaves that somehow manages to seep its way from one's soul and encapsulate a personal moment into the lives of many. Such a song proves that an individual can be separate from, yet emotionally join an entire community; it proves that human experience is both a solitary journey and a bridge that connects us all. Madonna's latest single, Secret is just such a song.


Secret is Madonna's best song since 'Til Death Do Us Part from her Like a Prayer LP. Like that song, it is a heartfelt response to events in her life both public and private. It begins with a simple yet lovely acoustic guitar introduction. It blossoms into a tribute to one's contribution in reaching another. The lush arrangement brings out the timelessness of the ballad. It's the type of song you can hear in the malls of suburbia while shopping for knee pads with a friend and comfortably, yet secretly share a experience with a soulmate.


Being human is the every day struggle of trying to deal with life's many complex dichotomies. The value of a secret is the privacy, the power that comes from soleknowledge. To share that with someone else is to be inspired by the intensity of intimacy. Think of all the shared moments that occur daily between two people.


Secrets are everywhere within everyone. "Happiness lies in your own hand, it took me much too long to understand, how it could be, until you shared your secret with me." There are many unspoken things in day to day contact. Sometimes we are lucky enough to share those "secrets" with another. More often they remain hidden until it's too late and the meaning and time are lost. Madonna somehow captures all that in a four minute pop song. What an amazing accomplishment! Such a piece of art can/should remind us we are all in the business of music. Time after time, it can be proven that is the most powerful business of all.