Abject Apologies

I feel I owe all the readers of Funny the World and, indeed everyone in the country a huge apology.

You see, this country is in a big mess.  We are fighting the longest war in our country's history, our infrastructure is shot, children are starving, people are homeless, idiots are scrambling to see which can ruin the country better and faster than the next guy and I suddenly realized it is all my fault.  My fault for being so stingy.

Looking at just my g-mail over the past year, the mail I hadn't deleted (and I delete most mail), for a mere $3, I could have...

• Supported Donna Edwards for Senate in Maryland.
• Saved Planned Parenthood
• Helped Elizabeth Warren plan a training session for local elections
• Defeated the Republicans (fill in the blink on which issue)
• Re-elected Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley
• Cured Alzheimers
• Made big, bold, economic-populist ideas central in 2016
• Kept Daily Kos alive
• Sent a big Thank You to Jimmy Carter
• Stopped Comcast's takeover of California
• Let the FCC enact net neutrality
• Supported Bernie Sanders' Rebuild America Act
• Banned fracking
• Got Doritos to adopt a responsible palm oil policy
• Helped break Citigroup into pieces
• Help Pope Francis remodel the Vatican bathrooms

Bear in mind that I have both a .dcn account and a .gmail account and that I delete 90% of the "give just $3" messages and that I only checked gmail and there is just no end to the other things I could have done if only I'd been willing to let go of that magic $3.

There is inflation, though, and lately to save the whales, the Democrats, Planned Parenthood, or the polar bears now costs $5.  I probably won't give that either.

So I'm sorry if the world is in such a sorry state.  It's because I'm such a selfish bitch and refuse to part with $3 every time I get a message telling me what I can fix for only $3 (I often get several requests a day).

@@@@@

Today is Wednesday, Atria lunch day.  I woke my mother up at 11:30 when I arrived at her door and at the end of lunch at 12:45, she was ready for a nap.  (She's old, you know)

However, lunch was a delight.  We sat with Robert the 98 year old retired veterinarian/author who is quite garrulous, but very, very hard of hearing.  When we sat down, he was quiet and rubbing his eyes.  He says he has macular degeneration and his doctors tell him he's going blind.  He was obviously very dejected.  He mentioned how his deteriorating eyesight made writing difficult, and how he writes stories each week to read there at Atria.

I asked him what kind of stories.  He smiled and said "very eclectic."  Then he started talking about the kinds of stories he wrote, which evolved into a travelogue of all the places around the world he and his wife had visited along with observations of each country, then onto his genealogical research and his British relatives.  

When a lull finally came in his narrative, he smiled a big smile and said that when he got to lunch he was very down and depressed and that our conversation had lifted his spirits--told my mother I was better and cheaper than a psychiatrist--and that he was going back to his apartment before he got depressed again.

So I feel I did some good at Atria today!

I also contacted the resident services director at Atria, who will take care of my mother's medication reminders while we are gone on our cruise next month, so I feel relieved about that.

A good day.  Maybe while I'm on a roll, I'll find a worthy organization to pledge $3 to this afternoon....