I spent Black Friday in my usual way—shopping and shopping and shopping. No, not at all. In the afternoon, a walk at Five Rivers with Owen. He’s teaching me to identify tree species. Then at night, Harriet and I went to see our friend Howard’s band, the Coal Palace Kings. They play annually on Black Friday at the Hangar in Troy, and maybe, if we’re lucky, they’ll play one other gig throughout the year.
As expected, the band treated us to an excellent performance of rock and roll, mostly originals, some covers, spanning over two hours. They’ve added a pedal steel guitar player that has enriched their sound. And this year they gave us a special treat: a table in the back of the room laden with candy canes and individual-sized boxes of Kellog’s cereals. For Free!
It was easy for me to choose a snack: Froot Loops. Did you know Froot Loops are the latest target of a right wing boycott? Move over Bud Light, you’ve got company.
The problem started in Canada, where the Froot Loops brand worked with the Boys and Girls Club to create a digital library of free books that have been banned or censored—books focused on equality, diversity, and inclusion. This library can be accessed only by using a QR code found on the cereal boxes.
Prominent conservative commentators immediately began calling for “woke” Froot Loops to get the “Bud Light treatment.” It was bad enough that Froot Loops is basically a fruity rainbow in a bowl, but promoting the reading of books to families is crossing the line.
I didn’t have any milk, but I snacked on my Froot Loops and swayed to some incredible music. Black Friday at its best.
