Showing posts with label Donation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donation. Show all posts

April 1, 2014

$5 to Plop Someone In the Face



Everyone in Washington, D.C. is Spring Crazy today. 

Outside, kids raising money for Strike Out Illiteracy. 

For $5 donation, you get to plop a plate full of whipped cream and chocolate syrup in someone's face. 

That's worth it! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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April 30, 2013

Never Worn, But Not For The Reason You Think

I remember learning for my MBA about people's shopping addiction (aka compulsive shopping) and how it consumes their time and money and fuels their self-esteem. 

Like a high gotten from alcohol, drugs, and sex, shopping can give people a relief from the everyday stresses that engulf them.


An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal (18 April 2013) called "A Closet Filled With Regrets" chronicles how people buy stuff they never wear and are sorry they bought it. 


In fact, the article states, "Only about 20% of clothes in the average person's closet are worn on a regular basis."


One example given is a Pulitzer Prize -winning author who spent $587,000 on Gucci items between 2010-2012, before seeking treatment for his addiction. 


A related disorder is shopper's remorse that occurs, because people second guess themselves and feel maybe an alternative would've been a better choice (i.e. they made a bad choice), they didn't really need the item to begin with (i.e. it was just impulsive), or that they spent too much (i.e. they got a bad deal). 


For me, as a child of Holocaust survivors, I find that when I purchase something nice (not extravagant), I put away and also never wear it. 


The difference for me is not that I have shoppers remorse, an addiction to shopping, or that I am unhappy with my purchase, but rather that I cannot wear it because I feel as a child of survivors that I have to save it--just in case. 


No, it's not rational--even though I am a very practical and rational person in just about every other way.


It's just that having seen what can happen when times are bad--and people have nothing--I cannot bear to grant myself the luxury of actually wearing or using something really good.


Perhaps also, I look at my parent's generation, who suffered so much, and think why am I deserving of this? 


They sacrificed and survived, so we (their children) could have it better--what every parent wants for their children, or should.


But still, in my heart, I know that I am the one who has had it easy compared to their lives, and so those purchases are going to stay right where they are--never worn until I donate them to Goodwill. 


I never really considered them mine anyway. ;-)


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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November 4, 2012

Heaven and Hell

Someone hung this sticky note off the wall in the Metro. 

It asks: "Do you want heaven or hell?"

Two incidents with some neighbors this weekend reminded me of this message: 

The first--there were some boxes put out for donation to Hurricane Sandy victims, and we saw one of the neighbors actually take stuff out of the charity boxes. Was he needy too--I don't really know. But I do wonder whether he'll enjoy his new jacket, at the expense of someone perhaps homeless and who lost everything in the Superstorm.

The second--I was hauling a really big box--it was extremely heavy and I come to find out that the wheels on the dolly were flat. It was nearly impossible to move on the the bare metal. All of a sudden, a wonderful person comes over--a stranger--and says "here, let me help you!" He accompanied me, pushing with me all the way to my destination. This guy was like an angel. 

Heaven or hell--we are tested everyday in our actions--some choose one, while some seem to gravitate to the other. 

Finally, I can't say again how grateful I am to the neighbor who went out of his way to help me--and in a difficult situation--I hope that I can learn from him!

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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