Random Thoughts for a Tuesday Night

More hate e-mail:
I got another one of those oh-so-charming-and-witty e-mails tonight. This one began as a comparison of photos of women before and after applying their makeup. The final set of photos had a shot of a horse’s behind as the “before” and a shot of Hillary Clinton as the “after”. The anonymous author asked that this message be circulated in order to keep the White House from turning into a stable. It’s just plain sad that the conservatives can’t even respect Hillary enough to attack her on her issues. No, they have to go straight to personal attacks. Part of me wishes there was a repository of Rebublican-bashing cartoons out there to send in response to items like I received tonight. Part of me is glad there isn’t such a library handy because it keeps us from stooping to the conservatives’ level. At least we have the cojones to talk about issues!

Classroom discussions:
I’ve been having lots of fun getting to know my new classmates. I’ve also been unable to resist doing a little rabblerousing in my Philosophy class, but fortunately it seems to be well-received thus far. I try very hard to stay on point in classroom discussions, but sometimes impulse gets the best of me. Once we really get into our class readings I think we’re going to have some extremely lively discussions.

Still loving my job!
I just finished my third week at my new job and it is still quite wonderful. Each day that I walk into that office I feel privileged to be there. I’ve had my fair share of jobs, but I’ve never felt like this about my work before. Finding a job that matches your passion is the best gift in the world! Many people who know me remark on how happy I look now. All I can do is grin and agree, because I am and it feels great.

Something I forgot:
In my post a few days ago about the tax rebates, I forgot something important about the “rebates” we received in 2001: they weren’t really rebates at all. I had completely forgotten about that until I read an article about them in the newspaper. The $300/person checks we got in 2001 were actually advances on our tax refunds. That’s right, nothing extra, we just got a piece of our refunds early. And those who owed taxes? They wound up owing an extra $300 each. I don’t know if they’re going to do these the same way, but I certainly hope not.

Something else on the rebates post:
I had a comment from a reader who said “With reference to the taxpayer rebate part of the economic stimulus package, every person that I have had a conversation with about the money that they would receive plans to use it to pay down credit card debt. How is this going to help?” That’s such a good question, and I wish I had a good answer. I really wish our government had a good answer, but we know those are in extremely short supply where our government is concerned. You nailed the flaw in the plan: using funds from the economic stimulus package to help pay down credit card debt won’t help stimulate the economy; it will only help the banking industry make more money.

Doing good with free money:
I’d like to make a suggestion to each and every person who receives a check from the stimulus package: maybe we should each take a portion of our free money – say 10%- and use it toward creating positive social change. That could be lots of things – make a donation to a homeless shelter; join the ACLU; give to your favorite local nonprofit organization, the United Way or Red Cross; give to a library or animal shelter; perhaps even use it to support your favorite candidate to help bring about positive change on a national level. We can’t miss what we don’t have, and using even just a portion of our free money to help create a better world would be a case of money well spent.

Doing good without money:
Here’s some trivia that may surprise you. Do you know how much volunteer time is worth to many service organizations? More than you’d think. A recent item in the newspaper said that service organizations typically value volunteer labor at $19/hour. That’s right. It’s possible to make a substantial contribution to a nonprofit or community service organization by simply giving a few hours’ effort to a worthy cause. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any service organization turning people away because they have too much help, either – most welcome volunteers of any age or skill level and work hard to find suitable tasks for any volunteer.

Kids and volunteering:
I was bitten by the volunteerism bug when I was in my early teens. For the next five years I spent my summers as a volunteer at two local hospitals in my hometown. I learned early on that it’s important to give something back to the community. Even though I’ve spent most of my adult life in the for-profit sector and only in the last few months have I returned to my principles, those early lessons of community service have stuck with me. I think it is very important for kids to volunteer, to find a way to interact with, and give something back to, their communities. They may or may not make volunteering a part of their adult lives, but it's an experience that can greatly enrich their lives and create fond memories, while helping others at the same time. Volunteering can also be a great way for kids to get exposure to a field of interest (that's why I volunteered at hospitals, at the time I wanted to be a doctor) to see if a potential career path is right for them. It also looks great on a college application!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I ended up where I needed to be." - Douglas Adams

Later,
AuntieM