For Sale: Michael Jackson

The first thing I do every morning (because I'm addicted like that) is check my Blackberry.  Today I woke up to the following message from a friend:

"A few minutes ago, I received a voucher with a Ticketmaster barcode good for 2 tickets to the Michael Jackson Memorial at the Staples Center/Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, CA, USA. Like many of you, I gush when I think about what Michael Jackson contributed to my world of music and dance, as well as to global popular culture. However, after seeing what Memorial tickets are selling for on Ebay, I cannot in good conscience attend the Memorial. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to provide a little more to my family financially, and have always wanted to make a slightly more substantive donation to a worthy cause."

My half-asleep self thought, "Aww, that's so sweet of him to give me his tickets! Too bad I'm out of town." 

However the haze of post Fourth of July partying quickly cleared as I scrolled and read, "Only bid if you are able to produce a Money Order, a Cashier's Check, or a Check Verified by an Overdraft Line of Credit, for the full amount."

Oh really now? 

Seriously, why not just go to the memorial and enjoy it?

The greed, I mean, capitalism, was evident enough last Tuesday when I headed over to Hollywood to check out the madness of Michael Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  There were "vendors" selling t-shirts for $100 a pop -- and in case you think the number of crack heads in Los Angeles has been reduced by LAPD Chief Bratton's presence in our fair city, yes, there were actually idiots out there buying them! 

Another woman who was selling her shirts for a more reasonable $5 told me she'd made $1300 in seven hours!  I joked to my husband that we should dress our kids up as Michael Jackson and charge people to take pictures with Mini Michaels.  With how overboard some fans seem to have gone, I have no doubt this fall's school clothes could've been paid for in an hour.

I just went over to Ebay and there are people bidding half a million dollars to go to a public memorial where Jackson's body won't even be there.  The winning bidder gets forwarded the "Congratulations, you're going to the memorial" email. 

Hmm...Are people even thinking what happens if they deposit their dinero into some random paypal account and then they show up at Dodger Stadium to get wrist bands and the officials say, "Sorry, you need to have a photo ID and it needs to match the name on the email, dufus!"? 

I was as sad as anybody over Michael Jackson's passing, but my family memorialized him plenty by playing his music at our Fourth of July celebrations.  Selling your memorial vouchers?  Paying thousands of dollars to attend a memorial where his body won't even be there???  If you ask me, America has officially jumped the Michael Jackson grief shark.

This is an original LA Moms Blog post.  Liz Dwyer would definitely attend the memorial if she won the vouchers.  She also blogs at Los Angelista.