Alright, a little melodramatic, I admit, but I am upset.
As you may have heard, Micheal Vick, quarterback (I believe) for the Falcons (a football team from somewhere), has been indicted for owning and operating a dog-fighting ring where, among other things, he allegedly brutally murdered several dogs that refused to fight. Of course, in today's news environment, they shared the means of killing these dogs and yesterday those words overtook me and I started to cry at the brutality of it. What is wrong with people? I just cannot grasp the ability of human beings to be so cruel, to animals as well as to one another. Sometimes I am awed by our capacity for kindness and goodness and other times I am driven to tears at the depth of our depravity.
So, Nike has a shoe that Vick is endorsing that sells for $100 plus. Nike is saying it is "waiting to review the information" about Vick's indictment regarding the buildings, equipment, and dogs, alive and dead, found on his property in VA. (You can read more here: http://www.pet-abuse.com/...
Okay, there is someone who potentially has been BRUTALIZING, neglecting, abusing, and murdering animals ILLEGALLY and for profit and all Nike can say is: "we are waiting to review the information"???? How about something to the effect of: "this behavior, if true, is unacceptable, inhumane, disturbing, and, ultimately, behavior we cannot have associated with our products." I don't know why I expected corporate greed to submit to human decency. (I am eternally the optimist--which of course lends itself to repeated disappointments in life, but I digress...)
I have used Nike for my running shoes all my life. I wrote them and let them know that neither I, nor my husband, nor my sons, will be wearing Nike shoes from this day forward. Studies have shown women to be the primary shoppers in family households. I assume Nike believes the targetted buyers of Vick's shoes will make up for the shortfall that Nike will (hopefully) incur as a result of the blood on Vick's soles, and those of his associates, in the woods of VA. I hope they are wrong.