WHINE JOB

Task 11, March 8 to March 15

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle". Plato

Last Saturday the internet went out at the house. Without internet I couldn't access the Peacock channel, which meant that I couldn't watch Tottenham play Crystal Palace! Didn't they (the "they" who control the internet) know that I was sitting on my couch, coffee in hand, ready for kickoff? Why did this happen to me? I needed to assign blame, so I started with my wife, muttering accusingly, "did you pay the Spectrum bill?" Her answer isn't repeatable. So I turned on my son. "Have you been fooling around with the modem?" His look said "no" and so much more...I was so frustrated. I called Spectrum and the electronic voice said, calmly: “there are no outages in your area”, to which I replied, "there's an outage in my living room!"

Then I had a brainstorm. There is an English pub a few miles away that showed all the game. Quickly I dressed and ran out of the house, jumped in the car and drove off.

Only I didn't make it. Not more than a mile from my house the road was blocked by several cop cars, two ambulances and a fire truck. I looked for a way to bypass the mess but as I tried to turn around I saw it: two cars that must have hit head on and melded into one ugly mess. I could smell gas. The paramedics were huddled around someone lying in the street, and a woman stood on the sidewalk, head in hands, crying.

I managed to make it down an alley and I drove home. And I thought, “what the hell was I whining about?”

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Your life is crummy? Runnin' short of luck? Your job blows? Credit card maxed-out? Your woman leave you for a mall masseuse? You sick and tired of being sick and tired?

You team lost? You feel fat? Your car acting up? Is the tax man breathing down your neck?

Life can really blow. It can just suck the joy out of living. But guess what. As bad as it is, and much as it sucks, you have it better than someone else. I know that you know that, intellectually speaking, but when it’s shoved in your face, you have to deal with it.

TASK:

Sit down and try to wrap your mind around volunteering. It's one thing to say that you want to volunteer, it's another thing to call an organization and offer to lend a hand. I found a site called Volunteer Match. It provided the name and contact info for volunteer organizations in my community. Here's just a sampling of the opportunities: Big Brothers, Big Sisters; Alzheimer's Association; SCORE (free and confidential small business advice); Soldiers Organized Services (SOS); Food Bank; Americorp; Volunteer Match (an easy place to start) and on and on. There are literally hundreds of organizations looking for help.

Good luck. Oh, April 16th-April 22nd is National Volunteer Week.