It seems strange to me, that without thinking of it, I can just realize its been almost exactly one month since my last update (and 2 months since my last real blog). I don't have a lot to say. Obama won the election. Phillies won the World Series. I don't have any real judgments about that stuff yet. I'll wait till Obama has actually done something noteworthy, either as President or just President-Elect, before I devote an entry to him.
Change that. One thing on my mind, before it slips away into oblviion forever. I think it's a little sad how all the news about the Obama victory was because he was the first black president. I have nothing wrong with identification based on race, it is legitmate, but I don't think it's newsworthy. From the moment his name was entered into the primaries, it was always possible for the next POTUS (President of the United States) to be black. It's not that big of a deal. I'm thrilled for him and his family, but it comes down to this: Obama is an American first, and American at birth. Then culture and education and race are all taught later, after he is already defined as American. So we should be celebrating a new American President. Rather than celebrating his race as the most interesting thing about him, look at his home state of Illinois. Good old honest Abe came from there, too. Wonderful. Also wonderful, but not unexpected: the White House is in control of the Democrats again. Great for them.
I don't think I really see myself as identifying with one party more than another. I do say another, not the other, because I do not want to fall into the trap that most Americans do, and think we only live in a two-party system. I don't like the idea of letting a party, a group, or an affiliation define yourself. Rather, I think each individual should make up the larger group, creating a diverse group that is the background that chooses the actions of the larger group as a whole. I may not be a huge Joe Lieberman fan, but I do respect him for switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Do you remember when he ran in 2000 as the Vice President candidate with Al Gore for President when affiliated with the Democrats? I don't know when he switched parties. I don't really know why either, which makes this endorsement kind of hollow. But realizing that his good and well-being was not happening any longer with the Democrats and taking the active effort to seek change ? - Now that is fantastic.
End Tangent. That went on a lot longer than I had intended, and I'm not sure if I still have time (only so many hours in the day) to write the post I wanted to write. The title is irrelevant now, so maybe I should just get to my original topic and hope you ignore my excessive chit-chatting.
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About a week or so before Halloween, we were hanging out in my apartment. What we were doing, who was there - they don't really matter. This is what does: My building is an old house, divided into 6 apartments. The front door of the house/building has multiple doorbells. None are labeled. so I have no idea if my apartment has a door bell or even if it works. For whatever reason, we decide to head out. As we troop down the stairs, I see a silhouette through the glass. Only one way to find out who it is.
We open the door, and to my surprise, there are a few kids looking up at me, with the responsible parent hanging back, letting the children do their own dirty work (teaching responsibility, which I think is good). The young students were there, and I assumed they had rang the doorbell as I was walking out. To them it must have looked like they had summoned me with the bell, and to me it was just an awkward meeting.
They told me about their school project. In groups, they were to bring paper grocery bags to neighborhood houses. Attached to each bag was a list of suggested canned-food items that could be placed into the bag, which was going to be collected on or shortly after Halloween, and then donated to a local food bank for Thanksgiving. I was startled, even more so because I had not expected to see anyone or converse with anyone. I usually try to map out conversations and their possible tangents before I engage in them. I was not so lucky this time. I accepted their bag, but unwilling to go back to my apartment, I left the brown bag in the middle of the stairwell, where hopefully other tenants of my building would find it and donated accordingly.
Now it is about two weeks after Halloween. Thanksgiving is almost upon us (but if you look at major retailers, it's actually Christmas). That brown shopping bag has been forgotten. Somehow it is not on the small front porch of my building, stuck on the wooden railing. It is pathetic how empty and lonely that bag looks. Some of the sympathy I have for that bag is really blame and curiosity on my own behalf.
What would have happened if I had took that bag from the kids and just handed it back to them? Would they have just taken the bag back and walked away? Or would they have demanded an explanation. If they wanted one, would the explanation I offered have been enough? Or would it have been too much?
Yes, student, I will gladly fill this bag with non-perishable goods and return it to you promptly. But that is false. That is untrue, and the promise that is told though a smiling face, is never going to be fulfilled. I'm just going to leave this behind, like most of my generation, for someone else to deal with. I'm sure someone else will find this bag, and fill it with their unwanted items, while I am hidden away in my own little isolated world happily enjoying my food. We expect to be taken care of. In the words of Tyler Durdin, "We are a generation of men raised by women...an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't." So sorry Junior. I am too self-absorbed to help you. I am busy trying to take care of myself.
[Quick time-out. While in the middle of the above paragraph, I left the class I was in and returned to my apartment. Due to this transition, and the additional reflection allowed by the length of the walk, my tone may have shifted. Perhaps not. Just a brief notice.]
The walk I just mentioned in that little sidebar conversation made me feel guilty and curious. I never actually looked at the bag other then in passing. So I scooped the bag up before I came upstairs and am taking a serious look at it.
Help Hungry Neighbors Have A Happy Thanksgiving...just by putting groceries in this bag!
Ok, co-sponsored by the WCU Catholic Newman Student Association...benefits 2 distributors: St. Agnes Day Room, and Project 1 (serves local families affected by HIV/AIDS. [Later, I will (should/might) have an entry about religious organizations, and will serve as an update to my entry on author viewpoints.]
Leave the bag out front in a visible location by 11am on Nov 22 and it will be collected. So I can still do something. I know where some of these items are at Target, and I know I can afford them. Maybe I can do something. Maybe I can do 2 somethings. I'll try to take care of some items, and maybe you can too, and donate items to your own local food bank.
"Everything but the Turkey!
-Stuffing Mix
-Instant Mashed Potatoes
-Gravy (2 jars or cans)
-Canned sweet potatoes (1 large or 2 small)
-Corn, Green Beans, or Carrots (3 or 4 cans)
-Cranberry Sauce
-Applesauce of Canned Fruit
-Canned Pumpkin Pie filling
Box of Brown Sugar
-Hot Chocolate, Coffee, or Tea"
Fight Club had Project Mayhem. I don't have a clever name for this. Maybe we can just call it doing the right thing, taking care of business (TCOB), or actually belonging in our communities. Maybe we can calling it Kick The Can of the Community and give back.
Any other local charities that deserve consideration?
(this blog was updated on Nov 19, 2008 to fix some spelling errors)
