Friday, October 16, 2009

ONE LITTLE CHANGE

Like most Americans, it often seems to me as if our government is out of control, not because there’s too much or too little of it, but because the people we elect to represent us lose focus. Some scientists say that the human brain is capable of handling 5 to 7 problems at a time. After that, things begin to fall through the cracks. So it’s little wonder that with all the big things going on, it’s the little things (sometimes easily fixable things) that escape attention. Here’s a perfect example.

There’s a very nice lady in my community named Patty, and if you could look up “salt of the earth ” in the dictionary, you’d likely see her picture. Patty holds down a fulltime job, does volunteer work with the elderly in her community, serves on the local auxiliary color guard, and still finds time to join others at the local VFW post in gathering, packaging, and shipping much needed (and much appreciated) care packages to our troops serving overseas. Once again, it’s the little things that can make a huge difference to our service personnel in the Middle East… like lip balm, just for one example!

It turns out that all over America, good folks like Patty are pitching in, with their time, their talents, their money, and their love, so I assumed that the easiest part of this kind of wonderful grassroots charity would be getting the stuff to our troops. But I was wrong. Patty told me that the last time she and her friends assembled a care package and took it to our local Post Office, the bill came to over $350. Ouch!

I read an article in recent years about how much money the United States Postal Service spends on “advertising.” I don’t recall that number, but I think it’s safe to say that it was staggering. And, at that time at least, a large portion of the advertising budget was spent entertaining large, corporate bulk mail users; you know, the multi-million dollar corporations who get all the tax breaks....and all the big discounts on postage.

I say we take a vote on whether non-profit organizations like the VFW should get FREE shipping when they send care packages to our troops!

To vote NO, do nothing at all.

To vote YES, pass this on to everyone you know. (Who knows? It might lead to one little change!)

1 comment:

  1. One little change is sometimes all it takes. What a worthwhile cause.

    ReplyDelete