... Cover story, continued
‘SEE YOU LATER!’
right away, you’re in for a few tumultuous weeks.
forced them to spend time with you — but your maturing child may surprise you. They might actually want to be with you after being away for so long. By scheduling time with them, you can let them go off with their friends guilt-free! Having all your kids under one roof, even for a short period of time, is exciting for your family. Make it fun, be honest, and most of all, enjoy it while it lasts. They’ll be back at school before you know it.
You might feel like you’re being pushed to the bottom of your kid’s priority list this winter break as they catch up with friends, extended family, and their hometown jobs. Don’t take this too personally. Instead, create some family time. Spend a weekend at a cabin or designate Sundays as family days. It might feel like high school all over again — when you
Remember, college can be a breeding ground for mistakes and independence. Even if they’re not of age, your student may have experimented with alcohol, drugs, or other risky behaviors. If this is not something you’re comfortable with in your home, you don’t have to let it happen. As with all your house rules, you must be open and honest about what your boundaries are. Is your kiddo rocking a new ‘do, professing different political beliefs, or into some really weird food? Roll with it. The new experiences of college come with new perspectives. Your child may still be figuring out who they are. Or this “new” person may be becoming who they were always meant to be. But every change in your child is not worth a freakout! Just because they lost touch with their religion or are wearing their hair differently doesn’t mean they’re not the child you raised and love. ‘IT’S NOT A PHASE, DAD!’
Fake Discounts and Angry Shoppers A Massive Black Friday Lawsuit
Shoppers flock to retailers every Black Friday in hopes of securing the best deals on the year’s hottest products. There are many nasty aspects of Black Friday — the long lines, the overzealous shoppers, the limited stock of items —but phony pricing and fake sales shouldn’t be among them. But that’s exactly what happened to folks in Los Angeles during the 2016 holiday season, leading to the biggest Black Friday lawsuit in history. In December of 2016, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office sued J.C. Penney, Sears, Macy’s, and Kohl’s for a practice called“false reference pricing,”a nefarious tactic whereby retailers lie about the original price of an item to make a discount appear bigger than it actually is. For example, Sears sold a Kenmore washing
machine at a“sale price”of $999.99, compared to a“regular price”of $1,179.99. The problem was the so-called sale price was actually the price that product was offered at every day. Therefore, it wasn’t actually on sale. Duping your customers is a bad business practice, but what makes it illegal?Well, California law requires that retailers post a retail price no higher than what the product was sold at within three months prior to the ad.“Families today… are striving to get the very most they can get from an extremely hard-earned holiday shopping dollar,”said LA City Attorney Mike Feuer.“They deserve tomake an informed decision.”After the suit was brought against them, the retailers all quickly moved to settle, promising to never engage in false reference pricing again.
Most retailers offer discounts around the holidays to encourage shoppers to come into their stores or visit their websites. Promotions and sales are great tools in any business’s arsenal, provided they aren’t out to mislead customers. Big-box stores may try to manipulate innocent people, and it’s up to aggrieved customers to hold those corporations accountable. Nearly every year, you’ll read about a class-action lawsuit that develops in response to the shady tactics of businesses eager to secure those holiday shopping dollars. Are there great bargains to be had on Black Friday? Of course. But if something sounds too good to be true, it very well might be. Keep your eyes peeled and don’t let retailers trick you into a purchase you wouldn’t make otherwise.
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