Reader: Dollar Tree Thanksgiving a real turkey!

Some readers were not giving thanks for Jenn Wohletz's "Get your Thanksgiving dinner from the Dollar Tree," a seasonal guide to her favorite store. Sniffs dishpr: This comes off as snobby, elitist and in very poor taste. Adds GFTW: Westword, the DollarTree of rags. Oh, wait, they have to GIVE...

By Patricia Calhoun

November 18, 2011

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Some readers were not giving thanks for Jenn Wohletz's "Get your Thanksgiving dinner from the Dollar Tree," a seasonal guide to her favorite store.

Sniffs dishpr:

This comes off as snobby, elitist and in very poor taste.

Adds GFTW:

Westword, the DollarTree of rags. Oh, wait, they have to GIVE it away!

But then Mantonat pours some gravy on the conversation:

I guess those lessons in social satire have not helped the Cafe Society readership, so here's a rough guide:

1) It is a common media trope these days that obesity is rampant in the US, especially below the poverty line.

2) Dollar Tree and similar stores are a necessary reality for many working-class Americans.

3) How are people supposed to find healthy food when the cheapest food is the worst food for you?

Jenn is using humor to point out social inequities. Maybe you don't think it's funny, but then maybe you just don't think, period.

What do you think? Did our Dollar Tree Thanksgiving serve up legit social satire about economic inequities, or was it a poor excuse for a post?

Follow @CafeWestword on Twitter and at facebook.com/denvercafesociety

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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