THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMMMM

I may be jumping the gun on this blog but it's been bugging me all weekend.....so here goes.

Our quaint town of Mayberry has it's share of snooty people. Most folks here are down to earth and just have their fair share of disposable income. Some are more uppity and it reveals itself in the most interesting ways.

I received a message on my machine yesterday from a neighbor wanting to raise money for the Hurricane Katrina victims. It seemed like a generous thing to be doing, calling to see if we could raise money for the families. By the end of the message, I was baffled and had to replay it. I then handed the phone to Bubby (with my jaw still dropped to the floor) and he had to replay it as well after listening to its entirety. We then left for a family barbecue. After returning home, there was a flyer taped to our door. Here is a shortened version of the flyer:


A GROUP OF WAY DOWN IN MAYBERRY RESIDENTS ARE RALLYING TOGETHER TO GIVE A FAMILY LEFT WITH NOTHING BY HURRICANE KATRINA A CHANCE TO START OVER IN OUR COMMUNITY.

-free housing for a year -job assistance
-payment of all utilities -transportation (on the message it said two cars)
-food -clothing
-household items -job assistance
-medical assistance -schooling

Once we can confirm what we can offer, we will work with an established relief agency and/or the press to find a family.
______________________________________________________________________

Ok. Here's my rant:

1. They are asking for $200 from every Mayberry resident.
2. Why do we have to move them to our very expensive community? What happens when their one year is up?
3. With all the money we are spending on one family, why couldn't we help several families but without the TWO cars, without the very expensive neighborhood, blah blah.
4. The word PRESS is suspect. Is this a chance to get some local/national attention for our neighborhood?

I really wonder if we are that out of touch with reality. Why aren't people offering their homes or Nanny quarters to host families? Do we really need to be spending all this money on ONE family to give them a taste of our life for a year? If the family was truly poor to begin with and have little education or resources, is it viable to plant them in our "Lilly-White-Happy-Happy-Town" of Mayberry just to kick them out after twelve months? Are we going to request to the media that we need a family with a Mom and Dad and 2.5 children that have college degrees and no more than three animals? No elderly or uneducated people need apply. Aren't the poor, old and disabled in the New Orleans disaster the ones that need the most help?

Maybe I'm way off base. Maybe I'm making this a political rant when it's really not. Isn't the most important thing is that we are trying to help people no matter how misguided we may be? Definitely, these are things that make you go hmmmmmmm............