Sears seems to be a good one.

As angry as we may be at some employers for unfair treatment, it is nice to hear a good story and important that we give that employer some support.

I just learned that Sears pays the difference in salaries and maintains benefits for its called up military reservist employees.

I checked to make sure it is true through Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

If we have any money left to spend on Christmas this year, perhaps we should do a little shopping at Sears.

that Pepsi, UPS and technology service company EDS are doing the same thing.

Would be nice to have a list of all the companies, but so far I have not found one.

Lowe's, Home Depot, Safeway to add to your list. Sears has done more publicity than other organizations.

I worked there for a while and never heard that they were doing this.

I do know that they offer veterans and active military a 10% discount, but only if they ask for it. Cashiers are not allowed to make customers aware that this military discount exists.

Home Depot to the 10% discount for vets and active military club.Saved a few bucks on the deck i built this summer.

A copy of your DD-214 perhaps? I am a veteran, but do not regularly carry any documentation to prove that.

I have no idea. My grandfather is 89 and a vet and he tells EVERYONE with in earshot! LOL!

the stores offering them.

person who did six or eight years and got out.

Surely not everyone carries around a DD214.

or from base BX privileged.

my VA Card. I have a service connected disability and all I have to do is show it and I get the discount, even off of sale prices at Lowes.

I should take that back, because they give vets 10% discount. So I'll thank them for that.

Although we used to buy things like a washing machine and vacuum cleaner there many decades ago, when we were first setting up house (and tools, always Craftsman tools). We used to laugh that we'd still be owing something on our Sears credit card when we were in our graves.

Over the years we sort of slipped away from Sears. Until recently. I needed a special kind of orthopedic pillow that I used to have eons ago, and I couldn't find it anywhere in Chicago, except for one for, like $150 at a Relax the Back store. I even called a surgical pharmacy, who didn't have the right thing. Googling around, I suddenly saw Sears carried some. For $24.99 I got an amazing orthopedic pillow and my cervical spine sprain is all better!

It made me remember that Sears is great for all kinds of things. Now that I know they treat employees well, I'll be back when I need some particular doo-dad.

in a Normal Rockwell sort of way...hawking back to the ole "Sears Catalog" daze when ALL products were Made in the USA:

http://blog.eogn.com/.a/6a00d8341c767353ef013489a1a1bc970c-800wi

Of course, they would have to actually back up Made in USA products and single out each item in the stores/online, to be sure!

stood supreme...

Our troops aren't "defending America" - far from it. We could have a lively discussion about what exactly they are doing overseas, but it's not about the advancement of liberty, or anything of the sort. So Sears loves the American military . . . more reason for me not to shop there.



Hyperpatriotism . . . is right wing.

Neither do I, for that matter. But the FACT IS that many vets ARE returning home. This is a reality. Hate the machine OK...NOT the individual people!

You think you're doing something good when you praise returning veterans. In fact you are contributing to the despair many of them feel. They know they've participated in something shameful, something which is irretrievably part of their own history.

Returning veterans are schizo's because people tell them you and your history are separable. That is not the case. You are pulling these people apart, because of your need to feel good about yourself.

You wrote: "You think you're doing something good when you praise returning veterans."

What else would you specifically suggest I do instead? Look at them and stroke my two index fingers in a 'tisk-tisk' fashion???? Think that might make them feel better?

We are definitely NOT on the same page here...but if you would refrain from making snap judgements about me, I think that there is quite possibly some learning to be had here.

Honestly and sincerely, how do you might suppose that veterans coming back home would like to be treated? (That is not sarcastic at all and I really would like to know.)

You bring up suicide and I agree that this is something that needs to be brought front and center:

Source: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/04/military_veterans_suicide_042210w/

18 veterans commit suicide each day

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Apr 22, 2010 14:56:43 EDT

"Troubling new data show there are an average of 950 suicide attempts each month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department.

Seven percent of the attempts are successful, and 11 percent of those who don’t succeed on the first attempt try again within nine months.

The numbers, which come at a time when VA is strengthening its suicide prevention programs, show about 18 veteran suicides a day, about five by veterans who are receiving VA care.

Access to care appears to be a key factor, officials said, noting that once a veteran is inside the VA care program, screening programs are in place to identify those with problems, and special efforts are made to track those considered at high risk, such as monitoring whether they are keeping appointments.

A key part of the new data shows the suicide rate is lower for veterans aged 18 to 29 who are using VA health care services than those who are not. That leads VA officials to believe that about 250 lives have been saved each year as a result of VA treatment.

VA’s suicide hotline has been receiving about 10,000 calls a month from current and former service members. The number is 1-800-273-8255. Service members and veterans should push 1 for veterans’ services.

Dr. Janet Kemp, VA’s national suicide prevention coordinator, credits the hotline with rescuing 7,000 veterans who were in the act of suicide — in addition to referrals, counseling and other help.

Suicide attempts by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans remains a key area of concern. In fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30, there were 1,621 suicide attempts by men and 247 by women who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, with 94 men and four women dying.

In general, VA officials said, women attempt suicide more often, but men are more likely to succeed in the attempt, mainly because women use less lethal and less violent means while men are more likely to use firearms.

Suicide attempts among veterans appear to follow those trends, officials said."

18 a day that commit suicide and 10,000 calls a month to the hotline indicates a HUGE problem!!! What do you might suppose that these vets need the most? PTSD treatments to try and alleviate suicidal thoughts?

18 a day is 18 too many. What do they need and why aren't they getting it?

The term PTSD is already assuming too much, in my opinion. It's not a disorder to want to escape pain, and guilt is very painful. Encouraging veterans to deny their guilt does not help them cope with it; in fact it drives them to suicide. The least we can do is validate their guilt. Yes, you feel ashamed, and you are right to feel ashamed. You did something shameful.

Thanking veterans for their service implies that they alone are responsible for their behavior. It doesn't help them expiate their guilt when we tell them that their thinking is disordered. It's not disordered at all.

Here's a video you might watch to give you a perspective on the moral dimensions of returning from war. I was very excited about Nancy Sherman's work, so I wrote to her because I wanted to spread the word. She wrote back many weeks later to thank me for my service, but that was all she said. At least she's going in the right direction; most people aren't.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/NancyS

My problem with Applebee's and Sears and all the rest of it is that it's part of kitsch culture. It's not an adequate response at all to the huge gap between Americans and returning veterans. Americans refuse to acknowledge any moral responsibility for our actions overseas. As long as this continues, our veterans will continue to struggle alone with the guilt from our country's reprehensible behavior.



Kitsch is counterfeit

you can just simply FUCK OFF!!!!
EVERY single Marine I served with served because they wanted to...PERIOD!!!

I have so many thoughts running through my head right now and if I said anything else I will prob get alerted on and banned and you are just not worth it.

eta. My oldest daughter is now PROUDLY serving in the United States Navy having made that choice all on her own with NO pressure from me at all. She actually had completed her Surgical Tech program and was certified and working at a local hospital when she went to boot. She is experiencing so many things that she would not have a chance to experience at home and I am EXTREMELY PROUD of her and DARE anybody to talk negative about her service around me.

Just asking.

But just to satisfy you, no not just Stateside. I have been to Japan, Okinawa, Korea, and the Philippines and at each location many of us would volunteer our off duty time to go out and do projects for the local's. Help build, clean, etc... At no time were we "encouraged" or otherwise forced to do this. We always did this on our own, I also for many years while in and since I have been out (got out in 92) worked with the Toys for Tots program.

I've never gotten into trouble with combat Marines about the kitschy and dysfunctional view we have of veterans in this country. Kitsch is not a substitute for coming to grips with the reason so many veterans are committing suicide; in fact it's a form of denial.

"Kitsch - Relationship to totalitarianism

"Other theorists over time also have linked kitsch to totalitarianism and its propaganda. The Czech writer Milan Kundera, in his book The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), defined it as "the absolute denial of shit". He wrote that kitsch functions by excluding from view everything that humans find difficult with which to come to terms, offering instead a sanitized view of the world, in which "all answers are given in advance and preclude any questions".

"In its desire to paper over the complexities and contradictions of real life, kitsch, Kundera suggested, is intimately linked with totalitarianism. In a healthy democracy, diverse interest groups compete and negotiate with one another to produce a generally acceptable consensus; by contrast, "everything that infringes on kitsch," including individualism, doubt, and irony, "must be banished for life" in order for kitsch to survive. Therefore, Kundera wrote, "Whenever a single political movement corners power we find ourselves in the realm of totalitarian kitsch."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsch


"The absolute denial of shit"

I really am trying to understand all of this. I really am. I don't think that I really realized that until now. The complications and layers of feelings.

An open dialog definitely needs to be established here. Perhaps this is a small start. Understanding and expression of the many, varied feelings are the key here.

You are very passionate about this, obviously. Please help the rest of us understand, because I really do think and feel deep down in my heart of hearts that most of us would truly like to understand and help in any way we can. Might you consider a separate OP?

Too many people are heavily invested in the kitschy and dysfunctional view of veterans we have in this country. Take note of the Marine on this thread who's telling me to go fuck myself. His cluelessness makes him part of the problem.

See also the following YouTube video about Clay Hunt, a Marine sniper who killed himself to be free of the pain of guilt. Unfortunately, the news report presents suicide among veterans as evidence of stress-related disorder, which it's not. Until we own up to our collective moral responsibility for the wars we wage, the wave of suicides among veterans will continue. It's unfair to our veterans to make them bear the moral costs of war all by themselves. It's clearly too much for them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmkg85kawQ4



Fallujah Marines dishonored our country.

I think..maybe..I understand? A little bit? Maybe? (Help me out here.) Are you saying that it is easier for the country as a whole, to just dump all of this moral responsibility on the vets themselves rather than onto the ones who actually start these wars in the first place? Am I in the ballpark here? And, if so, is THIS what the vets would really like for us to understand?

If so, then yeah. I think I can see your point here. So, OK. Maybe now your point on how the popular separation of between THEM and THE WAR might add insult to injury...when in fact, it is the very idea of war in and of itself that is the real culprit here.

So what are we supposed to DO with that going forward? Please help me to further understand...

I didn't intend to sidetrack the discussion here; I just wanted to say there's nothing praiseworthy about encouraging young people to go off to war. My post drew the standard responses to the effect that troops are separable from the wars they fight; that you don't have to support the policies, etc. I don't agree with that. Civilians get to distance themselves from our national belligerence; soldiers don't get to do that.

In most contexts, the things that soldiers do are extremely blameworthy. They march into somebody's country and kill the locals. We tell our troops that they're doing that in our name, but they're on their own when they come home. Feelings of guilt aren't acknowedged for what they are - a normal response to committing grossly anti-social acts. Surly veterans are either bad people or sick people.

What Sears is doing is holding the door open so that young people can plummet down the elevator shaft. This is certainly not good behavior, nor should anyone be motivated by it to go out of their way to shop at Sears. We need a cultural change in how we see ourselves - we are not peace-loving; we are are warlike barbarians who go off to fight over trivialities. Our soldiers aren't bringing freedom to the world; they're bringing hardship and grief.

I never felt good about my experiences in war, and I don't want to be thanked for my service. If I'd known then what I know now I would certainly not have done it. I don't know how to change the culture, and it's not my responsibility to do that. However, if somebody posts an endorsement of what strikes me as treacherous behavior by a corporation, I'll raise an objection. It's the least I can do.



Young People Deserve the Truth

I was an 11B20 in Vietnam.

Love the actions of the politicians that sent our men and women into war or hate them. It has no bearing on what Sears and other companies are doing. Once those people were sent into war, Sears stepped up and did the right thing. That is what this is about.

Americans do veterans a disservice by sending them overseas to do reprehensible things and then morally abandoning them on their return. Americans impose blame on guys who didn't know what they were getting into. The reprehensible things that soldiers do becomes part of their personal histories. Civilians can pretend to have no involvement in decisions made in their name by government leaders. Returning soldiers cannot escape that.

Civilians have the luxury of believing that there's something honorable in what American soldiers are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers don't have that option. Civilians magnanimously pretend that they're not imposing blame on returning soldiers as though it were their decision to make. No wonder the suicide rate among veterans is so high. America simply won't own up to its own actions. Americans dump the whole thing on soldiers.

It was not intended to spur a discussion on the politics of the war.

I am glad you posted this thread!

I think I may be doing more business with Sears now!

:)

There really isn't any way to avoid being intrusive when you bring up something people don't want to hear. The suicide rate among veterans is astronomical, did you know that? Part of the reason veterans go crazy is that people think dumping war guilt on them is praiseworthy.

I pointed out that dumping war guilt on veterans is not praiseworthy. I'm not surprised that you regarded this comment as intrusive; I actually was expecting that. We're coming up on Veteran's Day, a national holiday that ought to be re-named Scapegoat Day, the day we formally dump blame for reprehensible foreign policy on the guys who can't duck it.

Applebee's is offering a free meal to veterans; just show your DD214. A lot of people think this is marvelous, but I disagree. It's a bad bargain. You live with America's guilt and once a year you get a free meal.



All the guilt you can eat.

American civilians have the luxury of repudiating their guilt for the reprehensible actions of our military, but American soldiers don't have that option. Many returning veterans go crazy trying to reconcile the awareness of their own guilt with the promptings of civilians around them, telling them that perceptions of guilt are "disordered."

In exchange for shouldering the entire blame for America's crazy wars, Americans offer veterans a once-a-year free meal at Applebee's. It's a bad bargain.

for your OP. I love shopping at Sears although my bank account usually takes a hell of a hit...LMAO

Hate the policy and policy makers, love the people forced to carry it out.

The people who carry out America's policy are not separable from the policies. That's a luxury available to civilians, but not to veterans. The suicide rate among veterans is astronomical because guilt is a moral problem, not a psychological problem. Kitsch is not an adequate substitute for taking ownership.



Kitsch culture does not expiate war guilt.

Well, it would solve the problem of all those vets needing psychological care for their experiences. Perhaps you could just line 'em all up against the wall when they're discharged.

Or you could realize your opposition is turning you into more of a monster than those you oppose.

Sounds like you have no idea how ill-equipped the Veterans Administration is to provide psychological care to veterans struggling to regain their bearings as civilians once again. It's not clear whether you know anything at all about the VA.

The number of deaths from suicide among veterans - already an astronomical figure - does not include the number who die from alcoholism or drug addiction. Still other veterans die in accidents caused by reckless driving, and others die from risky behaviors that only people who aren't keen on living engage in.

It's time to re-evaluate the "disorder" hypothesis. Something other than psychological injury is killing America's veterans. However, I don't expect that the disorder hypothesis will be set aside any time soon - it's too useful. It exculpates the rest of American society to such an extent that other possibilities aren't even considered. Americans express remo0rse at the "tragedy" of veterans' suicide, but don't have to do anything about it. How convenient for everyone but veterans.



Freud sez - It's not your fault.

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From wiki: Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a retail conglomerate formed in 2005 by the merger of Sears, Roebuck and Co., of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, with Kmart Holdings Corporation, of Troy, Michigan.<2> The company operates 3,900 retail locations under the mastheads of Sears, Sears Grand, Sears Essentials, Sears Hometown Stores, Sears Hardware, Kmart, Big Kmart, Super Kmart, The Great Indoors, Orchard Supply Hardware, and Lands' End stores. It is the tenth largest retailer by annual revenue in the United States trailing behind Wal-Mart, Kroger, Target, Walgreens, The Home Depot, Costco, CVS Caremark, Lowe's and Best Buy.<3>

The company maintains its corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates.

Though, FYI also on wiki: "This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.

It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since August 2011.
It may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since August 2011."

It has been my own personal observation that Kmart used to (still does?) carry more 'Made in America" products than most retailers. If the company CEO were smart, (and the timing is ripe right about now, I would say...) they would try to increase their revenue (AND American jobs) by launching a nationwide campaign highlighting their commitment to 'Made in America' goods and further endorse that at the point of purchase by maybe providing 'shelf talkers' aka, those little danglers you see on the store shelves with maybe some kind of "Made In The USA" right in front of the product.

Though I wonder how feasible this would be, given my experience; It is hard enough sometimes trying to even figure out how much something costs in Kmart, let alone the manufactured country of origin! It would behoove them to not get their stuff together along these lines and make it a priority in the stores because, as I said, I think the timing is absolutely ripe!

Thanks Tennessee Gal for your post and for also verifying it on Snopes!

We DO VOTE with our money in more ways than one!!!

1. Sears
> Drop in sales: 23.5%
> 2005 sales: $54 billion
> 2010 sales: $41.3 billion
> 5 yr. change in stock price: -53%

Sears Holdings was created in November 2004 by a merger between Sears Roebuck and Kmart. Sears Roebuck was once among the largest retailers in the country and essentially created the catalog business. The merger was engineered by hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert. Both of the chains were weak before the transaction. Kmart was in bankruptcy. Management has been unable to improve the company’s fortunes, which to some extent are hurt by the size and discounting power of Target and Walmart. Sears missed earnings expectations in the past quarter and said it had closed 29 stores during the period.



Read more: America’s Eight Worst-Performing Retail Chains - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2011/11/03/americas-eight-worst-performing-retail-chains

---

Kmart laid off all the employees in its appliances division. They have gradually been closing stores, firing employees, and loosing sales to other retailers.

This all started with Eddie Lampert and his real estate financial engineering. Beware of buyout artists "unlocking shareholder value".

and that being to hone into the current momentum of the American people and by changing/increasing their purchasing department to carry more Made in America products and to advertise the crap out of it!!!

This is an excellent opportunity for not only them, but for various American manufacturing jobs as a whole...and they just maybe be hungry enough to go that route!!!!

stance in support of the average American worker, to announce an expenditure massive enough to open a new workplace/manufacturing facility to put Americans back to work will get a huge benefit in publicity and business gains. Where is that corporation that is willing to put the needs of this nation first? Which corporation sitting on large stacks of cash will be the first to come forward with a rational investment in the people of this country?

GDP is back up to the level it was at the previous peak in late '07.

Businesses are doing the previous level of actvity with 6 million fewer workers.

the 1980s. Some things about them were good but some were bad. My father felt that he got screwed with his profit sharing retirement from them.

http://advance300yes.com/

In 1989, in an effort to keep Sears in state, the State of Illinois gave Sears several economic “incentives”. One of those incentives was a property tax break program called an Economic Development Area, or EDA, that was designed specifically for Sears and set to last for 23-years.

--snip--

After 23 years, the EDA is set to expire in 2013. District 300’s financial forecasts have all counted on the EDA expiring on time and the property taxes that have been diverted finally coming back to support our community’s schools.

Sears is not holding up their end of the 23 year deal and is again threatening to leave Illinois! Sears is now demanding a 15-year extension to the EDA. This extension to the EDA was added as amendment 3 to SB 540. (Click on SB 540 to see the proposed extension). This Bill is set to be voted on as soon as October 25th when the EDA isn’t even set to retire until 2013. Some people think this is as a matter of either losing local jobs or extending the EDA to 38 years from 23 years. Nobody in D300 wants to see Sears leave the state and if this particular legislation fails, perhaps the State of Illinois can work to incentivize Sears with a deal that does not fall on the backs of our children.

If the Sears EDA is extended, D300 will lose at least $14 million per year for the next 15 years that it should be getting in property taxes from the Sears property in Hoffman Estates. If we do not get that money the district, and our kids' futures, will be devastated.

Please help us fight the extension of the Sears EDA. The State has time between now and the expiration of the EDA in 2013 to structure a deal that will keep Sears in Illinois without extending the EDA.

Petition here-
https://www.change.org/petitions/end-sears-corporate-tax-breaks-and-put-that-money-into-education

One week after her 1-year warranty expired, Liss from Shakesville's stove broke in a manner that would cost more than half its purchase price to fix. As it turns out, Sears knows the particular bracket that broke in her case is faulty, and gets many repair calls for it every week, but they are not planning a recall, and will not repair it with anything other than the same faulty bracket.

http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2011/11/action-item-kenmore-products-are.html

I've got plenty of local businesses to support.

If they were Craftsman, there should be an unconditional lifetime guarantee on them.

in my local store and were, in fact, much better than my local "home owned appliance business store" in being "consumer friendly" with the refrigerator and TV I bought there recently.

I was much more impressed with them than I'd ever imagined...and, as I said, their "customer service" was superior to the last appliances I bought from my "local business guy" with small store who switched the diswasher I bought to an inferior product that arrived at our house and caused lots of angst and back and forth about what we ordered compared to what was delivered...and we never got a resolution and didn't want to get a lawyer and spend extra money to get our resolution.

Sears (at least in my area, SE USA), can't speak for others, has now got knowledgeable salespersons and they went out of their way to make sure installation of appliances or even the help with TV went the EXTRA STEPS.

Back in the 80's I would have never bought anything from Sears (credit card scams...faulty delivery, broken appliances where they took advantage of the poor)...but, it seems (at least in my area of the country) they've cleaned up their act considerably.

:hi:

My latest, a set of Craftsman screwdrivers, were still American-made and came with the old Craftsman warranty--something like if this product ever fails to provide complete satisfaction, bring it back for a free repair or replacement. Not everything in the Craftsman line is still like that, and I'm sure that like any big company, they'll have their downsides, but I was glad to still see that vestige of the old Sears is still around.

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