I do not know about you, but I have noticed a shift in my mail. I used to look forward to receiving mail, even if it meant getting a few bills along the way. Now the bills make up only a small portion of requests for money. I very much fear I have gotten on somebody’s sucker list.
I like to think of myself as a reasonably generous person. I really do want to help when people (or animals) are needy. I suspect, however — in fact, I have read reports to this effect — that many, if not most, of the CEOs of charitable organizations get obscenely high salaries. Maybe that is why they have to ask for money so often.
I decided to keep a little record. For the last two weeks there has been no single day when the requests for money in my mail have not exceeded the pieces of other mail, including bills. There is another phenomenon: If I contribute to something, almost by return mail, I get a request for more. It comes in lieu of what in most circumstances would be a thank-you note. No telling how much is spent on these follow-up requests. Maybe more than I have initially given. Charities are insatiable, it appears.
Even hungrier are the political requests. I might actually agree with the political agenda touted, but I cannot see why my money is so badly needed to accomplish anything. Government officials should “do right” without extra compensation. Are their salaries inadequate? I don’t think so. I know candidates running for office need contributions, but I think it should stop somewhere. I do not completely understand the requests I get so that governing officials can get something or other accomplished. Is everyone a lobbyist? Probably we just have different goals. But if I donate to a cause, does anything ever happen?
I may be, like Winnie the Pooh, a “bear of very little brain,” but it seems to me that lately there are too many causes trying to get a little of the “honey” I have put away. And of course the demand for taxes is the greatest.
Maybe I am just in a bad mood, but I cannot shake the feeling of something nipping at my ankles.
There is, of course, a solution of sorts. All of us can keep our eyes open to opportunities to be of service locally. To give to something where you can really see results can even provide that “warm and fuzzy feeling” in return. Ideally, we can make our charity count. Also, I personally have always felt inclined to try to help those whose research may have impacted someone we know or love.
Nothing is easy. I think most of us really do want to share our blessings, but it takes vigilance to know how to do it best. How to keep the personal touch as well. We all need wisdom.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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