More Humbug Notes

Electronic Season's Greetings
Oh yeah, Don't let me forget to mention how annoying those electronic E-vites and E-Greeting Cards are.  (If you have sent me one, I probably deleted it instead of reading it.)

Do you people think the rest of us are just sitting around grumbling in our porridge, wondering why our lives aren't more cutesy -- so you think you can warm our spirits with an animated cartoon of a dog wearing a Santa hat?  Cripes, why don't you just send us an email that says:

"Hi, this is probably an afterthought or perhaps I am too lazy or cheap to actually put any effort into this greeting, I only send real cards with holiday themed postage stamps to my A-list people, and well, you know..."

Humbug!


Giving toCharity

Oh, and could that annoying person ringing the Salvation Army bell just give it a rest for a few minutes? Better yet, Go away!  I hate having to walk around you to get through the door at the supermarket every time I go there.  Stop making eye contact like I was some kind of cheapskate, trying to make me feel guilty while you are ever so smug standing there freezing your ass off for a noble cause.  The bell is just annoying! Stop it!   

Anyway, I already gave.  I sent a check when I got the solicitation in the mail just before Thanksgiving. Not a huge amount, I admit, but did that make them happy? 
No, since I sent the check I have received no fewer than 4 more solicitations in the mail.
But no acknowledgement for my donation.  

Mailing isn't free.  Why are they wasting contributed cash on marketing?  I conclude that it is unlikely that any of my donated money will make a difference in any needy person's life.  The Salvation Army has become another one of those charity machines that use small donations to fund an ever-expanding marketing campaign.  This is rewarding, I'm sure,  for list-processors, mailing companies and executives, but I do not feel that my contributions are being well spent.

A news item the other day, repored that some "charities" are spend more than 50 cents of every dollar received to pay off the marketing firm that made the calls and sent out the solicitations.  Such schemes and scams go on all the time.

For the record,  the only charity I am giving to in future us The Boston Globe Santa which uses 100% of the donated funds to buy necessities for the poor kids in Boston Area.  You go Globe!

There are more things that annoy me at this time of year, but that's enough for now.