Cold hearted....

Jim Warman · July 2, 2011

I was going through some old, shoulda been deleted a long time ago e-mails and I stumbled across this "help request" from iATN...

"Albert from Vermont writes:

well we are still waiting for the customer to come up with some cash. she is disabled and funds are short. when we figure it out we will post the fix. thanks to all that have tried to help."

In all of my years, I have always been aware that (while I am not exactly over-endowed with smarts and success) there are those less fortunate than I. I try to avoid taking cash out of my pocket to help those on fixed incomes and/or in unfortunate circumstances because I will give my time freely (notice "try" to avoid)... by the same token, I will try to find some other kind soul to equal my investment in a charitable act.. someone willing to pony up for parts at cost.

Realize that this isn't a daily occurance. It happens, but only rarely in the grand scheme of things.

I guess what really grinds me is that (and none of us knows all of the story) this guy is looking for FREE help so that he can charge someone less fortunate. For someone with a disability (my wife spent a lot of time in a wheelchair in the 90s), mobility can affect safety and the quality of life in ways that most of us cannot appreciate.

If you think I'm wrong... please, set me straight.

Me? I don't always remember to, but I try to make sure I have something to drop in the food bank hamper on the way out of Sobey's.

FWIW, I've always felt and acted this way... being evacuated from my home has driven the facts deeper and more enduring than ever before.

Brad Clayton · July 3, 2011

Our ideals are definitely aligned. We had a retired car jockey come in the other day with a skip on his Expedition. So he retired and became a driver for the dealer and now he retired from that......check. The rig he drives should have been retired along time ago. I looked at it and it needed quite a few coils and I just happened to have a 5.4 I was scrapping out. He is once again motoring down the highway and I took care of the parts and the dealer took care of the labor.

Jim Warman · July 3, 2011

I commend your large heartedness... but I'm not sure I would have let that rolling abortion back out on the highway... even if I could figure out how to make 5.4 COPs fit it

Brad Clayton · July 3, 2011

GregH · July 3, 2011

Charity begins at home... When the series of tornadoes swept across my part of the state, there were many, many houses around mine that were damaged. Smithville, barely half an hour away, was wiped off the map. Great swaths of destruction criss-cross my route to and from work. There are those displaced who were not injured physically, but lost everything. There was one individual who's checkbook was found almost 100 miles away in another state... There are also those injured or killed, and those who are left behind. Worst series of storms we've seen in decades..

We were unaffected. We gathered our extra clothes, toys, etc. and gave them to the Red Cross donation center in town. We donated money, too. We did our part. Our efforts made it to the people who needed it.

Unfortunately, in the confusing aftermath, there were those who took advantage of the situation. Impromptu donation centers cropped up that were scams. People took money and goods under false pretense. These gifts, intended to help those affected, never made it to their destination. Few of these perpetrators were identified.

We see it every time. When Katrina had her way with my home town, there were those who used the situation to steal. When a severe (for our area - don't laugh you Canadians..) ice storm in 1995 shut off the power and isolated residents in their homes, ill prepared to deal with the cold, well intentioned rednecks with four wheel drives picked up firewood, blankets and coats and distributed them to those in need. Some of those good intentions never got where they were going...

For the tangibles - money, clothes, etc. - I stay with the name brands. St. Jude, Red Cross, the tithe at church, March of Dimes. The intangibles - my labor, my knowledge - I am much more free.

Along similar lines, I must tell you a true story that happened many, many years ago... While living in Louisiana a few decades ago, I ran a paper route. Not a bicycle route, but a car route with around 1200 houses to throw. I would get started at about 2am, and spend about an hour and a half folding papers outside the newspaper office. Not long after I got started folding, a car drives up into the parking lot and stops by my car. A woman steps out, and in the glow of the interior light I see a car carrier with a little bundle wrapped up in it. The woman walks over to me and says if I give her $20 for some diapers for her kid, she'll give me a !?@#%!. After a flabbergasted moment, I declined the offer. I did offer to pay her $20 if she helped me fold newspapers, though. 45 minutes later we were done folding papers, I paid her $20, and off she went... That was when I started getting a little more careful with my charity...

Brad Clayton · July 3, 2011

Long before Katrina came along, South Carolina was hit by a little 'ol hurricane named......Hugo. It is amazing what we as "civilized" people take for granted until we are without. Now I am not talking about power and running water, I mean the really taken for granted items......ice and toilet paper. These fucking assholes and bandits were scalping toiletries and ice for lots o cash back then.

Don't even get me started on the complete fucking degenerates who sexually assaulted all the women and possibly some men at the make shift shelter in the New Orleans super dome during Katrina. Those were truly bad times on the plight of humanity.

Jim Warman · July 3, 2011

What we went through in May has made me think that my small attempts at charity are pretty insignificant ( though I realize that every small donation helps the kitty grow and I will continue in my own small way ).

We were extremely lucky in that we weren't counting bodies through our ordeal.

There were stories of those taking advantage of the system.. I don't doubt that many were true (human nature being what it can be).

At the same time, the kindheartedness and charity of those helping us became overwhelming. I was very lucky in my situation and I tried making sure that care-givers saved their best efforts for those less fortunate than we were.

I have about three flats of bottled drinking water left from May... If you started to say "I don't need anything right now..." you might receive a crestfallen look in return. Helping was all most of these people wanted to do.. I didn't want to take a resource that someone needed more than I.

When we were first stranded, we were asked to register with the government and the red cross so that they could keep track of us and count us amongst the survivors. When we registered, they already had a good supply of basic essentials for us.

I didn't yet have the chance to go to a bank or ATM and a disposable razor and some shave gel would be real nice... I have a bag of 20 disposable razors destined for the local food bank when I empty out our camper.

Food stuffs, clothing, pet supplies, reading material, movies, games... my God, I cannot list all of the ways and materials that help was offered. Childrens activities and help with missed school were readily available.

But, as ever, I digress.

My main thrust with this thread was people that have it hard without a natural disaster to "help" them find aid or solace.

Seniors on fixed incomes (I will be one of those all too soon).. and people with disabilities. My wife hasn't been able to work for many, many years. As a single income householder, I can assure you that you need to be careful with every dollar and that a second income would be the difference between a healthy retirement and Alpo sandwiches.

Any charity that we offer doesn't have to be restricted to mechanical repairs... but a free oil change or finding someone to help pay for the parts I will install for free is great. Look around your community... Does the old guy across the street have trouble cutting his grass or shovelling his driveway? The single Mom down the street (no, not the husband hunter)... is she carting kids around in a car with no brakes? How about dropping some shampoo or toothpaste or Kraft Dinner into the food bank hamper?

We shouldn't wait for something terrible to happen before we open our hearts to our fellow man... Some folks have terrible shit happening as part of their every day life.

FWIW.... more money is spent on AIDS research than IBD/Crohns research. This is curious because AIDs is largely a disease of lifestyle where IBD/Crohns is indiscriminate. AIDs can be prevented or avoided.... Crohns cannot.