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BUY NOTHING CRIMINALS Christiana Mall
folks and some state officials need sense of humor Our View/The News Journal We have no doubt that the White sisters - Anna, Laura, and Rachel - and their friend Terri Carter were quite serious when they urged Black Friday shoppers at the Christiana Mall to "Buy Nothing." But the four - we'll call them the Christiana Four - also recognized there was more than a little humor involved when they donned Santa hats and T-shirts that said "NOTHING." They were at the mall the day after Thanksgiving last November because that's considered a major pre-Christmas shopping day. In theory, there are bargains everywhere and thousands of people head for the area malls. It can be a frenzy of consuming. The women were part of an international effort that started about 13 years ago. The aim is to get people to buy nothing for one 24-hour period. It is a protest against the "frantic consumer binge" one sees on the day after Thanksgiving. The mall folks didn't think what they were doing was the least bit humorous. The women gave pamphlets to whomever asked for one and did have a video camera recording things. The women were ordered to leave and they did. But when they exited the mall, several Delaware state troopers charged the women with trespassing. They cuffed them and hauled them off to a satellite cop station. You can't take no chances with these types, you know. On Monday, the quartet of accused trespassers were to go on trial for their misdeeds. But because of a communications snafu in the Attorney General's Office, the prosecutor wasn't ready to proceed. Judge John K. Welch wisely dismissed the charges against the Christiana Four in Common Pleas Court. Truth be told, had the Christiana Mall folks had a sense of humor they would have ignored the four protesters, who clearly weren't having any major impact on sales. The same goes for the state police. They should have just made sure the women got to their car and left. And why in the name of all that's important in Delaware did Attorney General M. Jane Brady let these silly charges remain when so much real and violent crime burdens her office? Copyright © 2005, The News Journal Reprinted with permission of The News Journal |
