I wanted to keep this out of the Thanksgiving thread because it's become an extension of what this thread was and I'd rather keep it confined in one place...
Eco.
Let's just pause for a quick second and by second I mean several paragraphs.
So I was installing some metal strut to support our conduits to while up on the scissor lift. And since I was pretty much working by myself I got to thinking about this disagreement.
And I realized something.
I wouldn't have to go very far to find the same kind of mind set as Eco's. The whole "lift yourself up by your boot straps" attitude is very common in rural areas and red states. Places where there aren't as many welfare programs and charities. Places where it is in some cases, shameful to need assistance in the most basic necessities. This is reflective in more economically conservative state governments, and these are the same people that oppose the multi-billion dollar bailout.
Anyway, my point is that the differences in our viewpoints may merely be subject to our local environments. I cannot speak for Eco's, but in Philadelphia which is host to "Philadelphia Cares Day" and many other volunteer events, and of course New Orleans, which has had more volunteers, and volunteer events than any other place in the United States for the past 3 years, Eco's point of view is not a common one.
Volunteer work down here in New Orleans is much different from every day shelters. Nobody should be shamed for the doings of a natural disaster. In fact in many cases, volunteer opportunities were community events. Homeowners and neighbors and volunteers from all over the US would show up. Food was cooked, people laughed, and some cried. But I had never come across a homeowner that coy about the help they asked for. The help they applied for. And not all even needed help, I spoke to an elderly man who was doing almost his entire house by himself, and it was amazing, and we praised him for it.
Gratitude.
Maybe I'm used to it, maybe I expect it on some level. I lived in a culture for several months that had little more to offer than that. Gratitude from those we helped, and praise and support from our peers, something to keep us going, something to give us a reason to get up out of bed each morning. I had burnt out within the first several weeks. It was the most emotional, physical, mental drain I ever experienced, and there was more than one time that I considered quitting and going home. But like I said, it was the community that helped to keep me going, and as part of that community I did the same for others, there was a constant give and take in the kind of environment, almost fluid like.
Here's a confession: I was originally going to try to sell those boots, because they were all very expensive. I don't indulge much, but boots are one of the things that I do. So yes, it was weird to just give them away. Clothes? I've done that before, but those boots? Anybody that knows me would think I'd gone crazy. But here's the other. I've never directly given to a person like that. The only time I've ever donated anything was when charities would set up those dumpsters for clothes (anonymous). That was the first time I randomly met someone and gave directly to them. It was a new experience for me and an important one. Like I said, clothes are donated every day. But when I found out this guy wasn't just sittin' on his ass, that he was a working man, I felt like I could really relate to him on that level, that no hard working man should be without a quality pair of boots. He never asked me for anything but directions to where he was going. I offered, he accepted, and I was thankful that he did.
I said nothing about it when I got home, but yes, I felt like I needed some positive reinforcement so I came on here, some "hey man, I know those boots were important to you, but that's a good thing because you really didn't need them", so I could say "alright cool, this is something I should feel good about, this is something I can look to doing again in the future, good shit". And with anything that makes anybody happy, you want other people to try it, to experience it too. "Mm! This taste delicious! Taste this!" "Whoa that was a good movie, go see it!"
I still prefer big projects over small deeds like that because I love the community factor of it all. Meeting new people, learning new things, helpin' each other out.
I don't share every damn thing I do for other people, I don't care to, I don't need to, I don't even like getting all that praise, because it makes me feel uncomfortable. That's why I like to surround myself with people that share the same sentiment, because then it's a discussion, a learning experience.
Ugh, this wears me out so much I've been typing this out for the past hour.
I just wish you could come with and experience this community, even if you never spoke of it thereafter. Or maybe not, maybe I just wasted an hour of my time trying to explain something to someone who doesn't care to see another plenty valid view point.
