Re: Security Guard - God Guided Me And Protected Me

On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:10:59 -0800, Rita <Rita@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:32:23 GMT, Rumpelstiltskin
<PleaseDoNotReplyByEmail@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:47:13 -0600, "Jean Paul" <jobbahut@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


"Islander" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:G_OdndyzV-99TfTanZ2dnUVZ_qGknZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jean Paul wrote:

---[snip]---

I am struggling at this point in my life to find meaning and enthusiasm
for the future. I finally, after years of study and reading, gave up a
belief in traditional religious beliefs.

I am at the present somewhat of a nihilist and fatalist. I am trying to
find things to get me excited about just being alive and living life and
it is difficult, but I have hope that I will find what I am looking for
before long.


It is easy to get discouraged given the disaster that has inflicted our
country over the past seven years.

However, I have lived a life of optimism and have yet to be disappointed
for more than short periods of time.

Today, my wife and I distributed fruit baskets for the Lion's Club and at
one of the houses I gave my best HO HO HO to an elderly lady who was hard
of hearing and she kidded me about my beard and red shirt. Then she told
me that she was so grateful, not just for the fruit basket, but for all
her neighbors who had been so generous over the years. She related that
she had been trying to pay back for what she had received by sewing lap
robes for injured servicemen. Her living room was filled with work in
progress.

Then, this afternoon, we helped staff the Toys for Tots and a man came in
by himself to get toys for his daughter, now in the custody of his
estranged wife. He has been out of work and his life was pretty much a
mess. One of the women helping out took him over to a little cradle with
a doll in it and suggested that it might be just the right thing since his
ex wife is expecting. She even tied a big ribbon on it for him.

Last Thursday, we did the local blood drive and 92 people showed up to
donate blood including about 10 kids from the high school. This may not
sound like much, but we have a pretty small population here. San Juan
Island, who we compete with and which has twice our population only turned
out 68 donations. Lots of Republicans on San Juan Island.

But, the best thing of all was a Christmas card from a young man who we
knew since he was a child. He was a neighbor when we lived in CA and he
would do odd jobs for us to get a little pocket change. As he grew up, he
worked for my wife in her business while in High School, saving his money
for college. We helped him with his college expenses and he worked part
time to cover the remainder. But, he got involved with a fundamentalist
church and we became very concerned about him. It became clear that he
was drifting and not in a particularly good direction. We lost touch for
several years. Imagine our surprise when we got the card with a picture
of him and his gay partner. They were clearly very much in love and he
wrote about how fortunate they were to finally figure things out. We had
no idea that he was gay, but we rejoice for his new found happiness.

Amid all the doom and gloom in our country today, it is reassuring to me
that there is an reservoir of humanity that still exists. We didn't even
have to search very hard to find it.

Oh yes, don't forget about this Friday. Happy Winter Solstice! When the
days start getting longer, can spring be far away?

Yes, of course I should not have left out the fact that we also involve
ourselves in giving and helping others. Instead of doing only at Winter
Solstice though, I decided a few years ago that it needed to be done
throughout the year because some people really can't wait for the holidays
for that help.

So we gave to the Red Cross for the disasters of the Tsunami, Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita (which affected us personally) and also we gave generously
to a smaller cause. A group from Montgomery Texas was fitting military
helmets with a special energy absorbing padding that is saving lives in
Bush's wars and which the Pentagon and specifically the Army would not
purchase for our military personell serving overseas. A Texas medical
doctor started the effort and we felt very good about doing what we could to
help.

Today, a young lady that we have known for some time needed some urgent
medical care and her husband has been out of work. We took care of the bill
for her so she could get treatment.

It always does make us forget about our own little problems when we can help
other people with their bigger problems.

JP




I'm such a selfish *** compared to Islander and you.
I gave money to Katrina and the tsunami, but nothing else.
I'm like a friend who gave money to some gay cause, and
later got a phone call asking if he'd like to come down to
the center and help out, and he replied "No, that's why I
sent you money instead."

Oh well, back to my comfy chair.

I have had, since retired, far more time than money and that's
what I contributed to a number of "causes" and agencies. I
don't know how much, if any, good I did but I hope some. And
the experiences were very instructive to me on a number of
social problems.

The volunteer job I held for about 10 years was giving
information about a wide range of federal, state and local
benefits to people who called in or came to the agency.
I know for a fact that was helpful to many.

I also was a volunteer homeless shelter monitor for the
Coalition for the Homeless. That was the most difficult one
for me as visiting the city women's shelters in New York
City back in the early '90s was a gut wrenching experience.
The mentally ill were mixed in with some just out of jail
and with those who were homeless simply because of ill
fortune. Truly at times I thought I had been transported
back to Charles Dickens' era. The shelters were so hopeless
and so poorly managed and the staffs seemed to loathe their
"clients". There was nothing we monitors could do except
report what we saw and let the Coalition staff argue with the
city about the conditions of the shelters.

One women's shelter I visited almost made me vomit. The
bathroom walls were heavy with black mold and feces clogged
a shower stall. In one room was an elderly black woman
sitting on her bed and talking to herself. Her roommate
was a young woman trying to get back on her feet who
worked and was trying to save up for an apartment.

In another shelter the residents reported addicts could
go to one of the so-called social service staff and get
a handful of subway tokens which they then exchanged
for drugs and gave the social service worker part of
them. The kitchen staff sold supplies to nearby bodegas.
Corruption was the name of the game.

This was during Mayor Guiliani's term of office. None of
the bureaucrats setting shelter policies probably ever
set foot in one.


I've never been in a homeless shelter, but I do
hear they're hell-holes. Many older people and
women would rather sleep in the street than be
in them, because of intimidation from the
drug-addicts who are there.


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