Food Baskets

My lovely wife's church has a food drive for the Thanksgiving holiday. Most people go through their pantry and put together non-perishable goods for the donation. We looked over our food stocks and really didn't have the proper food to donate.

Most of our non-perishable foods are bought in bulk and require preparation. Nobody want's a 50 pound bag of whole wheat berries, 20 pounds of pinto beans, or a 20 pound bag of rice. What are they going to do with a #10 can of dehydrated green peppers? We have only a couple cans of veggies. The bulk of our stored veggies are either frozen or dehydrated.

Instead of donating food this holiday we donated time and a little cash.

It's these little things bring home the fact that we don't quite shop or eat like “normal” people.

-Sixbears

Helping hand

Altruism is a human impulse. It feels good to be able to help someone in need. It's beneficial for the species as a whole when we help each other so one could say there's evolutionary pressure in that direction.

While it feels great to help someone, it is an outrage to have one's generosity taken advantage of. We might not mind giving money to a homeless person. If, however, we discover that person isn't really homeless but making a good income from panhandling, it burns us up.

Then there are people who truly need help, but helping them never seems to solve the problem. Some people are able to absorb a nearly infinite amount of aid without ever bettering their circumstances. Giving them a hand is a never ending labor of Sisyphus.

Christianity teaches that we should give the shirt off our back. That's all well and good, but what happens when the person we give the shirt to loses it or doesn't take care of it? How about if they sell it?

Then there's the prepared person. They don't have to give the shirt off their back. They have other shirts they can give. If that shirt goes to waste . . . well . . . it's not the only shirt they had. In fact, one can be more generous if they have a lot in storage. If you've judged someone's character wrong it's not the end of the world. There are other shirts to go around to those truly in need.

Of course, the real world is more complicated than that. There are people I'll give certain types of assistance but refuse other types of aid. We all know about giving booze instead of money so they won't squander it on food . . . or is it the other way around . . . depends on the person, I guess. There's one person I'll help with any number of things but will refuse to move them ever again. After moving an ancient heavy refrigerator up three flights of rickety stairs they decided to move again three weeks later. That move, and every move that person made since was without me. Even Job had limits.

Still, helping people might sometimes be a waste, but it's the right thing to do. Sometimes a little help at the right time can be life changing. Of course, you can't help someone if you yourself need help.

-Sixbears

No Money for the NRA and NPR

I don't give money to the NRA. Yes, I'm concerned about my Second Amendment Rights. There are other organizations and ways of protecting the Bill of Rights. Originally, I stopped giving them money because of their fear based ad campaigns. Organizations that try to manipulate me though emotion are always suspect. These days I don't support them because they aren't about the little guys. They get the lion's share of their funding from the firearms industry. They don't need any from me.

Just to be an equal opportunity grump, I don't give money to NPR. National Public Radio is one of the few stations that comes in where I live, so I listen to it now and then. Never hurts to get another viewpoint on the world. NPR used to be ad free but for a while now they've had short corporate ads. Corporations provide enough funding to be able to set the agenda. If you don't think money talks, you haven't been paying attention.

Actually, neither organization is missing out on much. There's not a lot of money left in my budget for charity. Sure, I give some where I know it'll do the most good -organizations with very low overhead and good track records. Mostly, I give of my own time and energy. There's nothing more efficient and human than directly helping someone who needs it.

-Sixbears