What to do?

Monday, March 14, 2011 at 12:57 am (Writing by Ear)
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As I look at the pictures and watch the videos of the devastation in Japan — unfathomable even when right before my eyes — I keep wishing what I’ve wished since first hearing the news: I wish I could send money directly to Japan, whether to the Japanese government or whatever FEMA-like agency or national nonprofit it designates.

I wish I could send the money right from my PayPal account to their account, without wondering which middleman charity to go through. Which one will handle the money responsibly. Which one will spend less of it on overhead. Which one will make best use of it. Which one will get it to the people who need it fastest. Which one won’t waste all the money I’ve sent sending me endless follow-up requests for more money.

I’ve read that so much of the money donated to Haiti hasn’t even been spent or distributed, no doubt bogged down in bureaucracy or in the sheer difficulty of trying to accomplish things in such an impoverished country with little infrastructure.

Japan is so different: It has the ability to mobilize and get things done. I believe it will take care of its people. And I believe its people will take care of each other and their country. All I want to do is help. Directly help.

Do Japanese people pay taxes? I write checks regularly to the United States Treasury. Is there a Japan Treasury? A well-known Japanese charity that helps victims of disasters? A church? A temple? How about a worldwide Japan Recovery Fund, administered by the Japanese government, to be used to rebuild?

It’s sad that I don’t quite trust the big U.S. or international charities enough to donate to them without hesitation. Sure, if everything I read in the next couple days and enough sources advise me to contribute to one of them, I surely will. But I’ll keep wishing for something else.

Though, come to think of it, would I trust the U.S. government to spend my donation wisely if it were our country in this position? Ummm, clearly not, as I don’t much care for the way it spends my money in general (talk about overhead, bureaucracy, corruption….). Maybe it’s the same in Japan?

Such uncertainty.

I know I’m not alone. Everyone I know wants to help. I just wish I knew the best way to do that. It’s easy to write a check and think I’ve done my small part. It’s hard to know if I’ve made that donation work as hard as possible. Or if it’s really made a difference at all.

Dear people of Japan…how can I best help you?

Nobody made a greater mistake than
he who did nothing because he could only do a little.
~ Edmund Burke

1 Comment

So that’s the secret

Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 12:04 pm (Writing by Ear)
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As someone whose place of business is also frequently under construction, I was happy to learn of a way to potentially make the whole experience a lot more exciting!

By the way, we love this local (family) restaurant…so glad it’s expanding!

Humor is the great thing, the saving thing.
The minute it crops up, all our irritation and
resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.
~ Mark Twain

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I miss my coworkers

Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 4:29 pm (Hack for Hire)
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After just about 12 years of working for myself, today I just really, really, really wished I could walk over to someone else’s desk, bitch about a client, and get an “amen sister” and a pat on the back. Just like the good ol’ days.

When I realized there was no one to walk over to, or really even to call or e-mail, I felt sad. Sure, I have a few colleague/buddies (and a husband) who would be happy to hear me out, talk me down from the ledge, and make me feel better. But today, it just didn’t feel the same as walking over to a desk (or pulling someone into the ladies room) to vent “in the moment” with someone “working for the man,”  the same man, as me.

That’s all I needed…just to vent. Ten minutes of laying out in detail just why this particular situation is so ridiculous. Something like this… So, 3 weeks later, I finally hear out of the blue  — surprise, surprise — the brochure outline I knew would be useless because outlines are always useless because people don’t understand them because, well, they’re only outlines and not fully written brochures, is, in fact, quite useless, so NOW why don’t I get started writing that brochure? Like I would have done 3 WEEKS AGO if not for this foolish outline exercise. So now I have to get my head around all this information AGAIN, and try to make it all make sense. Oh, and don’t make me lead 3 meetings with your client and then decide you don’t need me in the meeting where you go over the outline with them. Oh, and could you get a clue how to communicate because you made it sound like the outline was AWFUL, when in fact, you just wanted to add another topic and switch a couple things around? And, oh, by the way, I’m tired of being a grown-up and a hack for hire and would just like to make this recipe for Starbucks Pumpkin Scones that I have on my desk in front of me and never have to worry about getting paid for writing another word.

So there you have it. The 10-minute rant I would have shared with D or J or C or T or R or L or R or J or C or R or S or J or B or any of a half-dozen other wonderful fellow office-dwellers I’ve known and loved and commiserated with over the years before quietly going back to my desk and getting to work.

I miss my coworkers. My life-savers. My friends.

The world is so dreadfully managed,
one hardly knows to whom to complain.
~ Ronald Firbank

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