Philanthropy By Proxy
So this is how I was greeted upon arriving at the office today:
"Hey, OMC! My son is participating in a dragon boat race, so I'm looking for donations on his behalf."
Let me tell you something… You and your kid suck. Screw off.
It seems I can't go more than a few days without encountering somebody at work looking for money to send their kid on a field trip or raise money for their school or whatever other cause-of-the-day they can dream up.
Tell me… when the hell did kids become SO LAZY that they can no longer do their own bloody fundraising? When I was a kid, we had a couple of fundraising activities each year, but regardless of the weather, I went door-to-door looking for donations and then would go back to those same houses to deliver the goods!
Which raises another issue… If you're asking me for money without so much as a measly chocolate bar in return, that's called begging. Believe me, you stand a better chance of getting my loose change if you were to lay down on the sidewalk beside One Shoe Willie with a cardboard sign and a rusty tin can.
We used to raise money by selling cheese. It came in 2, 5 and 10-pound blocks, and I hauled my ass and wagon filled with 100-plus pounds of wholesome dairy goodness all over my neighbourhood. It never even occurred to me to have my parents do all the legwork for me!
Are today's kids so completely bubble-wrapped from society's realities that they can't handle the rejection of old Mrs. Baker actually saying "No thanks, Jimmy. Not this time."?
Would the combination of physical and mental exertion be simply overwhelming for these pallid, X-Box junkie, basement dwellers that they would inevitably soil themselves at the very thought of actual human interaction?
"But it's so my Jimmy can go to chess camp." He wants to go? HE should raise the money. EARN IT!! Don't get your frickin' mom or dad to corner me in the lunchroom in hopes of chipping in a couple bucks. Do you honestly think I care if your loser kid goes to camp or not?
I'm frequently hit-up for donations for schools in order to buy books, supplies, science equipment, or the creation of a second level to the preschool parking garage. I already pay taxes to a designated school board. It's not my fault that 70% of that money goes toward the hefty trustee salaries and their granite and stainless steel headquarters building, rather than directly to the schools. So what makes you think I'd be okay giving MORE of my hard-earned pennies to a school that I've never heard of and my kids will never even encounter through intramural soccer? Get lost!
You know what the clincher is? Dragon Boat Kid is 23 goddamned years old, plays minor league lacrosse and has a job of his own!! Are you kidding me?? I'm wondering if Dear Old Dad could see the throbbing vein in my forehead.
And that's where I see the trouble with parents and kids today: the kids have become so accustomed to having someone cater to and for them and the parents are so totally complacent in doing so that it has become a neverending cycle of expectation between them.
Both my kids will be entering school in the not-so-distant future and I can only imagine how often we'll be bombarded with requests for donations for various activities. I can assure you that they will be going door to door and/or will be doing extra work around the house in order to pay for their chess camp experiences. Either that, or they can grab a tin can and a piece of cardboard and head for downtown.
"Hey, OMC! My son is participating in a dragon boat race, so I'm looking for donations on his behalf."
Let me tell you something… You and your kid suck. Screw off.
It seems I can't go more than a few days without encountering somebody at work looking for money to send their kid on a field trip or raise money for their school or whatever other cause-of-the-day they can dream up.
Tell me… when the hell did kids become SO LAZY that they can no longer do their own bloody fundraising? When I was a kid, we had a couple of fundraising activities each year, but regardless of the weather, I went door-to-door looking for donations and then would go back to those same houses to deliver the goods!
Which raises another issue… If you're asking me for money without so much as a measly chocolate bar in return, that's called begging. Believe me, you stand a better chance of getting my loose change if you were to lay down on the sidewalk beside One Shoe Willie with a cardboard sign and a rusty tin can.
We used to raise money by selling cheese. It came in 2, 5 and 10-pound blocks, and I hauled my ass and wagon filled with 100-plus pounds of wholesome dairy goodness all over my neighbourhood. It never even occurred to me to have my parents do all the legwork for me!
Are today's kids so completely bubble-wrapped from society's realities that they can't handle the rejection of old Mrs. Baker actually saying "No thanks, Jimmy. Not this time."?
Would the combination of physical and mental exertion be simply overwhelming for these pallid, X-Box junkie, basement dwellers that they would inevitably soil themselves at the very thought of actual human interaction?
"But it's so my Jimmy can go to chess camp." He wants to go? HE should raise the money. EARN IT!! Don't get your frickin' mom or dad to corner me in the lunchroom in hopes of chipping in a couple bucks. Do you honestly think I care if your loser kid goes to camp or not?
I'm frequently hit-up for donations for schools in order to buy books, supplies, science equipment, or the creation of a second level to the preschool parking garage. I already pay taxes to a designated school board. It's not my fault that 70% of that money goes toward the hefty trustee salaries and their granite and stainless steel headquarters building, rather than directly to the schools. So what makes you think I'd be okay giving MORE of my hard-earned pennies to a school that I've never heard of and my kids will never even encounter through intramural soccer? Get lost!
You know what the clincher is? Dragon Boat Kid is 23 goddamned years old, plays minor league lacrosse and has a job of his own!! Are you kidding me?? I'm wondering if Dear Old Dad could see the throbbing vein in my forehead.
And that's where I see the trouble with parents and kids today: the kids have become so accustomed to having someone cater to and for them and the parents are so totally complacent in doing so that it has become a neverending cycle of expectation between them.
Both my kids will be entering school in the not-so-distant future and I can only imagine how often we'll be bombarded with requests for donations for various activities. I can assure you that they will be going door to door and/or will be doing extra work around the house in order to pay for their chess camp experiences. Either that, or they can grab a tin can and a piece of cardboard and head for downtown.
posted by Old Man Crowder at
11:03 PM
3 Comments:
I could not agree more! Kids are so sheltered and the parents do everything for them.
I work in a University Admissions Office. Nothing burns my butt more than a parent calling in to ask about their son or daughter's application. Where are these kids? They all have cell phones, can't they dial a phone number and ask me the question themselves??
And then, the parents get pissed off when we tell them that we can't give them info about an application due to the privacy laws.
I don't mind so much if they are selling a product that I might be interested in buying such as food items. I'm a sucker for girl guide cookies!
I too remember selling the cheese and my mom purchasing the 10lb block of mozzarella. Those were the good old days!
what i don't understand is why you have to raise funds for these things. Already you go to a public school for which everyone else w/o kids pays for. Now I also have to pay for your kid's extracurricular activities. When i was growing up if mom and dad couldn't afford it...I just didn't participate. I mean does every kid in this country need to play a sport or two and take music classes every single season?? Just pick a couple you like and stick to them and the rest of your free time you can help out around the house and work on your crappy grades. At least - that was the rule for me and I turned out OK.
I'm so with you! I don't see why we should be expected to help fundraisers for the public school library. I've been paying school taxes for years even though my children were homeschooled until last year. Only ONE was in public school, two were in private school and two more were homeschooled.
They get enough of my cash for something I hardly even USE. Leave me alone...
But hey, my daughter is a new Daisy Scout. I'm going through my training to be the leader. Who wants Girl Scout cookies?!
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