Toys ‘R Us Caves
Let me make it clear once again: I support immigration. This country was built upon the labor of immigrants and those very same immigrants who once dealt with incredible racism have since become some of the staunchest lovers of America. I think we, as a country, need to work out a way to make legal immigration into our country feasible for those who want to come while, at the same time, weeding out the worst of the criminals and potential terrorists. It’s a tall order, but one I believe we need to all get involved in (all communities) in order to better build our country for the future. However, while I truly believe all I’ve just written, I also believe that illegal immigration is a drain on our country. My prime concerns regarding illegals are lost taxes (if I’ve got to pay them, then so do you) and the abuse of our health care system (which itself needs a makeover). So when it comes to a contest that a private company holds where the rules plainly state that the winner must be a legal citizen, I don’t understand why there’s even the slightest controversy that a person gets disqualified because of the fact that they are illegal immigrants and, therefore, non-citizens.
Toys ‘R Us ran a promotion promising to award the first New Year’s Baby’s family $25,000. In the eligibility qualifications there was a statement that the baby’s mother must be a legal U.S. citizen. Having worked radio promotions and been in charge of awarding lots of prizes much crappier that $25,000, I can testify to the fact that this rule is pretty standard fare. Take a look at just about any contest’s rules and you’ll see a statement to that effect. Usually it’s the winner who must be a citizen, but in this case (because the winner would be a baby) the mother must be a citizen.
So the New Year’s baby for 2007, Yuki Lin, was the child of Yan Zhu Liu who happens to be in this country illegally. The company announced, prematurely, that Yuki would be the recipient of the $25,000. Then they discovered the fact that Yan Zhu Liu was an illegal immigrant, so they stripped away the prize because she didn’t meet the eligibility requirements. The prize was then awarded (in another stupid premature move by the company) to Jayden Swain born 19 seconds past midnight in Georgia.
Pretty cut and dry, right? Don’t play by the rules, don’t win, right? Oh no! Not when the politically correct police and “community activists” come into play. Somehow, Toys ‘R Us was discriminating against this person because she was Chinese! Oh yes! It’s a big ol’ conspiracy aimed directly at the heart of Chinese Americans (many of whom delight in packing their countrymen/women into cargo boxes, shipping them illegally across the ocean, then taking the survivors and forcing them to work off indentured servant statuses in sweatshops in those Chinatowns I mentioned…all while living 20 to an apartment because they love each other so).
Hell, I’ll be the first to admit that there was and is racism, much as there’s racism against blacks, hispanics, jews and (yes) whites. Everyone hates everyone, it seems; people suck. But here’s the point: the rules of the contest state clearly that she’s not eligible to participate. So why the fuss? Somehow Toys ‘R Us is a giant demon forcing this child into a life of poverty because they can’t award her the prize based on the rules of the contest. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so Toys ‘R Us, in response to massive criticism from bleeding assholes everywhere, reinstated the award to the illegal participant.
Why does this piss me off so much? Because this episode demonstrates the very nature of our immigration problem. We simply ignore the rules when it becomes too much of a hassle. We kowtow to every special interest who can scream loud and threaten economic problems. The very simple facts of this event are thus: woman did not meet rules of contest and, therefore, is not eligible. Case closed. That’s all she wrote. Toys ‘R Us should not be made to feel that they MUST pay out what is, in effect, a bribe to the Chinese-American community simply because one of their own was not eligible to participate in the first place. Neither should they strip the award away from the runners-up who legitimately won the contest.
Toys ‘R Us is wrong in 3 ways: 1) they awarded the initial prize too quickly without verifying the contestants eligibility, 2) they then awarded the prize to the runner-up 3) they went against their own rules, awarded the prize back to the original winner and fucked over the legitimate winner because they caved into pressure from a group of people who had NO right to complain based upon the rules of the contest. It’s just like anything: you must play by the rules to win, in my book.
Now Yuki is an American citizen just because she was born here. I wish her the best and hope that the opportunities made available to her here are better than she could have got in China. But the simple fact of the matter is that the rules state that the MOTHER must be a legal citizen. She’s not. CASE FUCKING CLOSED! It’s not racism, it’s a simple matter of following the rules.
February 16th, 2007 03:53
Bush and the Republicans were not protecting us on 9-11, and we aren’t a lot safer now. We may be more afraid due to george bush, but are we safer? Being fearful does not necessarily make one safer. Fear can cause people to hide and cower. What do you think? Is killing thousands of innocent civilians okay when you are doing a little government makeover?
What happened to us, people? When did we become such lemmings?
We have lost friends and influenced no one. No wonder most of the world thinks we suck. Thanks to what george bush has done to our country during the past three years, we do!