You can be forgiven for not knowing that today is Jane Addams Day -- after all, it's only the first one ever.
But can you be forgiven for not leaving your comfortable life and heading to the inner city where you might provide education and social services for those whose government and society have failed them -- like Jane did?
Can any of us?
Here's a random act of kindness that might help take the edge off the guilt that accompanies living a comfortable wired (or wireless) life -- buy someone some voicemail this Christmas from Community Voice Mail.
And yeah, okay, I'm plugging CVM in part because the director of this non-profit is one of my favorite people on the planet -- but that shouldn't stop you from doing this because maybe you, or someone you know, has been phoneless once because the bills were too much to pay, or maybe because there wasn't a home to wire that phone to.
And maybe you know what a bitch it can be to be without that simple conduit -- when you're looking for a job, trying to find childcare for your children, or just want to get in touch with a friend.
And if that's never been you, maybe it'll make a difference to know that that was me.
And it is a bitch. And it would have made a difference.
Maybe not as big a difference as Jane made -- but you gotta start somewhere on the road to that Nobel Peace Prize.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
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1 comment:
I remember back when I was poor and my budget was as unbalanced as my spending, the last thing I spent money on when it was about to run out was always a phone card, because that was the key to more money, a couch to sleep on, a ride home or whatever it was I needed at the time. Good idea, good project.
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