Giving small
The question of quasi-forced, or maybe really forced, charity, lately came up at Ms. Malevolent's blog.
What I want to digress upon is the "give to the troops" thing, chiefly because hardly anyone knows what they're giving and why. To some extent, that includes me, because I'm a couple of wars behind here.
Once upon a time, in Navy boot camp, one spent much of one's first three weeks in the service learning to put almost all of one's worldly goods into a cube 21 inches a side. This was what the Navy laughingly called a locker. Whilst I get the idea that enlisted personnel live a little larger than that now (the Army always did :p), I don't think they have unlimited storage space.
This takes us to the question of misplaced generosity. When my workplaces have called upon us for donations of this sort, I make a point of getting umpteen small items, rather than a couple of typical American civilian biggie-size goodies. I usually spend a fair amount doing this and don't expect even a tax write-off in return, because it's a way of paying back.
I wish someone involved in the current festivities would tell me if I'm wrong, but I think that the biggie-size items are a pain in the arse to one person, whilst the many small items do some good to all of a small unit, distributed as fairly as the officer or NCO in charge can manage.
Please do understand that Uncle Sam does not provide personal goods, beyond soap, to service members of any rank or grade. They are on their own for them. Another thought is that we now say "service members" because this ain't a one-gender operation, and service women don't stop having periods because they are in Iraq or Afghanistan: you catch my drift.
So yeah, do this: preferably when someone isn't making you feel guilty if you don't. And--final commercial--try to do something, however small, for your local veterans' shelter (mine is the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans). An appalling number--something like a third-- of American homeless are veterans. Fer chrissakes, what kind of way is this to keep a promise?
Four bucks will buy you a "support the troops" magnet for your ride, or it will give a hot meal to two or even three homeless veterans: take your choice.
What I want to digress upon is the "give to the troops" thing, chiefly because hardly anyone knows what they're giving and why. To some extent, that includes me, because I'm a couple of wars behind here.
Once upon a time, in Navy boot camp, one spent much of one's first three weeks in the service learning to put almost all of one's worldly goods into a cube 21 inches a side. This was what the Navy laughingly called a locker. Whilst I get the idea that enlisted personnel live a little larger than that now (the Army always did :p), I don't think they have unlimited storage space.
This takes us to the question of misplaced generosity. When my workplaces have called upon us for donations of this sort, I make a point of getting umpteen small items, rather than a couple of typical American civilian biggie-size goodies. I usually spend a fair amount doing this and don't expect even a tax write-off in return, because it's a way of paying back.
I wish someone involved in the current festivities would tell me if I'm wrong, but I think that the biggie-size items are a pain in the arse to one person, whilst the many small items do some good to all of a small unit, distributed as fairly as the officer or NCO in charge can manage.
Please do understand that Uncle Sam does not provide personal goods, beyond soap, to service members of any rank or grade. They are on their own for them. Another thought is that we now say "service members" because this ain't a one-gender operation, and service women don't stop having periods because they are in Iraq or Afghanistan: you catch my drift.
So yeah, do this: preferably when someone isn't making you feel guilty if you don't. And--final commercial--try to do something, however small, for your local veterans' shelter (mine is the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans). An appalling number--something like a third-- of American homeless are veterans. Fer chrissakes, what kind of way is this to keep a promise?
Four bucks will buy you a "support the troops" magnet for your ride, or it will give a hot meal to two or even three homeless veterans: take your choice.
posted by Uncle | 22:29
2 Comments:
Thank you! I can file this under "good to know" or, more probably, "more things to be pissed at the government about." With the billions and billions and billions of dollars being squandered in Iraq, that General Petreaus, et al, did/do expect the troops to wipe their noses on their sleeves (and, apparently, menstruate all over their desert camo) is just galling to me.
Not just Petraeus, but Eisenhower, Pershing, Grant, etc. They've always done it that way. OK, well, except for the female sanitary supplies, which weren't an issue in the 1863 military. We could always break with tradition and provide some basics, I suppose. What a concept!
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