The dead honest truth is that the only show that I religiously watch, or for that matter even know what channel or time it is on, is 60 Minutes. One of the segments in yesterdays episode was about how many homeless vets there are that are coming back from recent wars.....the whole thing made me ill. It made me cry. It made me angry. It made me proud for the volunteers that try to help them. These people have gone through severe trauma and often times turn to drugs and alcohol to deal with the PTSD or the anxiety and what does our country do...NOTHING. The system is crowded/bogdowned/full......"Hey Buddy, Thanks for your service, now go rot in an alleyway."
So then I started thinking, I wonder how I could volunteer or what cause could I donate to and I just
stopped......it is overwhelming....not the same overwhelming feeling those vets are having, but the everyday feeling of "I have very little time, but I want to do something...so what should I do? What causes should I support?. Who should I not support? Who should I give my money to? Where should I spend my money? Local business/Large corporation? Organic food/corn syrup/aspartame? What gas station can I go to?"
Things have gotten so complicated and tiresome. There are so many issues and so many issues you have to take sides on. In Minnesota alone, there was the debacle over Target and others giving large sums to an anti-gay rights candidate for governor......I am for equal rights and gay marriage....but I am also for freedom of speech...but I am anti-corporation(big money) in politics ...oh but wait, Target gives a lot of money to local Minnesota schools and to the arts. SO WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO?
Then there is the Tea Party, ya love to hate'em, but the reality is that it least they are showing the world that the two party system doesn't work.
Then you have your charities...there are so many good ones...but who do you support financially? Everyone is hurting, but who is hurting more? I love the old teen clinic I used to work for, but then I like to support the NRDC because they support land preservation....but I also like to support some medical charities because they have touched my family. Which brings me to a few weeks ago, Melinda Gates (wife of Bill) was on (60 Minutes) talking about their foundation. Scott Pelley naively asked her why she had chosen malaria over something like cancer that touches more people and basically she said in a very classy way that they like to support the illnesses that are underserved.
And sooooo as I sit here and contemplate this all, I think I will work to support one really small, but very mighty and very important cause, and that is my children. I will get off this computer and go work with Mason on colors and Dilly on her letters and words. I will work with my school district and make sure they are getting the support they need and if I have any time leftover, then I will worry about the million causes that are out there.
So thank you Melinda Gates and 60 Minutes for bringing me back down to Earth. And home.
