I have work I should be
doing this evening to catch up. And I am
taking an online class where I am behind in the reading. And the house is still a mess, even
though we have barely been outside it the last 5 ½ weeks.
But instead of focusing on
any of those “should do”s tonight, I am focusing on a “want to do”. Or perhaps, in this case, it is a “must do”.
I am spreading out my
blood money. Or, as the trump
administration likes to call it, my stimulus check.
Our government check got
deposited this week, all $2400 of it.
But instead of making me feel happy or hopeful, it sort of made me feel
dirty. It feels like an attempt to
placate the masses and to buy votes.
So, I sat down tonight and
I wrote this letter:
“Our blood money got deposited this week. Errr, I mean, our “stimulus check”. I for one feel like it is too little too
late, and had this pandemic hit at any other point beside NOW (i.e., a few
months before the general election) there is NO WAY Americans would have been
getting government money deposited into our bank accounts.
As soon as I heard about the checks (which is
suspiciously like my boy Andrew Yang’s plan…) I thought, “You can’t buy my
vote, trump!”. And I started thinking of
ways I could spend the $2400 that would really piss him and his ilk off…
But then I thought again. Was donating all of our stimulus money
really going to be a good idea? I mean,
yeah, I still have a job for the moment, but it isn’t like we don’t need a new
fence, a bathroom remodel, and some blueberry bushes… Maybe donating the whole thing would be
cutting off my nose to spite my face! I mean,
it isn’t like trump is gonna KNOW I did it, right??
So, I rethought the plan. And I remembered back to the Sundays of my
youth when the pastor would talk about a thing called TITHING. “Eureka!” I thought. “I will tithe with this money, only instead
of giving it to a religious organization, I will give the tithe to 10
organizations that I believe in, that serve very important functions in our
society, that trump and his team loathe, mock, do not believe in, or do not
support!!!”.
And THAT, my friends, is how I came to
YOU. Here is your portion of our stimulus
check. I added another $10 to the kitty
so that each of the organizations would get $25. It’s not much but I know that it will be put
to good use.
Please keep doin’ what you are doin’. Women’s rights are human rights. We have fought so hard to get to where we
are, we cannot let this administration turn back the hands of time. #MeToo
Sincerely,
Susan Thompson-Gaines “
And I copied and pasted that letter 10 times, changing to
“to” at the beginning and the last paragraph to match the recipient.
And I will print it and mail it old-school
style, with an old-fashioned paper check for $25 in each envelope.
They will be addressed to:
- Doctors Without Borders
- Everytown for Gun Safety
- WAMU (my local NPR station)
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- National Organization for Women
- Human Rights Campaign
- Planned Parenthood
- National Park Foundation
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- And the Democratic National Committee
You may disagree with some of the organizations
I am donating to, I understand if you do.
But if you agree with the concept, that Americans who are not in desperate
situations right now can donate some (or all) of their stimulus money to
organizations and beliefs that have been targeted by this administration, then
you might want to make a donation or two of your own.
I know it felt good for me.
My small donations are a drop in the bucket
and cannot stop the wave of hatred and intolerance that is rolling through our
country. But I will continue to do what I
can, stand up for what I believe in, and hope that at some point the tides will
turn. That people will once again
believe in kindness, and equality, and justice.
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